Iron Man: Armored Adventures

I must say that at first I did not like the style of the animation. Its different, completely computer generated. You know what I mean. But after watching a few episodes I must say I got hooked. It is one of the best animated shows out there. I might just put it right next to my favorite shows like the 1994 Spider-man TV-series, 1996 Superman TV-series, 2001 Justice League TV-series or even Samurai Jack. Shows that are not generic, shallow and with stupid,over and over recycled humor. The stories in Iron Man are intriguing, I especially like the adventurous angle. And I really must congratulate the creators on making the fights and movements and the trashing that occurs on screen feel alive. I don't know how they did it but each step that Iron Man makes in the heavy suit or in general the movements of the armor,Hulks movements etc.. everything has this incredible audio backing that makes the movements come alive somehow. When he is thrown against the wall the bass is just right, when he walks the sounds of parts moving are just right. For example compare it to the new Planet Hulk animation movie by Marvel and you will be amazed at how bad it is and how good Iron Man AA is. Like day and night. So all in all we have good interesting plots with fun twists (refreshingly well thought out and logical with attention to detail and not with lame plot holes like we can often find with such animated series) accompanied with witty dialog and clever jokes. Again I repeat, If you find the animation a bit weird at first, don't, it is amazing, especially when you realize how incredible it is mixed with the audio. It really comes alive. And the how the Mandarin is portrayed in the series is amazing. The voice, the looks. Very scary and evil. I seriously do not think I am exaggerating if I say that it shows that the authors are real fans of the comics and put a lot of effort in making everything click together. Unlike the previously mentioned Planet Hulk or some other lame attempt at animation.

Usually it really bugs me the entertainment industry takes a great story like Iron Man and makes all the main characters kids, but not so with this animated series. As I have grown older and witnessed the pure crap that is focused towards a younger audience, it is encouraging to see a fun and worth while show come on the horizon. All of my children, from age 3 to 12, love this series. We have the first 6 episodes on Netflix Watch Instantly and my kids watch the entire series frequently. I watched it with them the first time and found it to be quite entertaining. Not the same quality as the latest movie, but good enough to keep me spending quality time with the kids.

I just hope we will see this continue on for a while and more episodes appear on Netflix Watch Instantly.

The drawings are ugly. The animation is cheap. Everything to quickly exploit the Iron Man brand with the minimum of investment. The story is rigid and far from creative. Well, it is not as bad as the Pokemon series, but given the feature films made in the franchise I was expecting far more.

Contact me with Questions, Comments or Suggestions ryitfork @ bitmail.ch

I'm 50 years old and this is the first time that I actually was completely hooked to the story line. This was an interesting approach with the young Tony Stark including the other characters. This could've been made in a trilogy for the big screen of for sure it's that interesting. Great writers and job guys Hope to find something as good as this animated series because you've set the bar high for my next find. Love it so much, I couldn't wait to finish the series, still 10 shows to go on season 2. Can't wait to watch the rest. Again great job

My first reaction upon seeing that this was a non-canonical Iron Man story where Tony was a high school genius was: "Ugh!". But I was won over by the feel of the story and the high quality of the production.

This is a CGI series, with the "cel-shading" that first took over everything around the time of Sega's "Jet Set Radio". It feels unique compared to the mass produced animated cartoons that proceeded it and the Pixar style animation that followed. The "human" characters are a problematic sometimes - the faces can be a bit blank and stiff, and the arms and legs can resemble pipe-cleaners. Also, from an older point of view, some of the high school dramatics seem somewhat airless and underdeveloped.

But once the armor goes on, things rev up nicely. The costume and armor designs of all the good guys AND villains are convincingly sleek and high tech, the action is kinetic and bone-crunching, and you really do get a sense of the teamwork and resilience that allow a 16 year old prodigy to survive and overcome a seemingly endless wave of mechanized mayhem. As a previous reviewer perceptively commented, even the sound design for the armored combat and flight are amazingly well thought out and implemented.

Although it apparently had several seasons more that the one I caught on cable, it never seemed to catch on, but I really enjoyed what I got to see and will be tracking the remaining episodes down.