Review: Ben 10: Race Against Time
The Live-Action Movie Fails to Hold Up to the Magic of the Cartoon
Sep 5, 2008
Ben 10: Race Against Time opens like any typical Ben 10 episode, with a villain trashing the scene, but unlike any typical Ben 10 episode, this is live action rather than animation. Enter Heat Blast to save the day and show how poor the special effects will be for the rest of the movie. Sometimes cartoons should just stay as animation. Ben 10: Race Against Time is probably one of the strongest arguments for this point.
What It's About
Ben Tennyson's summer vacation with cousin Gwen and Grandpa Max has come to a close, and so must his hero days as a morphing alien. However, Ben is having a rather difficult time adapting to being a normal ten year old kid. When he's "going hero," he's amazing and has the admiration of all. Now that he's back home, he's just plain, old Ben Tennyson, the goofy kid that girls despise, boys pick on, and can't play sports to save his life. Mix in his free spirited parents, and it's no wonder that Ben wants to go back to the glory days of fighting bad guys.
Ben learns to be careful of what he wishes for. A bad guy does show up, and he's one of the toughest villains Ben has had to deal with. His name is Eon, and he has been a thorn in the Plumbers' side since the 1800s. Eon has the ability to fluctuate the space-time continuum, and he has been jumping the timeline for years trying to get at Ben and the Omnitrix. He needs both to activate the Hands of Armageddon and open a dimensional gate to allow his people to invade Earth.
Live Action Tries to Be as Cool as Animation
This movie had some potential, but it needed a Star Wars budget to pull off the same effects seen in animation. Unfortunately, it looked like it had the budget of one episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The special effects of the sci-fi gun battles, Ben's aliens, and Eon's energy blasts looked like they came from the same special effects closet as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as well. The actors really tried to pull off a convincing alien battle, but without the high budget special effects, the movie should have just been left as animation.
The Acting Doesn't Meet the Voice Acting
The cast is a nice collection of thespians, but the acting felt extremely forced. It was like the actors were fish out of water in trying an action film. Graham Phillips in appearance alone could be the real-life Ben Tennyson, but that's where it ends. The best acting jobs were done by Tyler Patrick Jones and Tyler Foden, the bullies Cash and J.T.
It's possible that it wasn't entirely the actors' fault. The script had little of the wit and vivaciousness found in the animated series. At times, it looked like the actors knew that their lines were overly scripted and poorly written.
It's Still Ben 10
Despite the poor visuals and lackluster acting, the movie held up the essence of Ben 10. Ben still wants to constantly play hero in his desperate attempt to be someone other than a pariah. He uses the Omnitrix to save the world, but still finds excuses to use it to instigate a food fight at a diner to get back at his bullies. Gwen is still a little Miss-Know-it-All, and Grandpa Max is still the strong, yet secretive mentor.
However, since the visuals are not as aesthetically pleasing as the animation of the series, it will take a real Ben 10 fan to digest this movie, and possibly a superfan to watch it a second time.
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