DVD Review

Marvel Animation 6-Film Collection

Official Synopsis:

Get into the action with The Invincible Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Wolverine, Captain America and more of the mightiest names in the Marvel universe for this action-packed 6-DVD set of Marvel Animated Features - the first-ever animated full length movies from Marvel! Bursting with the thrilling stories and animation that stay true to their comic book roots, these six films deliver the ultimate Marvel experience!

Includes:

Ultimate Avenges: The Movie
Ultimate Avengers: 2
Next Avengers: Heroes Of Tomorrow
The Invincible Iron Man
Doctor Strange
Hulk Vs

Our Take:

The Marvel Animation 6-Film Collection is a nice box set from Lionsgate that includes six previously-released DVDs. While there isn't any new added content for this set, it makes for an awfully nice gift for superhero fans, or an affordable way to collect all of the current Lionsgate Marvel animated films.

First up are Ultimate Avengers and Ultimate Avengers 2.

I know that the traditional wisdom says that sequels are supposed to be inferior to their predecessors, but that certainly isn't the case with Ultimate Avengers 2. The first Ultimate Avengers animated movie is a fun ride, but I think it's less exciting for me because, as such a big comic book fan, I already knew the origins of the characters (even the Ultimate versions). Since a large chunk of that movie was spent establishing characters and origins, it didn't overwhelm me.

The second film, on the other hand, is pure action from start to finish. Not to say there aren't character moments in the film, but Ultimate Avengers 2 is pretty exciting stuff. What's great about these direct-to-video animated premieres is that Ultimate Avengers is the type of project that could never be a live-action movie; the budget needed to bring this movie to life would be prohibitively huge. In the animated realm, though, anything is possible. The filmmakers don't waste any time showing us exactly how few limits they have in budget or imagination. Ultimate Avengers 2 is BIG. Big action, big villains, big fights, big explosions, it's just plain BIG. And there is nothing wrong with that.

Neither Ultimate Avengers nor Ultimate Avengers 2 is a perfect film, but they sure are a lot of fun. Fans of the comics or the characters should have a good time with these.

Who would have thought that Marvel’s best animated movie would come in the form Next Avengers: Heroes Of Tomorrow – a title that is aimed at a younger audience than any of its predecessors? This should be a good lesson to Marvel in letting comic book writers come out of their shells and script the heroes they are so good at writing in the land of movies as well as comics.

In this case, those writers are Craig Kyle and Chris Yost, who are best known for creating X-23 and revamping the New X-Men title in a great way. This team is no stranger to writing younger characters and Chris Yost excels at creating these new, vivid characters in a strong way. All of the updates he’s done crafted for these children of the Avengers that we all know and love are excellent. Azari has the catlike prowess of his father, the Black Panther, as well as an inert mutant power to control electricity much in the way his mother, Storm, could call down lightning. The best update in the kids though is with James, Captain America and Black Widow’s son. Besides having all the skills of the both of them, his shield is a digital creation that pops up out of mechanism attached to his forearm… and it’s sweet looking.

Ultron is a major baddie in the Marvel Universe and he’s had a big role this past year in titles such as Mighty Avengers and Annihilation, so it’s no surprise that he becomes the end-all bad guy in Next Avengers. When we see Ultron beat and kill the actual Avengers it’s believable, and that right there is plenty of drama to set us up to worry about how these new heroes will be able to stop Ultron 15 years after the deaths of their parents.

With Next Avengers: Heroes Of Tomorrow, we have the first Marvel animated venture to not only rival that which DC puts out on a regular basis but to actually stand alongside in quality and content. This animated movie is one not to miss.

For people who haven't seen it, there's been some confusion over what Hulk Vs. is all about. The answer is that it's two “features” released in one package on two separate discs, with each disc running for about 40 minutes. Okay, that makes sense and it was about what I was expecting Lionsgate to do, so… cool.

Up first is Hulk Vs. Wolverine. This is the lesser of the two movies; it’s actually downright disappointing. What we get here is a slight mish-mash of Incredible Hulk #181 and the Weapon X storyline but really all you get is a fight scene. And, okay, it’s a cool fight scene but that was exactly what I was afraid of with this release – all action, no story. Craig Kyle (one of the writers and producers) states in an interview that this was really just a prelude for the Wolverine and The X-Men show, and that’s what it feels like: a 40-minute trailer.

Hulk Vs. Thor, on the other hand, is the complete opposite of that; tons of story and tons of action. This feels like I plunked down $3.99 for a one-shot comic that paid off, versus the one-shot that had no substance whatsoever and existed solely on the basis of filler. Also, being the longer of the two it helps me feel just in buying the product and coming away with just this segment.

Hulk Vs. Wolverine feels like a Marvel mandated story that didn’t give the writers much room to write, whereas Hulk Vs. Thor is a story where the writers got to do and say what they wanted to. Coming away from the Hulk Vs. experience at 50/50 still has me leaning more towards the win column for the set overall.

