I wasn’t really that excited about watching this DVD. Who cares about a watered down cartoon Wolverine?
How wrong I was. Hulk Vs. (Two-Disc Special Edition) (Widescreen)
I always kind of cringe when I watch X-Men 2 and see Hugh Jackman taking out those army guys. His claws go into their chests and there’s no blood at all anywhere as a result. He might as well be sticking his claws into mannequins!
Not so in this animated feature. Wolverine rips into Hulk in their initial fight and there’s blood everywhere, especially when Wolvy hops onto his back. Yes, during that fight, there is the above homage to Todd McFarlane’s cover to Incredible Hulk #340 (I had to pause and slow advance this scene to appreciate it in full glory). In another scene, Wolverine rips into an army squad and slices them apart—they are bloody silhouettes—damn amazing. This DVD is rated PG-13. Now I’m wondering why we can’t see something like this in a live action film. Would people really protest?
The Weapon X origin of Wolverine is also explored. You have Deadpool, Sabretooth, Omega Red, and Lady Deathstrike in the Weapon X labs trying to kill Wolverine before the Professor can wipe his memories away. Deadpool is hilarious here. Now I want to see Deadpool in his own movie! Ryan Reynolds has a lot to live up to when he portrays this character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
The second movie on the DVD features the Hulk vs Thor. This one was good, but I don’t think the story and dialogue blew me away as much as the Wolverine one. I don’t recall the Hulk ever fighting Thor on his home turf (Asgard) before, but unfortunately, the Hulk is not quite himself during the battle—he’s possessed by Loki. What’s nice about it is that Asgard is represented in awesome detail. You will see the Warriors Three, Sif, Loki, Hela, and the Enchantress. Even more delightful are some of the background characters—for example, you will see Valkyrie in a few scenes, and I really like the costume design they made for her. There’s a wonderful scene where Thor is near death and sees Hela reaching out for him.
Lots of great behind the scenes stuff in this package as well. I hope we’ll get more animated DVDs of the same high caliber in the future. Nuff said.
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