Is this the end of Futurama? Certainly the end of the fourth and final direct-to-DVD movies, Into the Wild Green Yonder,can be taken that way. Fans will hope not of course, especially given the fact that Green Yonder appears to be the best of the four, more fully capturing the voice of the beloved series that was heinously cancelled by the Fox Network in 2003. Combining the series’ strong undercurrent of environmental themes along with the classical bizarrely motivated characters (some of us) have grown to know and love. And by the time the credits roll, even the most jaded of fan must sit back and hope for a Nixon head like comeback for the Planet Express Ship crew.

The story basically follows the various threads of the series: Leela takes a moral stand while Professor Farnsworth collects a cheque for doing the opposite; Bender follows his own worst instincts; and Fry continues to pine for Leela while discover once again that he’s uniquely qualified to be the universe’s saviour. Most of the plot centres around the capitalistic father of Amy Wong, who tears down the old Mars Vegas in order to build a new, richer one before moving on to plough an entire solar system for a miniature golf course. The move makes Leela join a group of radical environmental feminists, while Fry learns from “The Legion of Mad Fellows” that it’s his destiny to stop Mr. Wong from killing the last Encyclopod, who would be killed in the construction of the golf course.

On the one hand, this Futurama is a downer because of the sense of finality, but on the other, the writers have seemed to “find it” again with all the winking nods to sci-fi past and the little jabs of smarter-than-thou science humour. What makes Futurama zing though is the characters, and in Green Yonder they’re each given some neat turns, and any characters that do get the short-shrift do get something; like the improbably team-up of the Professor, Hermes and Zoidberg as the ship’s new crew. Plus the story itself flows much better in this film, as all the stories seem tied together better and are less episodic.

Mostly though it feels like a lot of effort was put into making this Futurama one for the fans; a love letter of sorts. It’s to their unending loyalty to which Green Yonder is dedicated. Pretty much all your favourite minor characters make an appearance in one way, shape or form even if it’s just in the huge crowd seen at the end. In fact, only two familiar faces are missing, I think: Leonard Nimoy and Al Gore. But if it’s a celebrity cameo you want, you’ve got Snoop Dogg to fill the gap, and Penn Jillette voices his floating head future self, with Teller represented by a decaying cranium bopping in his jar silently next to Penn.

But if this be the last Futurama, then it certainly ends in a satisfying fashion. Zapp Brannigan finally gets visibly fed up with Kif’s constant resignation, Number 9 seems to have a bigger role than anyone realized and the headless body of Spiro Agnew meets a ghastly fate. Things also seem to be coming together for Fry and Leela in a romantic sense before the film ends with both the promise that there might be more to come and the potential that this might be the true end for the adventurous gang from Planet Express. Although not quite as sharp as it was in its heyday, Futurama still has wit and style enough for numerous comedies, live-action or animated. If this is the last then I’m sorry to see it go, but it leaves us off at a great place to move forward from. Either way, I think we’re cool.