The Invincible Iron Man (2007 Video) User Reviews

The Invincible Iron Man

[helmutty · 7/10 · 7 May 2007]

It is slightly better than Ultimate avengers movies. It is longer and slightly more intense. It was not that bad, the 3-D battles are cool, the kind that will make you stare in awe, together with the 2-D animation, it is cool. The first forty minutes is the introduction and the other forty minutes, you get the cool action. The director cleverly made the first forty minutes interesting so as not to bore you with the talking, and goes forward with cool 3-D battles. Clever indeed but it somehow feels a bit slow-pacing, the fights: Great effects but you will only see Iron man fighting for a few minutes and rush off to retreat. This is the beginning of Iron man so don't expect to see him in cool outfits (you will see him in the latest suit for a while), his original suit was grey in colour, dull and big.

Those who are new to Iron man may want to catch it, Iron man's fans also can watch it. It has great fights, and explode everywhere they fight with a touch of brief nudity ( Wow! A marvel animated movie to show brief nudity). Those who watched this might want to catch the upcoming animated movie, Dr strange and for the rest of the fans might want to wait for the upcoming live-action Iron man movie. It may not be one of the best animated movie but it is still cool.

On VCD in Singapore, just bought it. It came out quite recently.

hardly terrible...but not very good either.

[sanjr1 · 5/10 · 19 February 2007]

The script was actually kind of interesting in a leave your common sense at the door kinda way. It had potential. But the first 20 minutes are kind of boring & the ending was kind of telegraphed 40 minutes into the pic. Some of the animation was pretty good, the rest of it rather rote. The armor suits were pretty cool though you only saw 3 of them in action. In my mind the biggest flaw with the story is that there is no real confrontation between Tony & The Mandarin. When they finally meet up Tony is dispatched rather quickly & the stereotype Asian chick "Sacrifices" herself to save the white man she's fallen in love with. Pretty corny. But the voice acting is good, The story does pick up steam after a while & all in all it's not a bad movie, It's just not a very good one.

Started off okay, then...

[ZekeRage911 · 5/10 · 11 October 2007]

I was looking forward to this movie, until I started hearing things. I heard the Mandarin was going to be the villain, who used to be little more than a dime store Ming the Merciless. The whole technology v. magic aspect annoyed me. But watching the first few minutes raised my hope. The first, oh, fifteen minutes or so lay the groundwork for a very good story. Terrorists, international incidents, corporate backstabbing, father-son conflict and halfway decent characterization led me to believe that I was about to watch a pretty decent adaptation. The movie, though, then begins to trip. The trip turns into a stumble. The stumble turns into a fall. The fall turns into a fall down a spiral staircase.

After raising an ancient city in China, against the wishes of a terrorist group calling themselves the Jade Dragons (not cliché' at all) Tony Stark's digging crew accidentally release the servants of the long dead Emperor the Mandarin. His elemental servants need to gather five rings to bring the Mandarin back to life. Well, when Tony Stark went to investigate, he was severely wounded and forced to rely on machines to survive. The Jade Dragons order Stark to undo what he's done. Of course, what he's done is a science-fictiony thing, so he needs his science fictiony stuff to undo it. Instead, he builds a suit of armor in secret and eventually makes his escape, but not before finding out about the Mandarin's elemental servants. Upon returning to the States, Tony is accused of dealing arms to the Jade Dragons, and makes a daring escape. He then sneaks into Stark Enterprises and we find he's been working on a secret project. What secret project? Why a giant room full of Iron Man suits! Sure! Of course. Why not? So Stark goes questing for the rings, get's his metal rear handed to him while he whittles down the elemental spirits. Eventually he winds up at the Mandarin's temple to face the final elemental, with his love interest in the movie so far "Mei Ling." Turns out she's not a Jade Dragon, she's a descendant of the Mandarin who's supposed to raise him from the dead. A pointless fight scene with a dragon, and one anime-style light show later, and the ghost of the Mandarin, via Mei Ling, is pounding Tony's metal butt down. Until he shouts "Remember who you are" which somehow snaps her out of it and she throws off the Mandarin's rings. Yay! Lei Ming dies (I think), Tony patches things up with his father, takes control of the company, patches things up with his best friend, and everything's happy! Um, wait a second... what? Iron Man ends with a sort of "What?" feeling. Do yourself a favor, just hope really hard that the live action is better than this.

