Shaun Munro's Reviews (ShaunMunro.co.uk):
Futurama: Bender's Big Score is the much-hyped return of the comedy animated series Futurama, senselessly cancelled by FOX in 2003. As is characteristic for sister shows such as The Simpsons and Family Guy, pot-shots at their malevolent puppeteers are in great abundance throughout this feature-length episode, berating FOX from near enough the opening frame, and then swiftly moving to refer to them as "asanine morons".
What became apparent early on in this film was the true disdain felt for the bigwigs at FOX, yet it appears that, at least to an extent, the writers have allowed too much of their anger to seep into their vision, and it quickly begins to saturate the film, draining the life and soul (as well as the fun) out of it. To deem this film a "misstep" is to undersell the astronomical blunder at hand here.
Accepting its shortcomings, what Bender's Big Score does well is to retain every bit of the artistic genius of the series a plentiful array of oddball characters are thrown at us, and the writers do well to parody Internet scammers, the Bush/Gore election, and even their little brother Family Guy.
The very basic premise for the film is that a rabble of Internet scammer aliens con the Planet Express crew out of their company and place Bender under their control to steal ancient treasures, kick-starting a time-spanning adventure, whilst truths about Fry's past and future are revealed.
Bender's Big Score is an entertaining film, in that nobody will argue its artistic merits, yet it seems to be sorely lacking in any deal of uproarious humour. Belly laughs are nowhere to be found, and most attempts at a jibe are met with a mere smile. Essentially, it appears that this film is simply a stylistic demonstration, a tech demo, if you will the effects are as wondrous as they ever were, but the lifeblood (that is, the humour) of this production is nowhere to be found.
One would be able to forgive the writers for the lack of laughs if the storyline itself could compensate, yet even that leaves much to be desired. The interpretation of time travel offered here certainly isn't my favourite one, and even for die-hard fans of the series, this may simply end up confusing you. A word of warning pay close, vigilant attention to the screen at all times, as focusing yourself elsewhere for even a few moments may be at your own head-scratching expense.
The film is very much one for the dedicated, militant fans of the show there are a ridiculous amount of obscure references to previous episodes that will undoubtedly be lost on anyone not familiar with the show. Moreover, anyone coming in cold is going to be very confused for the majority of the film a large portion of the plot relates to time travel, and changing past events, with which newbies or casual fans cannot identify and will be largely unfamiliar. Even as a huge fan of the series, I must attest that I found the use of time travel in the storyline to be superfluous, and frankly, by the film's end, rather irritating.
Perhaps the most repugnant sin of this film's making is its insistence to frequently, unabashedly slate FOX, even all-too-occasionally making use of an esoteric, all-purpose powder named "Executive Producer" in situations that make little sense, and furthermore, they take the FOX-bashing from levels of acceptability to irritability. The film's writers, instead of revelling in everything that was fantastic about the show, seem contented, and moreover, insistent on reminding us of the ill hand dealt to them by FOX. Yes, the cancellation was, as Seth McFarlane similarly commented in regard to his show, Family Guy, a "dick move". Yes, FOX have cancelled a multitude of critical darlings, such as Joss Whedon's wonderfully spirited sci-fi western Firefly, the wildly funny Freaks and Geeks, and even McFarlane's own Family Guy (before reviving it years later), but by the end of this film, I felt like declaring "Be grateful you're back, and make the best of it!", neither of which the film's helmers seemed to do.
The film seeks to slightly redeem itself in the final scenes, treating us to a wonderfully-envisioned space battle with a fantastic orchestral score, yet it only serves to reinforce my chief complaint of this venture the laughs are very much gone. A twist ending is thrown in for good measure, and had I still cared about the plot at this point in time, then it would have been half-effective, although plenty will see it coming, thinly veiled as it is.
The most intriguing aspect of the episode is the manner in which it all ends we are left on an exciting cliffhanger, and I can only assume that the next feature-length film will continue this. If not, it will join the laundry list of fatal flaws in this, the first of four Futurama films.
When you take a sub-par episode of Futurama and protract it to eighty-five excruciating minutes, the final result is a regrettably tiring, disheartening endeavour, and even by the half-way mark, I couldn't wait for this film to end. I had given up caring about the show that I once upon a time signed Internet petitions for, in a vain attempt to save the once-wonderful ensemble of artistic ingenuity and comic brilliance. "Shadow of its former self" is a very apt appropriation here, and it is with deep woe that I deem Bender's Big Score to be an over-hyped disappointment.
