First of all, I am a die-hard Futurama fan. I've watched the whole series numerous times, and I keep replaying them again when I have time. I'm saying this because now I will rant about how disappointed I am in the recent two movies(especially this one), and before people try to flame me, hear my reasons.
I thought that the movie will be back to the roots of sci-fi comedy that the series were. I was wrong. It seems like 4 years were too much time for the staff to keep the same spirit. I don't know if it's because they want to broaden their audience, seeing as this is on DVD and has to sell, but I feel like the movies have turned from sci-fi comedy to a chick flick. The first movie emphasized of Fry and Leela's (doomed) relationship, and I thought this one will be different, but this time around the sappy love stories are about Fry and his new girlfriend, Amy and Kiff, and to top it all, a planet-sized alien that loves all of mankind. I have nothing against sappy as long as it's in norm, but this movie is mostly about it. The jokes are there in the first 30 minutes maybe, then there is nothing but love story with occasional short gags.
Note to authors: don't write 10 minute romance filled scenes, and try to put in 5-second jokes about Calculon's willie, gonorrhea, or nipple stimulation for relief. It's not working. They did not keep me from getting annoyed. I never laughed out loud during the movie as I did with the series.
Now that I am done ranting, I will say what I liked and didn't like about the movie. This one was good, it had less in-jokes than the first one, but it had them more overall. The story was good enough, they tried to intertwine a few different side stories into the main plot, and it sort of worked. When we exclude all the sap from the story, it's a good movie, that has scenes almost as great as the first one did(nothing can top the space battle against the solid-gold deathstars, though), nice soundtrack and good gags.
The movie's weaknesses, although minor if we exclude the sap, the under-utilizing of some characters. Zoidberg, for example, keeps being used as a prop, although they can make great jokes with him when they try. Same problem as Kenny in South Park. Other weakness, is that as in the first movie, the tempo really slowed down in some parts and the scenario is somewhere between mediocre and good.
For conclusion, as a big fan of the series, I tried to force myself to love it. I really did, but I couldn't. It was good overall, but that's it. If they make the next two movies as they should - sci-fi comedies - I will be really pleased. Right now they keep feeding me romantic movies with sci-fi setting, and that's not doing it for me. If I want to watch a sappy romantic movie, I will rent a chick flick.
Finally I would give it a score of 6 overall, which is low for Futurama. I hope this doesn't turn into standard and the next two movies be much better.
I thought that the movie will be back to the roots of sci-fi comedy that the series were. I was wrong. It seems like 4 years were too much time for the staff to keep the same spirit. I don't know if it's because they want to broaden their audience, seeing as this is on DVD and has to sell, but I feel like the movies have turned from sci-fi comedy to a chick flick. The first movie emphasized of Fry and Leela's (doomed) relationship, and I thought this one will be different, but this time around the sappy love stories are about Fry and his new girlfriend, Amy and Kiff, and to top it all, a planet-sized alien that loves all of mankind. I have nothing against sappy as long as it's in norm, but this movie is mostly about it. The jokes are there in the first 30 minutes maybe, then there is nothing but love story with occasional short gags.
Note to authors: don't write 10 minute romance filled scenes, and try to put in 5-second jokes about Calculon's willie, gonorrhea, or nipple stimulation for relief. It's not working. They did not keep me from getting annoyed. I never laughed out loud during the movie as I did with the series.
Now that I am done ranting, I will say what I liked and didn't like about the movie. This one was good, it had less in-jokes than the first one, but it had them more overall. The story was good enough, they tried to intertwine a few different side stories into the main plot, and it sort of worked. When we exclude all the sap from the story, it's a good movie, that has scenes almost as great as the first one did(nothing can top the space battle against the solid-gold deathstars, though), nice soundtrack and good gags.
The movie's weaknesses, although minor if we exclude the sap, the under-utilizing of some characters. Zoidberg, for example, keeps being used as a prop, although they can make great jokes with him when they try. Same problem as Kenny in South Park. Other weakness, is that as in the first movie, the tempo really slowed down in some parts and the scenario is somewhere between mediocre and good.
For conclusion, as a big fan of the series, I tried to force myself to love it. I really did, but I couldn't. It was good overall, but that's it. If they make the next two movies as they should - sci-fi comedies - I will be really pleased. Right now they keep feeding me romantic movies with sci-fi setting, and that's not doing it for me. If I want to watch a sappy romantic movie, I will rent a chick flick.
Finally I would give it a score of 6 overall, which is low for Futurama. I hope this doesn't turn into standard and the next two movies be much better.