Well, Matt Groening and company have certainly proved this year that they are no "one-hit wonders." With the ongoing success of The Simpsons, as well as a successful new Simpsons theatrical feature, Groening could have cashed in there with pride. But many years back another TV show came out of Groening’s camp, Futurama. This show lasted only a few seasons before being canceled. So, how is it that a feature-length DVD is being released here in 2007? Well, the power of geeks (and their money) has scored another victory. It seems that sales of Futurama DVD sets, as well as ratings in reruns, proved to some execs somewhere that they could make money off of more Futurama. Congrats, Matt, and congrats geeks. Futurama is back!

Now, let me begin discussion of the film, Futurama: Bender’s Big Score!, with a disclaimer: I have never seen the TV show. As best I can recall, I’ve never seen a full episode ever. So this review will cover the all important question of "Will the uninitiated like it?" In short, yes; the film is funny and engaging enough to interest a non-fan. But a fan will certainly have a better and richer time watching this feature film than I did.

From what I’ve read online, Futurama is returning as a set of four feature films which will then be split into 12 television episodes and run on Comedy Central. This is a really interesting phenomenon and I’m not sure anything like it has ever happened before. We truly live in an age when media consumers’ dollars speak.

Okay, okay… but what about the movie? Well, it seems the overall plot revolves around a trio of Internet-scamming aliens who scam the entire world and end up owning the planet. A code is discovered that allows time travel and we watch as mainstay characters Fry, Leela, Bender, etc. try to save the planet from the scamming aliens. This is a plot much bigger than an episode of TV could have handled, and the writers hold the confusing time-traveling together well. Fry spends most of the film trying to win the heart of Leela, and Bender spends most of the film trying to kill Fry due to a computer virus that programs him to kill.

I can see why so many fans were created in the short run of this TV show. As I watched and got accustomed to this universe, the laughs really kept coming. I think this is a film that will grow on a viewer after multiple watches, too, because the humor comes through in detailed, rich, on-screen visuals, through vocal performances, through plot devices, you name it. And this is where I believe a true fan would enjoy the film even more than an uninitiated observer.

Spiritually, I would say this film is pretty paper-thin. Futurama’s appeal and drawing power comes from its hilariously rich characters and its bites on current events and pop-culture through a "world of tomorrow." Something that is simple and yet profoundly important for us all is expressed in the spirituality of the film, though. And that is that in order to truly love someone else, we must put their needs before our own. It will reveal very little about the plot to say that Fry must learn this lesson if he is to win the heart of Leela!

From this film we all learn more about the message geeks send to execs when they spend their money than about the Kingdom of God. And yet, as I stated earlier, the simple lesson of love that Fry must learn is something each of us would do well to learn, too. Our example of love gave of His own needs to serve us. We should all try to do the same.