We open with a witty extension of the standard credits: The traditional B&W antique cartoon snippet segues into a retro version of Futurama itself, with all the 31st-century characters looking like something out of Disney's seminal "Steamboat Willie" (1928). Then we race off into the real action.

At the close of the prior film, an inexplicable dimension-spanning rift in space had been opened. After a month of endless anxiety that is really starting to grind down the inhabitants of Earth, it's decided to dispatch the Planet Express ship to investigate the anomaly. (But only after a "scientific" Deathball duel between the Professor and his archrival, Dr. Wernstrom—Deathball being a giant version of the familiar tilt-a-labyrinth tabletop game.) At the rift, Bender is dispatched to make first contact. He discovers that inanimate creatures such as he are not permitted to cross into the adjacent universe. This has the effect of further souring him on humanity (as if he needed any such stimulus). While recuperating in robot hospital, Bender gets a visit from robot soap actor Calculon, which leads to his induction into the secret League of Robots, an anti-human organization. Bender's tenure with this rather ineffective cabal forms a running plot thread and figures into the climax.

Meanwhile, Fry has found a new true love in the form of Police Chief Colleen (Murphy). He's ready to move in with her, which is fine with Colleen—and with her other four boyfriends! Fry tries polyamory for a while, but has his heart broken. (Meanwhile, luckier in love, Amy Wong and her alien boyfriend Kif Kroker have decided to get hitched on Kif's swampy homeworld.) Fry resolves to exile himself to the unknown universe beyond the rift. He does so and is hardly missed by anyone—for a while.

But soon Fry returns with a vengeance. On the other side of the rift existed a single being, Yivo (David Cross), the size of a planet. Possessed of infinite tentacles, Yivo plants suckers of control in everyone he meets, starting with Fry. Soon every sentient fleshy being in the universe is under Yivo's lustful domination.

Does this spell the end of our universe, or the start of the perfect love affair?

In addition to the feature, we get extras such as a commentary track, excised scenes, an interview with David Cross, 3-D model explications, shots of the voice actors at work and, most enjoyably, a full-length episode that was formerly hidden in the bowels of the Futurama video game.

Not quite as big a score

After the marvel that was Bender's Big Score, it was hard to see how the creators of this wonderful show could have topped themselves. The first movie had the impact of a rebirth, for one thing, returning us to a beloved universe we thought was dead. But even beyond that emotional renaissance, the premiere DVD featured a plot of stunning ingenuity, as well as some real character development. Lamentably—or perhaps, forgivably—the creators have not opted for that extraordinary level of genius here. Instead, they have "merely" crafted a film that's as funny as any average episode from the first four seasons of the show. While this insures a high standard of laughs and SF satire, it simply does not measure up fully to the first film.

Let's examine the main plot and the subplots for their different levels of entertainment and originality.

The notion of a lovesick living world that turns all of creation into its sex toys is agreeably daft. It's like some R-rated version of Marvel Comics' Ego the Living Planet, which is probably a bullpen joke writers have been making for decades. But the practicalities of such a thing are utterly disregarded—an unusual failure for this show, which tries to be scrupulous about scientific accuracy most of the time. (Just a line about the tentacles using interdimensional wormholes would have been enough.) Even if we can believe that tentacular connections to every mobile being could exist without infinite everyday entanglement, the notion of "quadrillions" of beings crammed into one planet beggars belief. And then to have them all packed into a single rescue ship at the end—feh! Also, the heavenly symbolism toward the end comes out of left field. Is Yivo a horny single or a deity? The scripters never really decide.

The subplot involving the League of Robots is less than stellar, since all they do is sit around their secret HQ and act effete, like a Victorian gentleman's club. More amusing is the marriage of Amy and Kif, which seems to riff on Star Trek's famous "Amok Time" episode. Mention of such an allusion leads me to reaffirm that the writers remain adept at sticking really funny easter eggs—both visual and dialogue-driven—into the show. They are truly conversant with the landmarks of the genre. Additionally, they remain inventive with satirical jabs, such as the "Old Farmer's Wikipedia." But little new in the way of political or cultural zingers arise. Nixon's Head is getting a bit stale. Couldn't it have been John McCain's?

The artwork and animation remain superb, however, offering great eye candy.

The preview of Bender's Game reveals a Lord of the Rings parody that promises some new territory for the Planet Express team. But I suspect that nothing will ever match the first film again.