decent animated movie,for the most part

[disdressed12 · 7/10 · 7 March 2007]

right off the bat, i have to say that this film is not half bad.there's plenty of action,lots of explosions and some decent villains.if you are a fan of the comic book,you might not like it,because as far as i know,it is not that faithful an adaptation.also,the origin of Iron Man as told in this movie, is in my opinion, weak and much too brief and definitely is not faithful to the comic book.but there are plenty good things about the movie.the voice actor fit very well with their roles and the story was pretty good and the decent villains,which i mentioned earlier.as animated movies go,this 1 is pretty good.in my opinion 'The Invincible Iron Man' is about a 7/10

Not bad at all.

[Blackspecter · 6/10 · 22 February 2007]

First I must just say that I'm a huge marvel fan, and as such can't for my life understand why they always have to change the original story. I can understand it when it comes to non-animated movies, but not when it's animated. The original Ironman story is quite good, and the beginning is almost the same as in this film. Enough with the criticism and on to what's good about it. Firstly it's beautifully animated and the voice of Tony Stark is as I've always imagined it. The story is a typical marvel story with all the twists and turns, could have been a little more story about the main villain and why he's so feared. If they had used the original story I've probably given it an 8, but as it is this is a better story for those not as in to marvel as I am. All in all it well worth seeing.

The Invincible Iron Man: An alternative origin story

[Platypuschow · 4/10 · 13 December 2017]

The year before Iron Man was released and the Marvel Universe truly began we had The Invincible Iron Man an origin story that went heavily off the comic rails.

It all starts so innnocently and follows the story perfectly, but then faster than you can say Robert Downey Jnr suddenly were faced with the Mandarn, elemental warriors and a dragon.

Needless to say I wasn't impressed, this Errol Flynn looking Tony Stark and the questionable animation surrounding him didn't make matters any better.

Call me old school but I hate when origins stories are changed and this is ludicrous.

In fact it's so out there it's verging on silly.

One for hardcore fans but nobody else.

The Good:

Has its moments

The Bad:

Story is a bit fantastical

Animation is a tad hit and miss

Not even remotely loyal to the original story

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

A clear 50ft drop won't even wind you

Fin Fang Foom really should have been in this

It was a decent effort.

[The_Wagon · 6/10 · 10 June 2007]

Iron Man, let's face it, was awesome. His classic suit from the 70's is beautiful, and he's one of the most well-known superheroes ever. Kids will know him, and he hasn't even had a movie yet. So yeah, people like Iron Man, I like Iron Man, and so on. The thing is, Iron Man's animated movie, is not that great. The movie is action-packed, but it still feels as if there isn't much action at all. Iron Man looked very accurate, and there were many parts of accuracy with the comic book. The animation was not in CGI, to many peoples' dismay. I actually liked the animation. It was just like that of a normal cartoon. But the thing is, there were too many boring parts. It's a superhero CARTOON! They may be trying to make it a serious "Animated Film", but deep down inside, this is a cartoon. I mean, what made you like the 90's Spider-Man show? It was cheesy and fun to watch. The Invincible Iron Man tries too hard to be a REAL film. Ultimate Avengers is better, and it will leave you satisfied. Iron Man? Borrow it, or rent it.

Quick! Someone help Avi Arad get a clue!

[fuzzy_wunz · 4/10 · 15 April 2008]

Don't get me wrong, the guy's a success dynamo, but he got to the top by selling overpriced plastic toys to impulsive brats. So I get a little peeved when he looks at comic book fans as an extension of that same market.

