Iron Man and Hulk, two of the most popular superheroes in Marvel’s vast stable, are getting the team-up treatment in the new direct-to-video release Marvel’s Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United from Marvel Animation Studios. The duo is forced to put their differences aside when H.Y.D.R.A. unwittingly unleashes the villain Zzzax when a failed experiment on The Hulk goes wrong. The Blu-Ray release is a bit thin on material, but the chemistry between the lead characters brings some needed heart to a fairly bland adventure.[pullquote_right]Tatasciore pulls off the angry, yet gentle giant duality quite well while displaying an excellent chemistry with Pasdar. [/pullquote_right]
Reprising their roles from the current animated series Marvel’s Avengers Assemble on Disney XD, Adrian Pasdar (Heroes) returns to bring his own, distinctly not Robert Downey Jr., brand of smarm and charm to Tony Stark/Iron Man and Fred Tatasciore puts in his best work to date as The Hulk.
In keeping with TV series, The Hulk is a more articulate and intelligent compared to the big screen film incarnation and Tatasciore pulls off the angry, yet gentle giant duality quite well while displaying an excellent chemistry with Pasdar.
The core of the film is the banter and growing friendship between the two heroes because unfortunately there’s not much else in the story to make Marvel’s Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United anything all that special. Dee Bradley Baker as Zzzax is the normal over-the-top villain with no real motivations, and is never really much more than a visually interesting adversary. It’s fun seeing Iron Man and Hulk throw down then build their friendship, but when you don’t really care who they’re smashing along the way, things can get repetitive.
[pullquote_left]Since the animation is Marvel’s first foray into the CG animated realm, there are some definite growing pains.[/pullquote_left]The film looks pretty sharp on Blu-Ray, but since the animation is Marvel’s first foray into the CG animated realm there are some definite growing pains. Marvel’s Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United uses a lot of the bright electric effect on much of the CG making a good portion of the film look like Tron on steroids.
Watching it on Blu-Ray only amplifies the colors and it all becomes a bit overkill and distracting. The best looking scene in the film takes place in a cemetery where all the colors are muted down, letting the fairly well done designs of Iron Man and Hulk finally be appreciated.
The special features are minimal, consisting of a chat between Marvel’s Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada and Marvel’s executive editor Ryan Penagos about different superhero team-ups throughout the universe. The conversation is a fun history lesson but ultimately forgettable. [pullquote_right]This adventure could have fallen completely flat and the weak special feature supplements do not help.[/pullquote_right]
The only other special feature, which should be familiar to anyone who has watched the Marvel animation block on Disney XD, is a group of Marvel Mash-Ups which are shorts of classic Marvel cartoons over-dubbed with humorous voice overs. Just like on the TV block, the shorts range from pretty darn funny to extremely annoying, but a neat feature does have the shorts pop-up during “intermission” if you pause the feature film.
This superhero team-up is a flawed yet small step in the right direction for Marvel Animation Studios, but they still have a long way to go to compete with quality of their rival DC’s animation line. Without the exceptional characterizations and voice work for the two leads, this adventure could have fallen completely flat, and the weak special feature supplements do not help. Overall, it’s an enjoyable enough release to appease fans and give a Marvel fix to anyone that needs it on your holiday shopping lists.
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