Futurama: Into The Wild Green Yonder

All good things must come to an end. Some argue that happened to Futurama with the demise of its weekly television episodes. Still, its straight-to-DVD films have kept the show going, even if on shaky legs. At that, Into The Wild Green Yonder is the fourth and final feature-length episode, wrapping everything up in a pretty little package. The universe is on the cusp of major change: either a new Green Age will open, reviving every extinct creature lost since the beginning of time, or it will be horrifically destroyed. As is standard practice with Futurama, this hinges on the ignorance of one character and the folly/heroism of the Planet Express crew. With Into The Wild Green Yonder, Leo Wong builds a gargantuan, planet-destroying mini-golf park while Leela joins a feminist/ecological group to stop him. Wrapped up in their shenanigans, Fry must come to the rescue. It's a simple plot yet thanks to the characteristic twists and turns, coupled with sly humour, non-sequiturs and visual one-offs, Into The Wild Green Yonder blossoms into one of the strongest of the four films. And, as it is the grand finale, with a requisite loose ending, just in case, there's a touch of pseudo-romance. As with its precursors, Into The Wild Green Yonder is replete with more special features than one would expect. From an audio commentary by Matt Groening, David X. Cohen to animatics, a featurette on Groening and Cohen in a weightlessness simulation, a comedic documentary on the making of Futurama, deleted scenes, how to draw characters and shorts "Bender's Movie Theatre Ettiquette" and "Zapp Brannigan's Guite To Making Love At A Woman," the bonus material is almost enough to justify this wild green experience. Still, while not overwhelming, Into The Wild Green Yonder is an enjoyable cap to the Futurama saga.