Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow

When I go into these Marvel animated outings I expect play by numbers stuff, whether it be a dark or kiddie friendly one they rarely surpise but manage to entertain to some degree.

With this one I went in with even lower expectations than usual. The children of the Avengers? Sounded like a blatant cashgrab and the plot seemed to confirm that further.

However from the opening sequence, it's writing and perfect score I realised I was mistaken and this was going to be something quite special.

Telling the story of a world where Ultron defeated the Avengers and killed most of them, Tony Stark has hidden away their offspring keeping them safe and off the grid. But of course things go wrong and they find themselves forced to embrace their destiny.

The whole thing looks beautiful and almost feels like a AAA movie, the score is outstanding and the movie is a kid friendly riot of fun.

Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow exceeded all my expectations and showed that these things can rise above mediocrity. Really good stuff.

The Good:

Great opening

Very well constructed

Excellent score

Some good ideas

The Bad:

Some really dumb ideas

Few unanswered questions

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Fred Tatasciore is more Hulk than Mark Ruffalo, seriously he's in every one of these things

All of Marvel Studios animated films in the last 3 years starting with The Invincible Iron Man, Dr Strange, and Avengers 1& 2 were first rate comic book animated films that truly delivered the character drive and action that comic book fans have lusted for decades. They now follow up with a suspiciously kiddish animated movie set in an alternative future where the avengers have been long wiped out by Ultron apart from Tony Stark who takes the children of the Avengers into hiding to raise them away from harm. This is definitely a more kid friendly entry but don't let that put any of you off. The children behave like normal children with powers (did that make sense?), are likable, very vulnerable and needing adult guidance. The story is entertaining if rather straightforward with a couple of interesting revelations and welcome cameos. The voice acting for the children Avengers are charming (much akin to those in The Incredibles) with production levels on par with Marvel's previous films. This is not the best of the Marvel series but it is certainly a great deal of fun for both children and adults.

The Next Avengers is not based on an existing comic. It does however feature characters from the Marvel Universe. Basicaly you can view this cartoon as one of many alternate stories in the Marvel Universe only with one difference. And that is the fact that this cartoon is meant for a younger audience than usual. We get introduced to the children of some of the Avengers. While I have no real objections to this premise I do wonder why these children almost have the same power as their parents. Surely these kids would have some extra or different powers since some of them are products of two parents who both had super abilities. I understand that this is done for recognition and to simplify matters. But it would have been nice to see some new abilities. OK,done with the nitpicking. The story itself is not that impressive. The characters however are fun and there is just enough action to keep you entertained. There are some surprises featured in this cartoon considering you haven't had a good look at the cover of the DVD. Let's just say that a certain character we all love finally gets more screen time then he did in Ultimate Avengers 1 and 2. Overall this is a nice cartoon that plays around with the Marvel mythology.

Marvel's next avengers: heroes of tommorow is a decent film . Not too good not to bad . The concept of the young heroes is good . The first half of the movie looks nice but the second half of the movie is just huge gigantic cliche. But it's ok for marvel to introduce the new generation of avengers

In an alternative future, where the Avengers grew complacent and softened considerably opting to give up heroics for family life raising their respective children. Ultron kills them off one by one (save for Tony stark, who keeps vigil over the offspring of the Avengers, Thor, who's retreated back to Asgard, and Bruce Banner). Now Ultron has found out about the teen kids and it's up to them to save the day.

Perhaps I'm not really the true demographic of this movie, comic loving tykes might get a lot more entertainment out of the kid-friendly silly little shenanigans then this late twenty-something did. I will say that the movie is much much better than the simply atrocious but similarly themed "Avengers United"

My Grade: C

DVD Extras: A 10 and a half minute Making of featurette; 'Kid Power: Next gen Marvel" (a 9 and a half minute featurette on Marvel's kid/ teen oriented comics); First looks for both "Hulk vs. Wolverine" & "Hulk Vs. Thor"; and trailers for "Ultimate Avengers", "Ultimate Avengers 2", "the Invincible Iron Man", "Speed Racer: the Next Generation", "the Forbidden Kingdon", "Hulk Vs Thor", "Hulk Vs Wolverine", "Spectacular Spider-man", "Teenage mutant ninja turtles" Volume 6, & "Doctor Strange"