Ben 10: Alien Force

Ben 10: Alien Force
"It never did that before...I don't recognize any of these guys, although under the circumstances, this one looks pretty good!"
Genre: Action Adventure Science fiction Fantasy Drama Running Time: 23 minutes Country: United States Release Date: April 18, 2008 - March 27, 2010 Network(s): Cartoon Network Created by: Man of Action Distributed by: Warner Bros. Television Distribution Starring: Yuri Lowenthal Ashley Johnson Greg Cipes Dee Bradley Baker Paul Eiding Vyvan Pham Jeff Bennett John DiMaggio Kevin Michael Richardson Richard McGonagle James Remar Seasons: 3 Episodes: 46 Previous show: Ben 10 (2005) Next show: Ben 10: Ultimate Alien

Ben 10: Alien Force is the second iteration of the Ben 10 franchise and the sequel of the original Ben 10 series. It was created by the studio Man of Action and produced by Cartoon Network Studios.

Plot

Ben Tennyson, a 15-year-old boy, has returned to his ordinary life five years after the first series ended. Ben has matured from a little kid to a confident teenager as a result of his exploits; nevertheless, the strange disappearance of Grandpa Max forces Ben to put the Omnitrix back on, as well as compelling him, his cousin Gwen, and his old nemesis Kevin to seek for and locate Grandpa Max. At the same time, they must recruit the support of the Plumbers' children (children or grandchildren of retired Plumbers who are often half human and half alien) and withstand attacks by a new threat, the Highbreed.

Why It Goes Full Force

1. It faithfully recreates the previous series's production values and work.
2. The narrative of its first two seasons (with the exception of the filler episodes) is genuinely wonderful and easy to follow.
3. Amazing theme music, which many fans found out was really a slower, symphonic, "Marvelformers"-style rework of the original series' theme.
4. The Omnitrix has a slew of new aliens. Some of the most memorable aliens include Swampfire, Echo Echo, Humungousaur, Big Chill, Chromastone, Jetray, Spidermonkey ,Goop, Rath and Alien X.
5. There are several likable individuals. Particularly Ben, Gwen, and Kevin. Julie, Ben's new girlfriend, and her extraterrestrial pet, Ship, are also endearing.
6. Many interesting new villains are introduced such as Albedo, Michael Morningstar/Darkstar, and The Highbreed.
   • They brought back Vilgax in Season 3, and he is still a great villain.
7. While the show introduced plenty of new characters, the show did bring back fan-favorite heroes and villains from the original series, like Charmcaster, Tetrax, Zs'Skayr, Hex, the Galactic Enforcers, Cash, J.T, Kraab and Dr. Animo.
8. Really good animation that further captures the quality from the original series.
9. Incredible voice acting, especially Yuri Lowenthal as Ben, Ashley Johnson as Gwen, and Greg Cipes as Kevin.
10. Tons and tons of hilarious moments such as "What did you do to my car!", "Eww, what's that smell, is that me?", "No juice for you!" and "LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING!".
11. In the final episode, Ben makes a hilarious reference to the show.
    • Also in the final episode, Ben activated the self-destruct feature on the Omnitrix to stop Vilgax and obtains the Ultimatrix from Albedo, which was a great way to start it's next series "Ben 10: Ultimate Alien".
12. Great character development, especially from Ben as he is a lot more mature and humble than he was from the original show, and he and Gwen don't argue much anymore.
13. Worldbuilding and sound design are a step up from the original series.
14. The darker, more serious tone greatly respects the intelligence of children (its main target audience) and also blends in the aforementioned humor as well.
15. Starting with the second season, it brings back fan-favorite aliens from the original series like Diamondhead, Upchuck, Ghostfreak, Cannonbolt, and Way Big.

Bad Qualities

1. While Season 3 may be enjoyable, it was sadly a significant step down in terms of literary quality when compared to the first two seasons.
2. In comparison to the original series, the art style (albeit excellent) is somewhat dull and doesn't look polished compared to the original series.
3. Some flaws from the first series are replicated, such as incomprehensible alien voices.
4. This entry introduced many changes to its predecessor's lore that were not well-received by some fans of the original series, causing a schism in the fanbase that persists to this day (e.g., retconning Gwen's magical powers to being of alien origin, a darker tone with much more complex episodes and villains compared to the original series, and Kevin Levin not only joining Ben's team but also being a Plumber's kid (despite the original series never hinting any connection Kevin had to the Plumbers).
5. Some of these contentious alterations were patched up in Ultimate Alien and even completely reverted in Omniverse.
6. Characters such as Ben's parents, Sandra, and Carl Tennyson are unlikable (Grounded only, they redeemed themselves in later appearances). Similarly, Ben, Gwen, (both in Season 3 mostly) and Kevin Levin may be unlikable at times.
7. While Vilgax is still a great version, he isn't as great as he was in the Original Series.
8. Some poor episodes include "Fool's Gold," "Don't Fear the Repo," "Simple" and, most infamously, "Grounded."
9. There are still some animation errors here, and it still goes off-model usually.

Reception

It was nominated for four Emmy Awards, winning one for Outstanding Sound Mixing – Live Action and Animation.

Comments

Loading comments...