See, "The Invincible Iron Man" wouldn't be bad if it were slotted on a Saturday morning and geared exclusively toward undiscerning children. But it's not directed exclusively at children. Periphery characters are killed every five minutes and there's enough bloodshed and semi-nude bodies to make network censors squirm, so it isn't quite cut out for children's television.

So what audience is this video aiming for then? It's the audience that enjoys nigh intelligible story lines about reviving a tyrannical Chinese emperor with 5 arcane rings, that's who. And I think that audience is restrictively small.

A lot of great writers have passed through Marvel's leathery yoni over the decades. So it's a shame that Marvel would risk their pricey animation investments on so many questionable storytellers and scribes who, like Mr. Arad, are better accustomed to peddling action figures during Saturday morning cartoons. How many lukewarm receptions do Marvel have to endure before they come up with a better strategy?

***

Animation: just passable cels, some segments are better than others, a low budget look all throughout -- this ain't no Bakshi (Ralph) and it ain't no Bluth (Don)! CG animation's okay, but far from impressive.

Story: a litany of clichés, all over the place, convoluted, contrived, and uninspired.

Characters: so why is Rhodes even here if all he does is add to Stark's sexual ambiguity? Hmmm... her Dad's in a wheelchair... Tony misses his mom... Asian chicks are hot and, apparently, little else; the female lead is thoroughly objectified by the feature's end.

Performances: can't blame competent voice actors for a bad script.

Art: very Western musculature, very clean lines, faces are very derivative of Eastern art, very boring mattes, very bland CG.

Conclusion: Not great, but worth a watch for the fans and those who enjoy superhero myths. A 'must-buy' for collectors. A valuable "what not to do" course for junior animators.

7/10!

[AnnaPagrati · 7/10 · 31 August 2021]

An interesting movie, but not the best execution of the plot!

Who scored this animation above average?

[darkmax · 3/10 · 9 June 2010]

Gosh! I have to say that this is one of the worse animated movie I've spent more than 60 minutes watching. Who had this movie made? It was a major waste of time and money.

1. Story: It was so basic I slept through most of the show. Yes it is that bad.

2. Momentum: There is no sense of urgency or momentum in the movie. I thought the finale would finally bring some excitement..... Let's just say I was cursing and swearing.

3. Animation: The animated characters' actions were so wooden, a puppet would look more lively. I had hope the SFX was going to be better.... no such luck at all.

5. Production: This one felt as cheap as they come, and especially so since this is one of Marvel's most interesting superhero. Sad, just sad.

The Invincible Iron Man: A Hidden Gem

[rafa_ben · 9/10 · 27 August 2022]

I created an account just to rate this movie. It is simply a better version of Iron Man that we'll never see grow. The idea behind the creation of the suits, Tony Stark's personality, the multiple versions of suits specialized for different jobs, everything in this movie is way better than the modern Iron Man.

I understand that the soul story of the movie isn't the most interesting, neither is related to the original comics, but I see this movie as an introduction to who Iron Man really is, a man with money who wants to make the world a better place with his suits, a hero who saves innocent lives and helps everyone not just by defeating villains from outer space but by developing technology to help with everyday activities.

This movie made my childhood and it will be forever my favorite Iron Man movie.

A Nutshell Review: The Invincible Iron Man

[DICK STEEL · 6/10 · 27 December 2008]

The only reason why I picked this up was because it's on cheap sale, and it doesn't hurt to see how Marvel would have envisioned their hero way before the live action feature film starring Robert Downey Jr hit the big screens, right?

The Invincible Iron Man is an origin story, but as far as origins are concerned, they are open to updates and reinterpretation. The original Stan Lee version had Tony Stark develop his suit of armor during the Vietnam War, since this character was developed in the 60s. With the movie version, it got updated to reflect some Middle East sentiments. For this animated version, since they wanted to fuse his origins to that of chief villain The Mandarin, we have it set in the Orient, where Stark Enterprises got itself a project to lift an aged old monument from the buried underground, only to unleash some prophecy which involves the second coming of The Mandarin.

