by R.C. Samo
Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
For the first time, Marvel Studios has released a CG animated feature starring two of the most popular Avengers, Iron Man (Adrian Pasdar) and Hulk (Fred Tatasciore). The pair must team up to stop the efforts of Dr. Cruler (Dee Bradley Baker) who captures the Hulk in order to drain his gamma energy to harness power for the terrorist group Hydra.
Unforuntately, Dr. Cruler miscalculates just how much energy is extracted from the Hulk and Abomination, creating the energy monster Zzzax (also voiced by Baker) who intends to destroy the world.
Iron Man and Hulk have to put their differences aside, using the combination of brain AND brawn to stop Zzzax from bringing its plan to fruition.
The actors who voiced these characters are by far some of the most talented men in all of Hollywood. The story was nothing less than you would expect from Marvel, but unfortunately, what some called, “ground breaking animation,” looked like an old PS1 quality video game. At times the visuals are blinding you to look away more than once.
The Blu-Ray bonus features are what should be considered “ground breaking.” The coolest one is the “Marvel Inte-Missions” feature, where once you hit pause, a 10 second countdown is given and Marvel Mash-Ups are shown, giving you extra snippets of entertainment only Marvel could provide.
Marvel Team-Up with Ryan Penagos and Joe (Joe Quesada), was a short featurette of how the Avengers have evolved over the years and the success of Marvel as a whole. The only complaint was that this featurette was not long enough. It leaves you wanting for a much longer interview as you are hanging on Quesada’s every word.
If you are looking for a great story with talented voice actors and entertaining bonus features Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United is one to pick up, just don’t be too disappointed with the dated animation.
Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United releases on Blu-Ray and DVD on December 3, 2013.
