Iron Man: Armored Adventures

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.

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.

A really interesting show! I actually really loved the plot and the storyline, the characters and their relationships, generally the whole vibe and atmosphere of the show! It's a 9/10 from me!

I imagined this to be another throw away show. I thought it was only created for more money to be made from the success of the movie, but I was mistaken!

The show is well written. The characters are three dimensional. And the story is very intriguing. But you have to watch all the episodes in order. It's almost a serial type of show. If you miss an episode it'll be harder to understand what's going on.

I definitely recommend the show to anyone interested. And just a side note, the show so far in my opinion is better than the new Wolverine And the X-men series.

When the first two episodes came out, I was in a way offended enough not to watch it again. Many probably wanted to see something related to the 2008 movie, not less liked by older fans kid-Stark series aimed at a younger audience. However, a while ago I decided to give the show another go, and boy I'm glad I did. The origin story was bad, but was there primarily to explain the basic points of the plot.

It is a change of pace from the original worn out tales. The series is a huge thought through story, with multiple side plots, and is best seen in order. Tony Stark loses his dads business to Stain for a few years before he becomes of legal age. The only good resources left to Tony are in an old business warehouse, where he builds his armored suits. Aided by his friends, and even enemies, he tries to make things right in the world. And he also has to go to school 5 days a weak. This turns him from a rich playboy alcoholic into a basic nerd.

If you like reasonable high-tech tools, weapons and suits, you will love this show. The villains usually have a visually superior completely altered wardrobe and tweaked arsenal. Best of all Tony starts of with nothing but jetboots and has to integrate enemy tech into his suit to improve it. Not to mention he also has to work out some bugs out of the suits systems.

Characters are well thought through, though not complex and sometimes predictable. If you look close enough even the henchmen have personalities. The creators did a terrific job to make you doubt how it will all end, without offending the fans.

The graphics aren't top, but they aren't distracting or try to go beyond necessities. There is clipping, some seen without effort, but its rear and will loosen up dull moments. Probably some areas could have used more dirt and garbage elements, but other than that backgrounds are OK.

Yes, the series has its bad episodes, and I think the pilot was the worst, but without it you would probably ask too many questions. If you don't like the series, my advice: stop watching it for a while and then try again starting with the next episode.