5.9 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.8 |
Past and present collide in this epic adventure that reveals the origin of Iron Man. While raising the ruins of a long buried Chinese kingdom, billionaire inventor Tony Stark digs up far more than he bargained for. He unleashes an age-old prophecy that foretells the resurrection of the Mandarin, the emperor of China's darkest and most violent dynasty. In order to confront the destructive force, Tony creates an armored suit infused with high-tech weaponry. To stop the evil that he himself has raised form the earth, Tony must become his greatest invention ever - Iron Man! The newly born champion must travel to the four corners of the earth to battle the Mandarin's henchmen, the Elementals - four magical warriors who harness the power of the elements - earth, water, wind, and fire - with deadly chemistry. But is the Iron Knight, as he his known in the prophecy, strong enough to defy fate and turn back the malevolent forces hell-bent on earth's destruction?
Starring: Marc Worden, Fred Tatasciore, Gwendoline Yeo, Rodney Saulsberry, Elisa GabrielliAction | 100% |
Comic book | 80% |
Adventure | 79% |
Fantasy | 72% |
Sci-Fi | 72% |
Animation | 61% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 EX
English, English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
These armors will change the world.
It might have come before 2008's mega-blockbuster Iron Man, but the
animated The Invincible Iron Man nevertheless finds itself dwarfed by Director Jon
Favreau's fan favorite and genre-defining comic book adaptation in stature, style, and strength. It's
not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison, seeing as the difference in visual style, story, talent,
and budget is so great between the two films, but The Invincible Iron Man isn't merely or
unjustly shrouded by its live-action counterpart. No, this animated adventure falls apart on its own
merits, coming up short in nearly every crucial facet: voice acting, script, and most importantly,
story. Tedious, tiresome, and trite, The Invincible Iron Man plods along with stale fight
scenes, choppy animation, bad dialogue, poorly-developed characters, and sluggish pacing, all of
which
equal a dud of a movie that's of poor quality from top to bottom, but looks even worse when
compared to the genius of the live-action adaptation.
I believe I can fly!
The Invincible Iron Man treks onto Blu-ray with a clunky but serviceable 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer. One of the primary hindrances is the animation style itself; it's choppy, lacking an organic flow, and action or other fast-moving shots appear blurred and often without a trace of fine detail. However, more stagnant images appear as good to exceptional; lines are crisp and well-defined, fine details in the animation can appear rather striking, and colors -- albeit somewhat subdued -- seem true to the source. Indeed, the 1080p transfer does bring to life many backgrounds and nicely-rendered foreground details, particularly of the more complexly-drawn characters and suits of armor. Still, the image can look a bit flat at times, and banding can range from minute in some scenes to excessive in others. Overall, the image isn't poor, but a few visual distractions may bother some viewers.
The Invincible Iron Man suits up on Blu-ray with a strongly-realized DTS-HD MA 7.1 lossless soundtrack. While engaging, active, and robust, the track doesn't quite reach the zenith of high definition audio; it does everything right but nothing extraordinarily. One major hindrance is dialogue that is sometimes forced to compete with surrounding effects, the result occasionally garbled words or sound effects that could have done with some fine-tuning. However, the track does toss plenty of surround activity into the equation; there's an abundance of loud and aggressive sound effects that spill from and maneuver about every speaker in the 7.1 configuration. Both action-oriented effects, such as gunfire and explosions, and less vigorous and occasionally nuanced atmospherics, such as thunder, all work to create a pleasing and fairly seamless environment in both action and dialogue-heavy scenes. Of particular note is a low end that's more than willing to spew out some chest-rattling bass that puts the finishing touches on some very enjoyable action sequences, at least from a purely aural perspective. All in all, Lionsgate's lossless soundtrack is the best thing about The Invincible Iron Man's Blu-ray release.
The Invincible Iron Man contains but a few extras. First Look: Hulk vs. Wolverine (1080i, 3:52) and First Look: Hulk vs. Thor (1080i, 3:15) offer short glimpses into the Marvel animated double feature. The Origin of Iron Man (480p, 11:58) features various crew members examining the development of the film and the history of the character. The Hall of Iron Man Armor (1080p) offers text histories of the various suits of armor that populate the Iron Man universe. Iron Man Concept Art (480p, 2:58) is a series of early conceptual drawings for the film, set to music. Also included is an alternate opening sequence (480p, 3:11) and trailers for The Forbidden Kingdom, Hulk vs., Next Avengers, Ultimate Avengers 2, Doctor Strange, and the Iron Man and Hulk video games.
Dull and lazily voiced characters, a boring plot, repetitive action, and uninspiring animation all make The Invincible Iron Man one of the lesser Marvel animated films, and it certainly doesn't come close to high quality of its live-action cousin. It's a shame, because Marvel Animation has shown a knack for better than this in the pair of Hulk vs. films and even in Doctor Strange. Additionally, there's a wealth of high quality material out there on which to build a better animated adventure, but The Invincible Iron Man flops everywhere it should fly. Lionsgate's Blu-ray release is a serviceable one. Featuring a passable 1080p transfer, a rather good lossless soundtrack, and a few throwaway supplements, fans of the film will find value in a rental, but others are encouraged to take the Robert Downey, Jr. live-action adaptation for a spin instead.
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DC Universe Animated Original Movie #5
2009
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #13
2012
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #7
2010
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #6
2009
Commemorative Edition | DC Universe Animated Original Movie #2
2008
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #11
2011
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #9
2010
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #8
2010
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #14
2012
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #1
2007
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #3
2008
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #18
2013
Commemorative Edition | DC Universe Animated Original Movie #4
2009