Iron Man: Rise of Technovore

This is a animated film that in no way is associated with the big screen Iron Man films of the past few years. While it does have some of the same characters in it, it exists in its own separate world from those films. It is also a very different movie in both tone and content, and as such has been receiving some pretty negative feedback on user submitted sites. Redbox.com for example is filled with user reviews complaining about how the movie is not in English. Most of the issues people seem to take with this one are not un-founded, however simply reading the description of the film would solve most of there confusion. What this is, is a Iron Man movie made in japan, and it contains none of the actors from the other films. It has a more adult tone, and lacks the comedic atmosphere of the live action films. And while yes it is in Japanese, the dvd has English tracks on it that are very well done and some of the better dubs I have seen. So if you are reading this because you are interested in the film, you now know pretty much everything you need to before moving on.

The story revolves around a satellite Stark is trying to launch into orbit. It will allow him to monitor pretty much everybody on planet 24 hours a day. Some people are calling it a invasion of privacy, while he claims it should allows us to prevent and respond to situations in a more efficient manor. While trying to launch said satellite, a terrorist group attacks and they are lead by a young boy who uses a suit far more advanced then even Tony's. His suit is able to take over other technology, and is the Technovore. The majority of the movie is Tony trying to track the kid and suit down, while running from Shield. The story comes off as ambitious, but about half way into the movie you start to realize they are doing nothing with it. Most of the film has nothing to do with the main villain, and seems to be more about Cameos then anything else. We see Stark Teaming up with the Punisher for a small portion, and we see Hawkeye and Widow working together for awhile. Rhodey, or War Machine, also has a major role in the film. While it is neat to see all these characters interacting with each other, it feels like the villain should have been a bigger focus. He honestly only has one real attack, and then a showdown at the end. The way they tell the story just felt disconnected, and poorly paced. The villain gets all of his development at the end of the film, and spends the rest of the time not really doing anything.

The action makes up for this, and the animated style really helped out as well. The movie opens up with a race between Iron Man and War Machine, and like most of the fighting sequences, it is fast and fluid. The animation is much better in this then the american marvel animated films, though there are a few hiccups. Certain sequences just look cheap and poorly done, mostly when using what appears to be 3d models along side the drawn portions. The contrast between the two styles is very obvious, but overall it is a small complaint. While the visuals are very Japanese, I really did like how most of the characters came out. While Technovore looked like a 80's anime villain, pretty much everybody else exuded style. Seeing Iron Man vs Gatchaman was odd, but you go into anime movies expecting stuff like that.

Closing thoughts, this was a neat experience for me. I have not had any experience with the Marvel anime since they started. I know they have a few series, and maybe even other movies, but I have not seen them. I did not know what to expect, and what I got was pretty decent. The first half of the movie was far better then the second, and the story didn't deliver like I would have hoped. But seeing Iron Man in this setting I was not used to felt fresh and new. While the movie does have a few cliches from other anime, such as the villain having multiple forms....it did well enough for itself and kept me entertained. For a redbox rental, I think it was well worth the price. It is not one I will be going out and buying, but I am glad I saw it. I enjoyed it more then the last theatrical Iron Man, though that is not saying much.