There are a couple of changes to how Tony got his heart injured and had to rely on an over-sized pacemaker, but this time he got help from good friend Rhodes, since he's now an employee of Tony, and has nothing to do with the Air Force. I suppose purists would already foam at the mouth by now. Nonetheless you know the drill as plot elements are kept quite consistent - they build a crude suit of armour, and break away from imprisonment. But to speed things up to meet run time requirements, it turns out that Tony Stark already has a whole array of suits back in his penthouse, and can call upon the fancy variations to do battle with the Elementals who are in the quest to recover the Mandarin's power rings to resurrect him.

The action sequences do look a bit lacklustre, because the Elementals are basically one-trick ponies, and it doesn't take much effort for our hero to dispatch them one by one. Then again of course this is Tony Stark's first foray as a hero utilizing his suits for good, so he's not all that versed with battling enemies, and magical ones at that too. But in an effort to build up to the climatic finale, there are a couple of missteps. First, it's actually an antique armour that he uses - for one I would like him to have used his most powerful suit available, but no thanks to SHIELD. And if you think the finale battle would be something like the image on the back cover of the DVD sleeve, it's not! In fact while there's an interesting twist on The Mandarin which you could see coming from a mile away, alas the battle is nothing but a big letdown.

There are also a couple of recurring characters to complete the animated universe, such as Tony's dad Howard, where the plot follows that of Batman Begins involving some major boardroom struggle, as well as faithful secretary Pepper Potts, who had a lot more to do here than Gywneth Paltrow's version in the feature film. But they don't add much value to the film here. The pace moves quite hurriedly, and coupled with the disappointing lack of a proper finale, this is one animated flick that could have been much better if it provided some more exciting action sequences, since after all, an animated feature opens up the imagination to unlimited boundaries, just like how a page on a comic book does the same.

Not even convincing... :(

[impious · 3/10 · 24 January 2008]

I am obviously disappointed so I'll be brief and won't waste your time. First off, the plot was uninspired... at least. The animation was even worse, we're in 2008 for god's sake and it looked like a shinier version of G.I.Joe. I won't even bother characterizing the actors' performance and the dialogs. Or maybe I will 'cause I just saw that in order to post a comment over here you need 10 lines (?!??!?!). Where were we? Oh yeah the performance, well it was totally flat, lacking passion and talent if I am excused. Now as for the dialogs, just like the acting, no memorable quotes, nothing that someone wouldn't expect. Let's just hope the movie will be decent ...at least.

A mature Iron Man?

[WeAreLive · 7/10 · 4 November 2017]

I saw this not that long ago and it is definitely not for kids under 11 years.

If you are 11 or older then you can easily watch this but if you are any younger then I would wait because it is very mature for example at the start of the movie Tony Stark is in a hot top with naked girls and during the last fight of the movie when that Lin May (I think) put on the rings all of her clothes rip off and you can nearly see her breasts. But don't worry they will be covered with smoke and mud.

However, I do think the voice acting is good and it was a good movie for a mature audience.

A real disappointment...

[TheLittleSongbird · 4/10 · 31 August 2012]

This actually did have potential to be good. The idea was a good one, and I'd watch any movie in regard to superheroes or Marvel. However, The Invincible Iron Man was a disappointment sadly. It does have redeeming qualities, the animation is great with fluid backgrounds and the suits particularly cool, the music is both rousing and haunting and with one exception the voice acting is very good. The fight sequences are also well-choreographed, though there should have been more. Conversely, there is one exception to the voice acting and that was Gwendoline Yeo as Li Mei, who has a very limited range and comes across as insufferably bland. She wasn't helped though by her character, who was very stereotypical and did little more than annoy me. Iron Man also seemed like a weak hero, not only should there have been more of him but when the Mandarin was defeated he does little in the scene other than getting beaten up, which takes away from the character's charisma. Tony Stark's character arc is very forced and takes far too long to be set up. Mandarin posed no threat whatsoever, which weakens any sense of conflict. The writing comes across as clichéd and it lacks fluidity. But the biggest let-down was the story. It was predictably told, especially in the Mandarin scene, and lacks any kind of momentum or excitement. Overall, a disappointment. 4/10 Bethany Cox

A new origin.