When I first reviewed The Invincible Iron Man on DVD, here's what I said about it:

“If any Marvel character was right for an animated series, Iron Man has to be near the top of that list. While there is a live-action film in production, the prohibitively expensive cost of creating the suit makes Tony Stark's alter ego perfect for the animated world.”

Well, it turns out that that “prohibitively expensive” suit did just fine at the box office a couple of years ago, and it also resulted in one of the best and most popular super hero films in years. So for those of you who are new to the world of Tony Stark and company courtesy of the box office juggernaut that was Iron Man, how does this earlier animated adventure hold up?

Marvel and Lionsgate's new The Invincible Iron Man is a flawed but entertaining first crack at the Man of Iron. The biggest problem with the film is that it takes way too long to get going. You don't see any version of the Iron Man armor for the first half-hour of the film. This worked in the live-action film, but the animated movie is only 83 minutes long. I understand the need for an origin story, but I think it could have been seriously streamlined. Once the action kicks in, though, The Invincible Iron Man is a fairly exciting ride. Kids especially should love it due to the action and the various armored characters, even though it's not really geared for the real little ones. Of course, adults who loved the live-action film may also find themselves disappointed as this flick isn’t nearly as good.

I think Iron Man could make for a great animated franchise, especially since the movie was such a hit. This could be a great series of features to keep fans interested between live action sequels. I wish The Invincible Iron Man was a stronger first entry, but if you give it a chance to get going, it is pretty cool overall.

One of the weaker films in the bunch is Doctor Strange. Much like the character himself, Doctor Strange as an animated movie is kind of dull. This origin story is serviceable, and it should be entertaining to fans of the character, but all the mystic mumbo jumbo just doesn't do all that much for me. Still, it's nice to have it included in this box set, along with its extra features:

Special Features:

Ultimate Avengers -

Avengers Assemble Featurette
The Ultimate Voice Talent Search
First Look At Ultimate Avengers II
Avengers Trivia Track
What Avenger Are You? - DVD Rom Game
Animated Interactive Menus

Ultimate Avengers 2 -

The Ultimates (24 minutes) - An excellent featurette on the comic book origins of the Ultimate Avengers. Features interviews with Marvel Comics luminaries such as Bryan Hitch, Mark Millar, and Joe Quesada.
The Ultimate Gag Reel (4 minutes) - A very funny "blooper" reel, with a hilarious running joke involving Iron Man and barbecue ribs.
First Look: Iron Man (3 minutes) - A featurette on the upcoming animated DVD.
First Look: Dr. Strange (2 minutes) - A featurette on the upcoming animated DVD.
DVD ROM Game - What Avenger Are You?

Next Avengers -

Legacy: The Making Of Next Avengers Heroes Of Tomorrow (11 minutes) – Craig Kyle, Chris Yost, and others break down all the characters and how and why they were designed in the ways they were.
Kid Power: Next-Gen Marvel (10 minutes) – A breakdown of all the entertainment aimed at the younger audiences in Marvel Comics today.

Hulk Vs.

Audio Commentary by Craig Kyle and Chris Yost
Audio Commentary by Frank Paur, Kevin Altieri, and Butch Lukic
This Is Gonna Hurt: The Making of Hulk vs. Wolverine (20 minutes)
Fan Frenzy: Hulk vs. Wolverine at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con (8 minutes)
First Look: Wolverine and the X-Men (6 minutes)
Audio Commentary by Craig Kyle and Chris Yost
Audio Commentary by Frank Paur, Sam Liu, and James Peters
Of Gods and Monsters: The Making of Hulk vs. Thor (18 minutes)
Jack Kirby and Thor (5 minutes)
First Look: Thor: Tales of Asgard (5 minutes)

The Invincible Iron Man -

Alternate Opening Sequence (3 minutes) - Just what it sounds like.
The Origin of Iron Man (12 minutes) - A history of the character.
The Hall of Iron Man - An in-depth text and artwork feature on all of Iron Man's various suits through comics history.
Iron Man Concept Art (3 minutes) - A gallery of conceptual art for the film.
A Look at Doctor Strange (7 minutes) - A featurette on the Doctor Strange animated movie.

Doctor Strange -

Best of Marvel Video Game Cinematics - The full cinematic CGI videos from the video games Ultimate Alliance (11 minutes) and X-Men Legends II (10 minutes). Even though it has nothing to do with Doc Strange, this is actually a pretty cool feature, as it's like watching mini-CGI movies starring our favorite superheroes.
The Origin of Dr. Strange (14 minutes) - An excellent look at the character's comic book origins. Features interviews with Stan Lee and numerous comic book talents.
First Look at Avengers Reborn (6 minutes) - A preview featurette on the new animated project.
Doctor Strange Concept Art (2 minutes)

Conclusion:

A terrific box set filled with mostly very enjoyable movies, the Marvel Animation 6-Film Collection is a great jumping on point for fans of comic books, superheroes, or just great animation.

Overall Picture:

Movies (average): B+
Extra Features: A

- Mike Spring & Landen Chase Pelish
Editor & Staff Writer