The Invincible Iron Man, and Doctor Strange DVD reviews

Wondering through Morrisons I was surprised to see copies of The Invincible Iron Man, and Doctor Strange animated DVDs I guess all the Avengers Assemble has warranted stock. At £3 apiece they've been something sitting in my Wish List for a while so I picked them up. Always handy for the Bratii if we're that bored, not that I've any interest in these films myself ;-)


The Invincible Iron Man

Yet another subtle reworking of Tony Stark's origin mythos. Still the same 'Get blown up with a piece of shrapnel to the heart'; still kidnapped, and still creates the Iron Man suit to get away. This time though with a good dollop of hocus pocus and mystical woo-woo.

As a 12 certificate the story is surprisingly broad-stroked, more in line with what I'd expect from a PG, but 'll concede there are enough touches to hold the attention of older children. I'd say Stark seems to accept the hocus and pocus with a bit too much ease though judging from the way the character is presented. A few minor plot-holes regarding knowledge-gain, but nothing really offensive.

This 12-certification puzzles me though. There are a few scenes that could have been deemed unsuitable for younger viewers, but they occur off-screen or with strategically placed smoke. I'd treat this as a PG.

Animation is modern, clean, and detailed, but stylistically it reminds me of late 80's early 90's Manga in the way the shots are set up and the action is presented. Not a bad thing, but the two techniques can jar occasionally.

Overall pretty good; not the best thing to come out of the Marvel stable, but entertaining enough

Doctor Strange

As with Iron Man another retelling of Dr Strange origin story, this time there's little to change - Dr Strange is a surgeon, has a car accident that impairs the function of his hands, and ends up using mystical woo-woo to fix them and becoming a part of the occult world. The story features some nice flashblacks that fill out Strange's character more than Stark's but at a minor cost of world-building. Sadly though it resorts to that time-compression technique of The Montage and the story seems to hurry to get from Strange acceptance and then training to being thrown into the deep-end in a full team fighting finale.

This is a PG, yet oddly features far more potentially upsetting imagery than Iron Man's outing. I can only conclude the hidden nudity in the latter pushed it into the 12 range. Yet this is really the one I'd be more wary of showing to an under-12.

Animation is in the same as Iron Man yet the Manga direction jars slightly more here; most obviously in the aforementioned 'upsetting scenes'

Again good, particularly for someone interested in getting into the Dr Strange mythos as a lot gets covered here.

Between the two I'd have to say I preferred Dr Strange, but they're quite evenly balanced.