[13Funbags · 4/10 · 5 July 2018]

All these reviews are silly. This is just another origin story with a few changes. I liked that he builds the suit in 30 seconds and then reveals he already has hundreds of suits. Marvel does worse on a regular basis.

Disappointment

[DanielJosLeary · 4/10 · 12 March 2007]

This was something I had been looking forward to seeing. The Ultimate Avengers movies had both exceeded my expectations and since Iron Man has been one of my favorite Marvel characters I thought that this same production team would be able to do some really great stuff with an Iron Man solo title. But the final film was unsatisfying. I wasn't expecting them to spend most of the movie paying tribute to Iron Man gray armor. The red and gold armor is seen for maybe ten or so minutes all together. Not a major complaint but not what I expected from the ads and box. The worse thing however was the story, the acting and the cell-shaded CGI animation for the monsters and Iron Man armor that was not convincing. It didn't blend in well with the cell animation at all. Even on it's own it seem stick-like and lifeless. Tony Stark's character arc, as incredibly slow as it takes, is so forced and unconvincing. I wanted to see this movie because I love Iron Man but after forcing myself through the film I wondered if they couldn't have come up with something that had been as good as the Ultimate Avengers movies.

Very Good

[willeagle23 · 8/10 · 25 May 2007]

I saw this movie on the Cartoon Network and came across it by chance. I was checking for Justice League Unlimited and noticed this movie which I thought was just on DVD. I am really glad I was able to watch it. I think this was a very well made animated feature with a good story line and well done characters. Le Mai (probably spelled wrong) was a very interesting character in the movie. It does jump around from place to place quite a bit but didn't take away my enjoyment of it. The animators did a great job on this also. Like I mentioned before I watched this on TV so there were way to many commercials. Watch in on DVD to enjoy it even more. I hope they make another one. Then come out with the live action film.

Iron Man or Iron Dud?

[omega2064 · 1/10 · 4 February 2008]

I have been collecting Iron Man comics since the early 70s and always enjoyed the character who is far far from the average clean cut hero and his many and varied enemies. There have been no less than three attempts at an animated series for Iron Man and only the original and part of the second have ever done the character justice. So I was somewhat hopeful that this newest version would be good. Boy was I wrong! The DVD art is VERY misleading and presents an image that is not the movie. Fist off the good, what little there is... The art and animation are well drawn and the writing and dialog are generally good, though with notable exceptions. Character voices are very well selected and each character is distinctive and well acted. Now for the bad... Unfortunately the writers opted to totally screw around with both Iron Man's origin and especially the Mandarin's. On top of that they decided to do Iron Man and his opponents all in CGI. Bad CGI. This makes them stand out almost as badly as live actors would in a cartoon. The CG work is often repetitive and glaring shortcuts are taken at times. The CG battles are clumsy as well, further enhancing the fact that CG and line animation do not mix well. The movie would certainly have fared better had they opted to actually DRAW all the characters. Another problem is that Iron Man is in his traditional Red and Gold suit for all of ONE battle! And its not even the big fight at the end. All this drags the movie down and it never picks up.

