If Billion Backs doesn't quite hit the high watermark of the series' best episodes, it certainly settles into a hilarious above average groove, spurning the shippers and embracing the series' light affable charm. While some gags (like the "superman" one) fall like lead balloons, there are so many good moments (including a bevy of fine "mourning" jokes) it's hard to fault the film its few missteps.
For those that thought Bender's Big Score gave the short shrift to the ancillary characters in favor of a Fry/Leela/Bender story, you will be glad to know that Billion Backs is more of an ensemble piece with humor coming more from the characters than the plot and does not get bogged down in the show's labyrinthine mythology nor overly obsessed with callbacks to the series -though familiarity with this universe is essential to enjoyment still.
Without spoiling the plot, which follows-up on the finale of Big Score, I need to mention how wildly inventive the A story is. What at first seems like something you've seen before in a million bad sci-fi movies gets a hugely rewarding, hugely surprising plot twist. While the trailers may have given away the gist of it, what the film does to follow up on it, is absolutely deranged. If only the Bender B-story was as fresh and interesting.
Billion Backs feels less like a fully realized film than Bender's Big Score did, and maybe that works in its favor. In spite of the epic nature of its finale, the film never really creates feelings of peril and lacks the dramatic punch of Big Score but instead delivers more shots to the funny bone.
To quote Phillip J Fry: "Woah. It kinda takes your breath away." (Oxygen System Failure)
For those that thought Bender's Big Score gave the short shrift to the ancillary characters in favor of a Fry/Leela/Bender story, you will be glad to know that Billion Backs is more of an ensemble piece with humor coming more from the characters than the plot and does not get bogged down in the show's labyrinthine mythology nor overly obsessed with callbacks to the series -though familiarity with this universe is essential to enjoyment still.
Without spoiling the plot, which follows-up on the finale of Big Score, I need to mention how wildly inventive the A story is. What at first seems like something you've seen before in a million bad sci-fi movies gets a hugely rewarding, hugely surprising plot twist. While the trailers may have given away the gist of it, what the film does to follow up on it, is absolutely deranged. If only the Bender B-story was as fresh and interesting.
Billion Backs feels less like a fully realized film than Bender's Big Score did, and maybe that works in its favor. In spite of the epic nature of its finale, the film never really creates feelings of peril and lacks the dramatic punch of Big Score but instead delivers more shots to the funny bone.
To quote Phillip J Fry: "Woah. It kinda takes your breath away." (Oxygen System Failure)