Tripping the Rift

They're rude, crude, and thoroughly unrespectable. And now, the crew of the Jupiter 42 is uncensored in Tripping the Rift: The Movie, the first feature-length adventure from the popular Canadian animated series. By "uncensored," the producers mean that the gloves are off in regard to language and sexual innuendo, though nudity remains off the table (a disappointment, one might assume, for admirers of Rift's voluptuous android, Six of Nine, who's voiced by Jenny McCarthy). And the added level of raunch does boost the level of laughs in this occasionally lightweight story, which has Captain Chode (Stephen Root) and his crew serving as bodyguards for a hideous princess while avoiding a clown-faced robot assassin. The series' penchant for knocking (or paying tribute to) pop-culture touchstones gets a workout here, with nods to Young Frankenstein (the black-and-white animation looks terrific), The Terminator, and even Desperate Housewives. The endless riffing and sophomoric humor wears thin after a while, but series fans should find it all to their liking. The DVD includes a brief featurette offering interviews with Root, McCarthy, and voice talent Maurice LaMarche and John Melendez, as well as previews for other Anchor Bay titles. --Paul Gaita