Astonishing X-Men: Dangerous DVD Review

Another somewhat bland motion comic from Marvel Knights.

The motion comic adaptation of Astonishing X-Men: Dangerous finally comes to DVD largely thanks to Joss Whedon's The Avengers. which will hit theaters in May 2012. Better late than never. But for those who purchased, Astonishing X-Men: Gifted way back in late 2010, this release will likely feel more than a little overdue.

Dangerous is the second chapter in a three-part series written by Joss Whedon and illustrated by John Cassaday. In keeping with other Marvel Knights animated efforts, the 70-minute film is presented as a motion comic, preserving the flow of Whedon's narrative, as well as Cassaday's stunning artwork.

The story picks up pretty much right where Gifted left off. After a rather tragic death at Xavier's school, a new enemy emerges with one goal – to eliminate the X-Men. With some clever twists and turns, the story focuses largely on the group dynamic, and how certain revelations shape their characters. Whedon's writing is both energetic and witty, without feeling too meta or overbearing. The action beats are great, and the mystery unfolds in a clever fashion.

But that's the comic. The motion comic, on the other hand, isn't really an improvement, and in some ways the execution hinders the overall impact of Whedon and Cassaday's original intention. This is largely because this particular motion comic is so married to the format. Unlike Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers. which switched up the style considerably and created a much different, and perhaps more organic, motion comic dynamic, Dangerous does little to add to the genre in any way.

While certain imagery can translate action on the page, adding limited motion to it often makes action sequences feel stale or sometimes downright hokey. It certainly doesn't help that voice work is lifeless and bland, with little emoting or range from the cast. Ultimately, Dangerous feels more like a book-on-tape, with flat dialogue and little to keep audiences engaged.

Make no mistake, Dangerous is a pretty great X-Men story, and if you haven't read it, it's well worth a look. But the motion comic adaptation just isn't as engaging or absorbing as it probably should have been, proving once more that Marvel Knights needs to abandon this format in favor of pure animation.

Astonishing X-Men: Dangerous comes to DVD from Shout! Factory. Sadly, despite arriving in time for The Avengers, the release receives relatively little fanfare. The motion comic is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, mixed in 2.0 stereo (no subtitle options are provided). Unfortunately, there are no extras included on this release.

At first glance, right during the opening credits, Dangerous looks downright horrible, with heavy artifacting, banding and distorted, low-resolution animation. Thankfully, these flaws only appear during the opening credits, and do not actually represent the motion comic itself. Rather, Dangerous is a fairly vivid recreation of John Cassady's original artwork, with only minimal flaws getting in the way, mainly minor artifacting every now and then – most notable in heavy reds and blues.

The stereo track lacks any real punch. Dialogue comes off flat, sound effects and score and crammed together, and the mix doesn't really take advantage of the stereo sound field. It's hard to figure out Marvel's motivation in mixing these motion comics in stereo, as opposed to 5.1. With such a dull stylistic being employed, you'd think Marvel Knights animation would want to up the ante somewhere. Alas, like other motion comics from the studio, Dangerous just doesn't hold much impact.

Whether you'll want to plop down your hard-earned cash on Astonishing X-Men: Dangerous is really up to how much a fan of this story you really are. That said, with no extras on the disc to speak of, and the prospect of this adaptation hitting Netflix Instant Streaming soon (likely in HD, no less -- Gifted is already available), this release is a touch disappointing and might only be worth it if you can pick it up cheap. It's no fault on Shout! Factory's part – Marvel Knights just needs to step up their game and give fans a release worthy of purchasing.

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