Futurama: Bender's Game (2008)

Bender's Game is another "extended" Futurama feature that runs as long as three half-hour episodes. As such, it's a bit goofier and more rewarding than a single episode because the story arc is at least as creative but runs longer and tighter. Its opening credits begin with a psychedelic Yellow Submarine journey that suggests anything may be fair game here, even an alternate-universe storyline. As our story begins, Cubert and three nerdy friends are playing Dungeons and Dragons while the Dr. Farnsworth and Planet Express are facing an impending shortage of the dark matter pellets that fuel all space travel and are a monopolized commodity controlled by MomCorp. Soon the crew discovers the truth about dark matter's origins and is fighting Mom and her minions (from her three stupid sons to her hordes of deadly but stupid killbots) to defeat her controlling and nihilistic plans. They also pass through a series of virtual-reality scenarios that form an extensive spoof of Lord of the Rings as well as other sci-fi and fantasy sagas. (Hear George Takei mutter "Way to kill the franchise, Bakula.") I like this Futurama feature better than all the others and I would watch it again with my youngest. 4.5 stars. (2-2-11)