Marvel Comics continues its straight to DVD animated feature films with The Invincible Iron Man – an action-packed origin tale of one of Marvel’s cornerstone superheroes.
Unlike the Ultimate Avengers animated films, Invincible Iron Man just never seems to find a place where the film gels and fires on all cylinders.
Invincible Iron Man was directed by Frank Paur (who has also directed episodes for television animated series including Spawn, Batman, and the X-Men) and was written by Greg Johnson (who also wrote both Ultimate Avenger animated feature films and the upcoming Doctor Strange animated film). The movie is based on the Marvel comic book and characters created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee.
Iron Man makes his first appearance in the film
The film sees East meet West and the past and present collide as Tony Stark/Iron Man (once again voiced by Marc Worden – who voiced the character in the Ultimate Avengers films) heads to China to help raise the ruins of an ancient village. Along for the ride is his right hand man and best friend Rhodey (voiced by Rodney Saulsberry). From the start, the teams is having trouble and are having to fight off rebels that don’t want to see the ruins raised. The rebels fear the work being done on the ruins due to a prophecy that tells that when the ruins are raised the Mandarin will return.
Of course, this means nothing to Stark, and he continues with his plans. His clash with the rebels gets him gravely injured and taken prisoner along with Rhodey. To survive, the two men develop a mechanical device to keep Tony’s heart beating, and develop a suit of armor to help them escape. At the time, Rhodey doesn’t know that Tony has actually been developing several versions of the armor for years.
Once they escape, the adventure is just beginning as Stark is set up for dealing arms, and discovers there is truth to the prophecy. It falls to him to don the various suits of armor he has developed to stop the Madarin’s henchmen as they scour the earth for the lost magical rings that will give the Mandarin the power to rise from the grave. The battles with the elemental henchmen ends with a final showdown between Iron Man and the Mandarin.
I have always been a fan of the Iron Man comics, and I enjoyed the Ultimate Avengers animated features – even though they did tinker with what was done in the comics. Invincible Iron Man also tinkers with the established story of Tony Stark and Iron Man, but that tinkering is also forgivable for the film. The movie does manage to deliver enough action and technology to fit the Iron Man concept, but something seems to be missing.
Tony Stark’s secret lab
Unlike the Ultimate Avengers animated films, Invincible Iron Man just never seems to find a place where the film gels and fires on all cylinders. The movie has tons of action and big fight scenes with Iron Man and the elementals, but the scenes never seem to really be enough to save it. It could feel this way simply because the Ultimate Avengers films (which did feature a bigger cast of heroes) were able to capture the magic of the comics, but this film just seems to fall short.
Worden once again captures the voice and personality of Stark and does a good job in developing a contrast between how the character is handled at the beginning of the film to how he grows into a hero towards the end. He doesn’t quite adopt a separate personality/voice style for Tony Stark and Iron Man, but it isn’t needed in the film. Iron Man isn’t a hero of the people in this movie. He is simply trying to stop the Mandarin from rising by getting the rings before the elementals do. There is no reason for Worden to adopt different voice styles for the two characters because Stark isn’t concerned with keeping his identity a secret or how Iron Man is seen in the public.
The film also stays away from the character’s darker sides - such as the alcoholism. He is obviously a playboy with a weakness for the ladies, but you don’t see how those vices really haunt him as a hero – the way it was developed in the comic. This might happen in future Iron Man animated features, and I do hope they continue the series.
Invincible Iron Man comes with the special features that fans of the Marvel/Lion Gate Entertainment animate films will expect. They include a look at the various Iron Man armors that have appeared in the comics with a history of how the suit was used; an alternate opening sequence - which really should have been used since it gives more information and sets the film’s plot up nicely; a feature on the origin of Iron Man which has interviews with the film’s producers and comic writers discussing how they changed the original story to fit the film; and a look at the upcoming Doctor Strange animate feature film (which I am looking forward to seeing) along with some of the concept art involved in the project.
Iron Man battles one of the Mandarin’s elementals
While I didn’t like Invincible Iron Man as much as the animated Ultimate Avengers films, I would still recommend taking the time to watch it if you are a fan of the comic or superhero animated movies. The film delivers lots of action, a somewhat interesting story, and the animation is on par with what has been done in past two Marvel/Lions Gate projects. With Iron Man set to make his big screen debut soon, I am sure we haven’t seen the last of his animated counterpart, and I am looking forward to seeing where the film’s creators take the story next.
Invincible Iron Man is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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