ANI-MOVIES, *Planet Hulk

After about a year, Marvel comes back with yet another Hulk animated movie. However, this one is a full-length OVA instead of a double feature. Similar to the Ultimate Avengers films, this one is an adaptation of an existing Marvel Comics storyline.

Hulk wakes up with a bad hangover to discover he's on a spaceship bound for a distant planet. A secret group heroes(known in the comics as the Illuminati)banish him from Earth because he's too destructive. Hulk gets pissed and derails the ship to the savage planet of Sakaar. Once there, he is ambushed by a tribe of insects, only to get taken and enslaved by the local imperial soldiers. Hulk gets roped in with some other captives to take part as a gladiator, and fighting robots and monsters for the pleasure of the tyrannical Red King. Even though they are all controlled by special nano-device, Hulk manages to advance him and his friends to the last fight, who it turns out is against Beta Ray Bill, a horse-headed alien that was given the power of Thor by the Asgardians. Hulk busts Bill's controller, and Beta sets the rest of the gladiators free with a lightning blast. Hulk threatens the Red King if he comes after him, and then he seperates from his former teammates. Desperate to save face for her king, the royal bodyguard Caiera goes after him, and proves to be just as strong as Hulk. However, a plague of parasites called Spikes are sent to the city where Hulk's teammates are at. Caiera is shocked to find out that the were sent by the Red King himself, because they were the same Spikes that wiped out her family as a child. Hulk, Caiera, and the others then head back to the capital to brutally kick the Red King's ass. Hulk then becomes the leader of the newly freed Sakaar with Caiera as his queen.

Planet Hulk features probably the best animation in a Marvel animation movie to date. I'd say that the Marvel movies has better animation, although the DC Universe ones have better writing. Hulk totally goes full-mad in this one, beating the living crap out of anything that gets in his way. Some comics fans might be a little pissed that Beta Ray Bill replaced Silver Surfer(for licensing reasons)from the original story, but they should keep a sharp eye out for cameos by Gamora, Adam Warlock, and Grandmaster. This movie adds a deeper level to the Hulk character rarely seen outside the normal comics, and way better than anything Ang Lee put together! Whether this will lead into a World War Hulk movie though is yet to be seen.