Futurama’s direct-to-DVD revival continues with The Beast With a Billion Backs. This entry picks up right at the end of Bender’s Big Score when innumerous clones of Bender exploded causing a rip in the universe. On the other side of this rip lies a lonely, planet-sized tentacle monster who inhabits our universe with plans on raping all of us. To anyone who is turned off by the weirdness of this premise, yes it is weird, but please don’t be turned off because this is Futurama at its best.
After the last movie, which was driven by a need to address a Futurama-starved fan-base, it’s nice to see this movie take off with a very involving plot. Although nothing emerges from the rip until about forty-five minutes into the film, the questions surrounding it are more than intriguing. This helps the pacing tremendously and makes the movie feel like a movie, unlike Bender’s Big Score which felt like four episodes put together.
The film, like many of the original episodes, centers around Fry’s loneliness in the 31st century. Usually his target is Leela, throwing himself at any chance for a relationship with her. However, after the events of the last film, Fry has moved on and started dating a girl named Colleen. The relationship goes so well that Fry ends up moving in with her. When he arrives at her place, he finds out that she is also dating four other guys, all of whom also live with her. Fry tries to make it work, but he just can’t handle it.
Meanwhile, Professor Farnsworth and Dr. Wernstrom are busy trying to figure out what this rip in the universe is and how to protect ourselves from it in case it turns dangerous. They find out that living things can pass through the rip, but mechanical objects cannot. Upon learning this, Fry decides to leave the universe and try to find a companion in the new one. He ends up finding Yivo, voiced by David Cross, who latches a tentacle to the back of Fry’s neck and carries him back to Earth to rule over mankind.
I liked the introduction of Yivo into this world. We already had a “God” character in the episode Godfellas, and then he made another appearance in Bender’s Big Score, albeit just for a moment. Although Yivo wants to control everyone in the universe, he really is just a lonely monster who is looking for love. In Christianity, God loves us and wants our love in return, but we are given a choice whether or not to reciprocate that love. Yivo forcefully seeks our love, basically raping people, but once his tentacle is attached the love is automatically sent back. There is not a person attached to Yivo who regrets it.
The dynamic between Fry, Yivo, and Fry’s new girlfriend Colleen is very interesting. All three are seeking love, yet Fry wants a one-on-one relationship with another person while Colleen and Yivo want to love everyone freely and see nothing wrong in this. Both Yivo and Colleen also are afraid that people will reject their love and do what they can to keep it. They both do not want their companions to seek out others, and both make this very clear. At one point Yivo decrees that none of his followers are allowed contact with anyone except his other followers. To me, this sounds a lot like “Thou shall have no other God before me.” Limiting contact to only other followers means that nobody will be able to find out about another God to follow, which gives Yivo some security.
While Yivo’s attempts are more forceful and obvious, Colleen does get very upset when Fry dumps her. Although she does not feel she needs to change her polygamist ways, she does want Fry to be with her. Comparing God to a clingy, yet slutty girlfriend is something which will no doubt turn many viewers off, but it is a very thought-provoking interpretation of Christianity.
For those seeking a more simplistic viewing, The Beast With a Billion Backs is very funny and very entertaining. The animation is very well done and certain scenes are a joy to just look at. One of my favorites was the scene where Fry goes into the other universe by himself and floats along in a world of nothingness.
The comedy is also there too. While most of the movie is driven by the comedic premise used to set up a philosophical debate on love and God, Bender is still Bender and there are plenty of jokes and sight-gags to keep you entertained. This movie may not be as funny as Bender’s Big Score, but it’s funny enough.
The one problem I did have with this film was the timing of some of the jokes. This film is significantly darker than anything Futurama has done before, and there were some missed opportunities to take the film a step further. Where reflection was needed on some of the more somber moments, an unnecessary, albeit usually very funny joke was often inserted to lighten the mood, which was very distracting. If the film had a little more room to breathe in some areas, it could have been a very powerful piece of work added to the Futurama canon.
This movie ranks up there with the best of the original episodes of Futurama. I hope that the next movie is as thought provoking as this one, and if it’s not, then at least I hope it’s a very funny romp. Hopefully these movies will be a huge success and the show will be brought back, but if not, I’m happy we at least got this movie.
I liked the introduction of Yivo into this world. We already had a “God” character in the episode Godfellas, and then he made another appearance in Bender’s Big Score, albeit just for a moment. Although Yivo wants to control everyone in the universe, he really is just a lonely monster who is looking for love. In Christianity, God loves us and wants our love in return, but we are given a choice whether or not to reciprocate that love. Yivo forcefully seeks our love, basically raping people, but once his tentacle is attached the love is automatically sent back. There is not a person attached to Yivo who regrets it.The dynamic between Fry, Yivo, and Fry’s new girlfriend Colleen is very interesting. All three are seeking love, yet Fry wants a one-on-one relationship with another person while Colleen and Yivo want to love everyone freely and see nothing wrong in this. Both Yivo and Colleen also are afraid that people will reject their love and do what they can to keep it. They both do not want their companions to seek out others, and both make this very clear. At one point Yivo decrees that none of his followers are allowed contact with anyone except his other followers. To me, this sounds a lot like “Thou shall have no other God before me.” Limiting contact to only other followers means that nobody will be able to find out about another God to follow, which gives Yivo some security.
While Yivo’s attempts are more forceful and obvious, Colleen does get very upset when Fry dumps her. Although she does not feel she needs to change her polygamist ways, she does want Fry to be with her. Comparing God to a clingy, yet slutty girlfriend is something which will no doubt turn many viewers off, but it is a very thought-provoking interpretation of Christianity.
For those seeking a more simplistic viewing, The Beast With a Billion Backs is very funny and very entertaining. The animation is very well done and certain scenes are a joy to just look at. One of my favorites was the scene where Fry goes into the other universe by himself and floats along in a world of nothingness.
The comedy is also there too. While most of the movie is driven by the comedic premise used to set up a philosophical debate on love and God, Bender is still Bender and there are plenty of jokes and sight-gags to keep you entertained. This movie may not be as funny as Bender’s Big Score, but it’s funny enough.
The one problem I did have with this film was the timing of some of the jokes. This film is significantly darker than anything Futurama has done before, and there were some missed opportunities to take the film a step further. Where reflection was needed on some of the more somber moments, an unnecessary, albeit usually very funny joke was often inserted to lighten the mood, which was very distracting. If the film had a little more room to breathe in some areas, it could have been a very powerful piece of work added to the Futurama canon.
This movie ranks up there with the best of the original episodes of Futurama. I hope that the next movie is as thought provoking as this one, and if it’s not, then at least I hope it’s a very funny romp. Hopefully these movies will be a huge success and the show will be brought back, but if not, I’m happy we at least got this movie.
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