Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder

Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder may not be the best Futurama movie, but it is the last and for that alone it’s a must see. Like previous movies there’s a lot of superfluous plot. Namely Fry & Bender entering a high stakes poker game, which I think they only came up with so Seth MacFarlane could do his Sinatra impersonation for the opening song. That’s about 20 minutes wasted. Although there are some hot (swappable) showgirls so it’s not a complete loss.

Once again Fry’s lack of Delta brainwaves come into play when he’s hit in the head by some Feministas (female eco-terrorists) and discovers he can read minds but that no one can read his. This makes him the ideal recruit for the Legion of Mad Fellows, a secret society dedicated to protecting the Encyclopods (creatures that preserve the DNA of endangered species) from the mysterious mind-reading Dark Ones. They warn that Leo Wong’s construction of the Universe’s biggest miniature golf course will destroy the last remaining Encyclopod and it’s up to Fry to stop him. Adding to his dilemma, Fry can’t tell anyone what he’s doing lest their mind be read by the Dark Ones. This puts a serious strain on his relationship with Leela, who has joined the Feministas and is also trying to stop Wong.

And despite the fate of countless species hanging in the balance that’s the real crux of the story, Fry & Leela’s relationship. In an interview with IGN producer David Cohen promised fans that “It ends on a real sweet note and we’ll be content with that if it’s the last we ever do.” I won’t spoil what happens, but I will say it’s not one of those depressingly sweet endings like Parasites Lost when Fry shows his feelings for Leela by playing the Holophonor but only succeeds after he scares her off with his first attempt, or Time Keeps On Slippin’ when Fry arranges the stars to say “I love you, Leela” but they implode before Leela can see it.

Noteworthy, is the partial nudity, which had reached a crescendo with the shower scene in Bender’s Game but goes “over the top” in Into the Wild Green Yonder. Leave it to Zapp Brannigan to get Leela to take her shirt off and wave it to signal her surrender (picture right). Okay, it’s only under boobage and it’s not very detailed. But for a PG rated mainstream cartoon this is pretty big (like DD big).

And diehard fans will enjoy the inclusion of Number 9 Man, who was a cameo character hidden throughout the first two seasons of the show.

One criticism about the guest star, Penn Jillette. While he did a great job, I can’t help but think Tiger Woods would’ve made a better choice considering it’s much more a golf motif. I know he’s probably expensive but they could’ve just used an impersonator.

Check out yet another unofficial trailer courtesy of L7 World below (deleted because of MegaVideo lawsuit) and remember that if you don’t buy it they won’t make more!