20140318: Animation Review--Iron Man: Rise of Technovore

Iron Man: Rise of Technovore

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. Japanese animated feature length film, 2013, PG-13, 88 minutes, animated, action, scifi.
2. IMDB: 5.2/10.0 from 1,813 audience ratings.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 'No Score Yet...' and 35% liked it from 506 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 3.6/5.0 from 43,803 audience ratings.
5. Directed by: Hiroshi Hamazaki.
6. Starring: Norman Reedus as Frank Castle/The Punisher; Matthew Mercer as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Eric Bauza as Ezekiel Stane/Technovore, Kate Higgins as Pepper Potts, Kari Wahlgren as Maria Hill, James Mathis as James Rhodes/War Machine, Clare Grant as Natasha Romanov/Black Widow, John Eric Bentley as Nick Fury.


2. Setup and Plot
1. This is an anime version of an Ironman story, late teen/adult style.


2. Tony Stark is about to launch a surveillance satellite.  Someone does not like this.  They set about to blow up Tony's properties near the launch, and draw him into a one on one fight.  Further, they kill his long-time friend and ally, Rhodes, and many people near the launch.


3. Fury sends Black Widow to fetch Ironman.  They have a chat, then Fury tells him he is in custody.  Ironman decides to leave.  Fury sends a lot of people after him.  Ironman evades most of them, but Black Widow gives him a harder time before he disables her plane.


4. The bad guys in this film are a small group who think of technology as a set of false idols, and particularly blame those who create more technology.  So Ironman is high on their list, and his satellite is a prime target.


5. Tony meets with Pepper to get intelligence.  SHIELD surrounds the place, but Tony escapes.  He finds a lead in Pakistan, and meets up with Punisher.  They zero on Ezekial Stane.  SHIELD catches up, and Hawkeye screws Tony's suit with his arrows.  Punisher helps him get away, with Black Widow and Hawkeye in pursuit.


6. Ironman follows Stane's efforts to China.  He discovers more about the powerful weapons that Stane has, namely the technovores, which invade high tech gadgets and take them over.


7. Does Ironman find the ultimate goals of the enemy behind all this?  If so, will he stop that goal from being accomplished?  Will Tony make nice with SHIELD and Pepper?


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: A good Tony Stark story, told anime style.
2. Four stars of five.


4. Scores
1. Art/Animation: 8/10 Good by anime standards, but occasionally had the washed out look.


2. Sound: 7/10  The lip synching was not the best.  The music's sound level was way off.  Most of the time the voice actors' words were clear enough.


3. Voice/Acting: 7/10 I liked the performances of Norman Reedus, Matthew Mercer, Kate Higgins, and Clare Grant.  The work of Eric Bauza and John Eric Bentley I did not care for so much.


4. Story: 8/10 Rather nice.  Had transitions beginning to middle to end that were reasonable to follow.  Has some pleasant surprises toward the end.