************ SPOILERS (or warnings) MAY FOLLOW ************

The movie starts off with an interestingly unusual stop motion credit sequence of machinery, welding and gears. Then we are introduced to what looks like a Chinese temple in the process of being restored, and prominent is a statue of what fans will recognize as the Mandarin. Things go strangely, impeding progress in restoring the temple. Overseeing it is James Rhodes, Tony Stark's long time friend. Seems they plan to actually raise the temple up from the earth, despite opposition by a group who insist that raising the temple will bring about a terrible disaster. Rhodes is captured in a raid. Stark, shown in a hot tub with a lovely lady, is informed of the problems and sets out to personally oversee the project and rescue his friend while in the background his father deals with Board Executives who are pushing to have Tony removed. Tony arrives only to have his armored escort ambushed and blown to pieces. Tony later awakens mortally wounded in the heart and a prisoner of the rebels. He is saved only by quick action from Rhodes and a scientist. Eventually Stark must build the prototype gray iron armor and makes good an escape, but only after some loss of life. While with the rebels he meets a troubled girl named Li Mei, and the two fall in love. The Temple is raised and four elemental beings (all done in CG) appear and proceed to start collecting hidden rings of power. Stark and Rhody find trouble back home but manage to confront the elementals without success in really stopping them, First using the Aquatic Armor, then the more classic Red and Gold Armor and finally everything returns to the temple and Stark is back in the bulky gray armor for a final showdown and a run in with what may be Fin Fang Foom (also in CG.) Here the story takes a major twist as it turns out that the Mandarin needs a host body to manifest. This leads to a somewhat tragic final battle marred by the fact that the Mandarin is little more than a ghost and isn't seen till the last 5 minutes of the movie. ugh...

If you are an Iron Man fan then you will likely not enjoy this outing. And even non-fans may well find the movie somewhat lacking or not.

Iron Man falls flat without the Avengers

[brando647 · 5/10 · 22 April 2008]

Marvel's third installment in their line of animated movies is probably the weakest so far. I was a fan of the two Avengers movies released previously and the concept of a Marvel animated movie dedicated to a single character was something I'd been waiting for. I was a bit let down after watching this movie; I didn't feel it lived up to the decent quality of its predecessors.

This movie retells the origins of Iron Man: Tony Stark (voiced again by Marc Worden) has been using his company, Stark Industies, to fund an archaeological dig in China that has been under constant assault from a rebel group known as the Jade Dragons. After one attack finds James 'Rhodey' Rhodes missing, Stark flies out to China where he is taken prisoner by the Jade Dragons. From here, we find the familiar story of Stark creating his first Iron Man armor to keep him alive/help him escape and he soon assumes the role of Iron Man when he finds himself pulled into a prophecy that the Mandarin will arise and use his powers for world domination.

Now, I've never really followed the Iron Man comics but I know that there are some problems with this already. Mandarin was not an ancient Chinese tyrant and he didn't use magic; he was man from modern times who used alien technology to create his rings of power. So, already, the movie has lost points for straying from the storyline that Iron Man fans know and love. I understand that the creators were probably going for an East vs West theme, magic vs technology, but I got bored with the idea pretty fast into the movie. The story itself felt as if it moved annoying slow at some points and the final confrontation at the end didn't really satisfy.

The animation was pretty good but continued to suffer from the same flaws as the Avengers movies. Action scenes look great but smaller things, such as mouth/voice syncing and facial expressions, were weak. The creators used a bit more computer-generated animation for some of this movie, primarily in the Iron Man armors and in the Mandarin's demon elementals, and I'd say it worked pretty successfully. The majority of the fight scenes look great; I just wish we'd gotten some more time with the iconic Mark III armor.

Overall, the movie is definitely a step backwards for the Marvel animated series. I enjoyed it to an extent, but I still don't consider the movie anything more than average. The film has it's strong points (the demon elementals and Iron Man's armor look fantastic) but continues to suffer from the same flaws as its predecessors. Add to that a mediocre story and you get 83 minutes that didn't quite leave me content.

