Well...it was better than Bender's Big Score (which I personally loathed), but worse than Beast With A Billion Backs (which I personally liked). The story was decent, even if it took a long while to get going and the jokes were pretty average.
The Good:
* Even though he was a supporting character in this flick, I think he had the best lines.
* The Bakula comment was hilarious and I didn't realize that George Takei reprised himself for the cameo (the voice sounded like an imitator.
* I did like the revelation that Farnsworth had a son with Mom, even if that plot line was somewhat tacked on.
* Very little Continuity porn. When it was used, it was used wisely.
The Bad:
* The story took forever to get going and many of the plotlines seemed to never fully develop or have any conclusion. Bender in the insane asylum? By the end of the movie, isn't he still insane? Leela's anger "problems?" That was pretty much forgotten.
* Also, the story didn't really have an epic feel to it the way the previous two movies did. Not that that's a bad thing. Many of the Futurama episodes didn't have an epic feel, but for a movie, I guess I just expect more.
* Storyline logic. I still don't get why the Professor needed to devalue all the dark matter. Granted, Mom was abusing the cost of it and the Nibblers captivity wasn't cool, but didn't the universe still bank on the stuff? I'm probably thinking too much about it.
* You know, I see in other forums that people complain about Berman and Co. and the Stargate producers acting like horny teenagers when it comes to women and how they depict them, but it seems that the Futurama writers really have a immature attitude when it comes to women characters and sex. Maybe it is just me, but it seems like they really upped it in the movie, with the Leela/Amy make-out session. I admit, it was funny, but after thinking about it, it seemed somewhat out of character for Leela to do that, especially with Amy (and yes, I know it wasn't the real Amy...still).
* Yellow Submarine. Personally, I didn't like the intro. It wasn't as clever as the one in BwaBB and this one seemed like they wanted to do the bit again.
* The whole fantasy/LotR thing. I remember that this movie was talked up by the producers for being very fantasy based (and the previews seemed to support that), but it was only part of the movie for a very short period of time. Also, it seems completely out of place in this story. The story is moving along in one direction, then - BOOM - we are in a completely new story with superfluous connections to the what came earlier. Also, it was never explained what this place was and why only Fry and Leela seemed to be aware of their lives in the main universe. Didn't care for the segment to the point that I started to doze in the middle of it.
* Can we have one Futurama continuation movie where Bender doesn't go insane or is forced to act out of character for some reason?
Overall, I think I will have to give it a thumbs down. I'll probably watch it again to check out the commentary (those are usually pretty good) and to jot notes for my personal timeline project. Perhaps I'll gain a better appreciation for it.
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Christopher, I am surprised by your continuity comments. Not that I necessarily disagree with you, but I remember we had a debate on the issue when BBS came out and you seemed to take an opposite opinion of what you are indicating now.