Futurama: Bender's Big Score is the much-hyped return of the comedy animated series Futurama, senselessly cancelled by FOX in 2003. As is characteristic for sister shows such as The Simpsons and Family Guy, pot-shots at their malevolent puppeteers are in great abundance throughout this feature-length episode, berating FOX from near enough the opening frame, and then swiftly moving to refer to them as "asanine morons".
What became apparent early on in this film was the true disdain felt for the bigwigs at FOX, yet it appears that, at least to an extent, the writers have allowed too much of their anger to seep into their vision, and it quickly begins to saturate the film, draining the life and soul (as well as the fun) out of it. To deem this film a "misstep" is to undersell the astronomical blunder at hand here.
Accepting its shortcomings, what Bender's Big Score does well is to retain every bit of the artistic genius of the series a plentiful array of oddball characters are thrown at us, and the writers do well to parody Internet scammers, the Bush/Gore election, and even their little brother Family Guy.
The very basic premise for the film is that a rabble of Internet scammer aliens con the Planet Express crew out of their company and place Bender under their control to steal ancient treasures, kick-starting a time-spanning adventure, whilst truths about Fry's past and future are revealed.
Bender's Big Score is an entertaining film, in that nobody will argue its artistic merits, yet it seems to be sorely lacking in any deal of uproarious humour. Belly laughs are nowhere to be found, and most attempts at a jibe are met with a mere smile. Essentially, it appears that this film is simply a stylistic demonstration, a tech demo, if you will the effects are as wondrous as they ever were, but the lifeblood (that is, the humour) of this production is nowhere to be found.
One would be able to forgive the writers for the lack of laughs if the storyline itself could compensate, yet even that leaves much to be desired. The interpretation of time travel offered here certainly isn't my favourite one, and even for die-hard fans of the series, this may simply end up confusing you. A word of warning pay close, vigilant attention to the screen at all times, as focusing yourself elsewhere for even a few moments may be at your own head-scratching expense.
The film is very much one for the dedicated, militant fans of the show there are a ridiculous amount of obscure references to previous episodes that will undoubtedly be lost on anyone not familiar with the show. Moreover, anyone coming in cold is going to be very confused for the majority of the film a large portion of the plot relates to time travel, and changing past events, with which newbies or casual fans cannot identify and will be largely unfamiliar. Even as a huge fan of the series, I must attest that I found the use of time travel in the storyline to be superfluous, and frankly, by the film's end, rather irritating.
Perhaps the most repugnant sin of this film's making is its insistence to frequently, unabashedly slate FOX, even all-too-occasionally making use of an esoteric, all-purpose powder named "Executive Producer" in situations that make little sense, and furthermore, they take the FOX-bashing from levels of acceptability to irritability. The film's writers, instead of revelling in everything that was fantastic about the show, seem contented, and moreover, insistent on reminding us of the ill hand dealt to them by FOX. Yes, the cancellation was, as Seth McFarlane similarly commented in regard to his show, Family Guy, a "dick move". Yes, FOX have cancelled a multitude of critical darlings, such as Joss Whedon's wonderfully spirited sci-fi western Firefly, the wildly funny Freaks and Geeks, and even McFarlane's own Family Guy (before reviving it years later), but by the end of this film, I felt like declaring "Be grateful you're back, and make the best of it!", neither of which the film's helmers seemed to do.
The film seeks to slightly redeem itself in the final scenes, treating us to a wonderfully-envisioned space battle with a fantastic orchestral score, yet it only serves to reinforce my chief complaint of this venture the laughs are very much gone. A twist ending is thrown in for good measure, and had I still cared about the plot at this point in time, then it would have been half-effective, although plenty will see it coming, thinly veiled as it is.
The most intriguing aspect of the episode is the manner in which it all ends we are left on an exciting cliffhanger, and I can only assume that the next feature-length film will continue this. If not, it will join the laundry list of fatal flaws in this, the first of four Futurama films.
When you take a sub-par episode of Futurama and protract it to eighty-five excruciating minutes, the final result is a regrettably tiring, disheartening endeavour, and even by the half-way mark, I couldn't wait for this film to end. I had given up caring about the show that I once upon a time signed Internet petitions for, in a vain attempt to save the once-wonderful ensemble of artistic ingenuity and comic brilliance. "Shadow of its former self" is a very apt appropriation here, and it is with deep woe that I deem Bender's Big Score to be an over-hyped disappointment.