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STUDIO: Lionsgate
MSRP: $10.99
RATED: Not rated
RUNNING TIME: 68 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
– Three episode commentaries
The Pitch
It’s the best cartoon adaptation of the X-Men since the last one.
The Humans
Steve
Blum, Fred Tatasciore, Jim Ward, Nolan North, Kari Wahlgren, Danielle
Judovits, Tom Kane, Liam O’Brien, Yuri Lowenthal, Roger Craig Smith.
The Nutshell
With
Charles Xavier in a coma in the present, but awake and able to
communicate with him from the future, Wolverine leads the X-Men against
all of their old familiar foes. He also tries to guide them –
and the rest of the world – away from an oncoming apocalypse whose
origin he and Xavier work to discover together from the two different
time periods.
The Lowdown
Check out previous reviews of the show here:
– Deadly Enemies
– Vol. 4: Fate of the Future
– Vol. 5: Revelation
The first season of the latest version of the X-Men wraps up with this three-episode offering that finds Xavier, Wolverine and their band working to destroy Master Mold in the dystopian future. Meanwhile, Wolverine and the X-Men seek to prevent the war before it begins in the present. There are a couple of storylines at work in the present, one of which finds Magneto using Mystique to impersonate Senator Kelly to launch the Sentinels against Genosha, so that he’ll have cause to finally attack human civilization. As that’s occurring, Emma Frost and the Hellfire Club are making their move to get Jean to release the Phoenix Force within her.
Wolverine and the X-Men are usually playing catch up, but their initial attempt to stop Magneto from attacking fails. He reprograms the Sentinels to obey him and uses them to attack a major city. However, that’s not the biggest problem for the X-Men as the Phoenix is indeed awakened. The Hellfire Club uses five telepaths commanded by Frost to control the force, which, as Emma described to Jean, is an elemental force that has emerged in telepaths down through the ages. Emma’s reasons for trying to release the Phoenix Force were different than the rest of the Club. And she may be the key to helping Wolverine stop its menace. But some revelations about her actions that led to the explosion of the mansion, Jean’s disappearance and Xavier’s coma may make it impossible for her to be trusted.
Wolverine & The X-Men is a good cartoon that manages a few interesting turns on the mythology, especially considering that there have been several adaptations of the X-Men over the last few years. But once again, as with the other sets in this series, don’t get conned into buying the season piecemeal.
The Package
Animation
and transfer are clean and crisp in 1.78:1 and audio is fine. There are three commentaries by writer
/ producers Craig Kyle, Greg Johnson and Christopher Yost.