6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.1 |
Iron Man is framed by a technological terrorist and breaks out to clear his name.
Starring: Norman Reedus, Matthew Mercer, Kate Higgins, Eric Bauza, James Mathis IIIAction | 100% |
Comic book | 88% |
Sci-Fi | 65% |
Anime | 27% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Thai
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Who will be in control: man or machine?
Sony's animated Iron Man: Rise of Technovore limps out onto the direct-to-video marketplace only weeks before a Summer movie rush
headlined by the live action Iron Man 3. Chances are high that the latter is going to find significantly more
success with
its product. Rise of Technovore is a poorly assembled, lazily structured, verbally babbling, and sometimes completely incoherent Superhero
adventure that lacks
the charisma of both the comics and each of the Robert Downey, Jr. live action films. Technovore settles instead for a ridiculous and
unnecessarily verbose and pompous story fueled by a villain of the
same traits. The picture is defined by bland animation, awful dialogue, and repetitive action. It's saved -- barely -- by decent lead character voice
performances and a nice assemblage of Marvel favorites beyond the title lead, but that's hardly enough to mask a story that zaps all the fun out of
the hero
characters and dialogue that brings the movie's pace to a grinding halt, never mind the grind on the ears with its excess of needlessly flowery
exposition that neither helps shape the film nor the villain in much of a meaningful manner.
It's a drag of an animated movie that might satisfy if one tunes out the story and just watches for the action, but then again the bland visuals and
unoriginal action elements are
sure
to suck the life out of that kind of watch as well.
Iron Man.
Iron Man: Rise of Technovore features a terribly bland high definition transfer sourced from material that never really takes advantage of the format's high resolution muscle. The picture offers flat, nonexistent detailing. Characters are shaped by simple lines and nearly no features beyond the basics are evident; a few lines meant to replicate scrapes on Iron Man's armor are about as good as real detailing goes. Background elements and even the digital readouts inside Stark's Iron Man suit are hazy and lack anything resembling crisp definition. Colors are just as uninspired. The red and yellow Iron Man suit lacks vibrancy, as does most any natural or manmade background or foreground element. However, these are not necessarily a fault of the transfer but seem to be the result of purely uninspired animation that gives the Blu-ray little with which to work. There is also some banding to be seen across mostly monochromatic skies, and some of the objects in the film show some jagged edges and light shimmering. It's hardly a pristine picture, but it would appear most of the blame lays at the source rather than Sony's technical work on the transfer and disc.
Iron Man: Rise of Technovore features several lossless multichannel DTS tracks. Generally, they're of high quality and deliver action robustly. There's a fairly good presence to the Rock-inspired music heard at the beginning of the film. It's generously spaced and balanced with a good surround support element. Clarity is fine, and all of the film's subsequent musical elements may be described the same. The first shootout/explosions/action scene offers a high yielding action environment that throws material around the stage with good balance and heft. Bass is suitably deep, gunfire is adequately potent, and the general din of mayhem is fairly immersive. The track features plenty of whiz-bang activity as Iron Man zips around the stage to largely seamless effect. There's a good low, quiet hum in the background, giving a sense of large, empty silence in the "white room" occupied by the villain. Dialogue is clear and focused in the middle throughout the film.
Iron Man: Rise of Technovore contains a few short extras.
Iron Man: Rise of Technovore doesn't work particularly well on any level. The story and script don't compliment the action; the former is overcooked and the latter nothing special. The animation would have to work hard to appear any more bland. The voice acting ranges from good to acceptable, with the former covering only the lead characters. There's not much here, and while it's something of an apples-to-oranges comparison beyond the name given the differences in budget and style, this Iron Man absolutely pales next to the vastly superior live action films. Sony's Blu-ray release of Iron Man: Rise of Technovore features bland video that's more a fault of the source material than the transfer. Also included is a good lossless soundtrack and a couple of extras. Those still curious after the review should rent before committing to a purchase.
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