Marvel Studios and Lionsgate Home Entertainment bring us the latest in comic to movie adaptions with Planet Hulk.  The story is great and creates plenty of situations for the green guy to beat the crap out of a lot of things.  Fans of the original comic series or of Marvel in general will find a lot to like here with this Blu-ray release.

The film begins with Hulk trapped on a space ship and Iron Man telling him that he is to powerful to be kept on Earth and must be sent to a planet where he will do no harm.  At the same time, one of the people inhabiting Sakaar is foretelling the prophecy of a savior from another world delivering them. The films tagline asks “will he save their world… or destroy it,” but it’s clear from the outset that Hulk will be the hero that Sakaar needs.

Not having it any other way but his, Hulk wrecks the ship and it heads for Sakaar. Shortly after crash landing Hulk is assaulted by the natives and soon the imperials subdue him with an electronic device they attach to his chest. The Red King, ruler of the planet, forces him along with a captured group of slaves to fight in a coliseum. They band together, and with the help of the Hulk and his natural ability to fuck shit up, eventually win their freedom.

Beware of spoilers below….

Fans of the original comic series will be upset that Lionsgate switched out the Silver Surfer for Beta Ray Bill in the final coliseum battle.  I think it’s not that big of an issue because the film does a good job of creating a back story on how he ended up on Sakaar. BR Bill ends up being the catalyst that frees the general populous from slave-devices attached to their chests.  This pisses the Red King off further and he hunts down the newly freed gladiators.  Having caused mass annihilation already, we find out that the good king is set to do it again in order to kill the Hulk. More smashing later and Hulk stops the Red King, replaces him, and saves the planet.

Highlights

The animation in Planet Hulk is good, but fails to really show of the capabilities of Blu-ray and falls short when compared to the quality of a Disney release. The other gladiators show off a good range of colors compared to the Hulk’s dull green and the contrast looks great.  There’s a motion blurring effect used in some of the more brutal attacks performed by the Hulk and the other combatants that feels like it shouldn’t exist in high-def. I wonder whether it was done on purpose for the “speed” effect, or caused by a poor transfer.

Running at 81 minutes, Planet Hulk is a short film.  I would have liked to see more time spent on the back story of the natives on Sakaar rather than the short flashbacks used. It’s not nearly enough considering the many different types of creatures and people that inhabit it. The story exists only to set up scenarios for the Hulk to do what he does best, whoop ass. The whooping of the ass is the best reason to watch Planet Hulk and in that respect, it doesn’t disappoint.

Special features

Planet Hulk comes as a special edition 2 disc collection with the film and special features comprising the first disc, and a digital copy for the second. Those special features include:

*Audio Commentary with Producer Joshua Fine and Screenwriter Greg Johnson
*Audio Commentary by Director Sam Liu, Character Designer Philip Bourassa and Key Background Painter Steve Nicodemus
*"A Whole World of Hurt: The Making of Planet Hulk"
*"Let the Smashing Commence! The Saga of Planet Hulk"
*The Opening Sequence to Thor: Tales of Asgard
*"Wolverine vs. Hulk" Episode from Wolverine and the X-Men
*Spider-Woman: Agent of S.W.O.R.D.Motion Comic
*Astonishing X-Men: Gifted Motion Comic
*"Watch Your Step" Spider-Woman Music Video
*"Rise Up" Astonishing X-Men Music Video

Most of the special features aren’t related to the film at all but are teasers for other Marvel products coming down the pipeline. The Commentary is good, but the track with director Sam Liu, character designer Philip Bourassa and key background painter Steve Nicodemus is far better than the other.  It’s far more detailed, technical, and funny. Since this is an animated movie, it makes for a better behind the scenes experience.

“Let the Smashing Commence“ is a short featurette with the artists and writers of Planet Hulk as they talk about talk about the story. “A Whole World of Hurt” Featurette runs about 20 minutes and goes into detail on how the original comic translated to the animated feature. The “Wolverine vs. Hulk” episode is entertaining, but the animation quality is poor compared to the main feature and Hulk’s ridiculous voice over quickly got on my nerves.

The opening sequence to Thor: Tales of Asgard is another teaser that has great animation and what appears to be a different take on the Thor story, but it won’t be out for another year.  Both of the motion comics are worth a watch, but they don’t complete a story arc and are more of a teaser than anything. The music videos are a nice touch but aren't anything you're going to revisit again after watching them once. 

Overall

Planet Hulk delivers a lot of the same stuff I liked in the comic and that is always a good thing. The animation is good, but doesn’t really use the Blu-ray disc’s full capabilities. Most of the special features don’t have much to do with the film, but fans of Marvel comics in general will love all the extra content.

ComicsOnline gives Planet Hulk on Blu-ray 4 out of 5 green gladiators.
 

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