The Worst Marvel Animated Movie

[athuberty-588-813392 · 1/10 · 9 January 2017]

Do you like your anti-Chinese clichés about obseqious businessmen who don't speak English properly? Or about ruthless heartless thugs who are so cruel they'll kill the most innocent person ever, because they're souless and see no value to human life? Do you prefer your anti-Chinese cliche's to be about how backwards and superstitious Chinese people supposedly are? Or do you go in for the idea the Chinese are craven and cowardly? Or maybe you think all Chinese people hate female offspring? Don't worry, this racist sewer of a movie cover's all those bases and more.

Clearly, this 2007 offering, because you can see the plot elements it shared with the 2008 live action, was a discarded script for what was an excellent movie.

This one was discarded for good reason. Skip it.

Watchable. It's a good-not-great flick, but III suffers from the White Savior trope

[TARDIS_Tech_Support · 5/10 · 11 January 2023]

Advantage: away from the direct comparison to 2009's Iron Man live action film, this movie feels more unique, and is its own beast. The action scenes are good, the acting is sufficient if not stellar, but it's overall passable, and at times, good.

Disadvantage: It's really hard to watch the movie in today's climate, where the "white savior" trope is obvious, terrible, and possibly propaganda. Also, there is barely any tint to Rhodey's skintone at all. I realize not all African Americans look the same, but they could have at least tried to make him appear black.

Still, I really, really wish Marvel was still doing these, instead of letting DC do all of the near-direct adaptations of their graphic novels to the big screen. We could have more World War Hulk level movies instead of whatever Thor 4 was supposed to be.

Invincible refreshing take

[xamtaro · 8/10 · 12 July 2009]

One thing I would commend about Marvel Animation is that they are willing to learn from their mistakes. After the mediocre Ultimate Avengers animated movies came this one, The Invincible Iron Man.

This movie is everything Ultimate Avengers was not. Instead of a team, it focuses on one character. Instead of dumbing down an existing storyline(Ultimate Avengers was essentially "The Ultimates" story dumbed down to appeal to older children) Marvel chose to create a new storyline and place more emphasis on character drama than on wham bam action.

1) The story. Definitely a new take on the origin of Iron Man. After being exposed to so many "alternate dimensions" and alternate origins for Marvel universe characters, I was willing to accept this movie as another of such alternate stories. The story was very well written with a clear beginning, middle and end. The magic Vs technology sub plot was nicely fleshed out but thankfully did not overwhelm the character interplay. There were a few far fetched moments but they are forgivable due to the short length of the movie.

2) The characters Really, it is the characters that truly shine here. Being more of a character drama as opposed to an action movie, the interplay seen in the script is realistically played out. The dialogue is fluid and believable to the point being on par with many good live action dramas. Acting was excellent. Neither over the top nor underwhelming, but just right to convey the emotions of the characters

The only problem was the acting of one of the main characters, Li Mei. Her accent seemed inconsistent and her emotional range was rather limited, even in most emotionally charged final battle of the movie. If Marc Worden had not done such a good job of acting on his part, the whole romance sub plot between Tony and Li Mei would have fallen flat.

3)The action Sharp, fast and to the point. There is no beating around the bush or too much talking in the fights. The action scenes are well choreographed but are few. Like i said, this movie is more a character drama than an action show. There are 3 main action scenes involving Iron Man in total.

4) The Animation Marvel has definitely improved in their animation from Ultimate Avengers. The characters still retain that level of movement fluidity but the level of art detail has been increased. The backgrounds are really a sight to behold and the character designs have a distinct Asian flavor to them. No animation short cuts were present, lending to a very impressive viewing experience. The cel shaded CGI animation used for the Elementals and the Iron Man suits are on par with many big budget animated movies and it allows more fluid interaction of the characters during fight scenes. There was only one scene where there was a jarring clash between the CGI and 2D animation but the rest were beautifully rendered.

There could have been better closure to the story and i do hope for a sequel.

Overall, Invincible Iron Man was a very refreshing new take on the origin of a well loved Marvel superhero. Favoring complex character drama over action was a good move, though not many would agree with me. It would be a little too much for kids to enjoy though, so don't bother wasting this movie on them. For fans of more action oriented animated movies with less character development and interplay, i direct you back to Ultimate Avengers.

Get this movie if you're in the mood for something deeper than the usual "hero Vs villain" stories.

One for the fans...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 29 December 2015]

I think that this animated feature appeals primarily to the hardcore fans of Marvel's Iron Man character. I am not particularly fond of superheroes, but I do enjoy animation still.

The animation style was good, although I found the drawing style a bit out of my range of preference.

As for the voice acting, well, I will say that the cast actually did quite alright, which was a crucial factor for an animated movie.

"The Invincible Iron Man" tells the story of the origin of how Stark became Iron Man. Now, as I haven't read the comic books I have no clue as to how true to the comic books this 2007 animated movie is.

This is definitely for the fans, as us casual viewers will get more enjoyment and entertainment out of the actual live feature movies. Yep, those starring Robert Downey Jr.

Kind of irrelevant since the live-action movie came out

[squirrel_burst · 5/10 · 28 January 2015]

"The Invincible Iron Man" isn't so much bad as it's unremarkable and ultimately, unnecessary. This animated film was released a year before the live-action Jon Favreau,-Robert Downey Jr. effort/triumph and is a prequel to "Ultimate Avengers". It begins with Tony Stark (voiced by Marc Worden), playboy billionaire and genius inventor attempting to unearth an ancient Chinese city using the latest technology from Stark Enterprises. The attempts are thwarted by terrorist attacks led by the Jade Dragons. As we witness the birth of Iron Man, we are informed that the city Tony has been attempting to raise contains the spirit of the Mandarin, an ancient evil ruler who can be brought back to life if his four rings are returned inside the temple. As a prophecy had foretold long ago, it is up to this "Iron Knight" to stop the Mandarin's return.

It's not really that the movie is bad, but I never felt like it rose above that made-for-TV production. Considering this film was released straight-to-DVD that would be perfectly fine, but then Hollywood went and released the excellent live-action film. There was never a second where I was glad I was watching this animated story instead of the theatrically released blockbuster instead. It really doesn't help that they're both origin stories for the character, so it's one, or the other and while once again, this movie isn't all that bad, it doesn't stand a chance.

The animation is consistent from frame to frame, but the quality of the motions and backgrounds are just OK. Several more detail-heavy elements/characters are created using computer then spliced in with the hand-drawn footage and the difference is pretty glaring. There are some nice twists on the origin of the Iron Man armor, but as an introduction to the classic Marvel hero, I never felt like I really got to know him very much and the villains get very little development. The Mandarin himself doesn't show up until late in the picture and the four elemental warriors Tony has to combat have no dialog whatsoever. I didn't mind their designs, but the four elements thing has been done so many times that it didn't resonate with me at all. The Jade Dragons terrorists are a bit better but they feel more like plot devices than actual people and are even less memorable than everyone else present. Some of the things I enjoyed include the seriousness of the whole affair. This isn't a movie where they sugar coat the violence by having the bad guys wield laser pistols or people just fall down cliffs and disappear instead of actually dying. While there might not be any real blood, the genuine threat of death is real so there is some tension. As mentioned earlier, there is a pretty successful effort on mixing up the origin of the Iron Man armor and particularly towards the end there are some nice twists with the Mandarin as a villain.

The movie's biggest fault really is that it doesn't stand out. Sure for small children who want to be introduced to the character or will just gobble up anything Iron Man, this will be an entertaining watch but it's really just a stepping stone towards the beloved 2008 flick, the more elaborate comic book stories or the more... colorful animated series from the 90's. There isn't much here for adults who are fans of the character and comic book fans that are familiar with Tony Stark and his crew will be frustrated to see this story yet again. I can only give it a 2.5 out of 5 because of this but it's not a "bad" average rating, it's more of a "yeah, it's alright" kind of rating. (Dvd, November 11, 2013)