Ben 10: Alien Force
March 21st, 2008 1:16 PM by Aaron H. Bynum
Part II
This is where Ben 10: Alien Force starts to differ. With an expanded environment that actually includes places like school and home, audiences can get a better feel for who Ben Tennyson is as a normal kid, for however little a time.
(I can only hope that we'll get more scenes of Ben interacting in these kinds of environments.)
Although the pacing of Ben 10: Alien Force is far from perfect, this being the first episode, it's a welcomed evolution into a show that's aiming to be a lot more than a boys' action title.
Older, a couple pennies wiser, and still as sharp-witted as always, Ben is an easier character to follow now more than ever. His intuitiveness still clashes with his bull-headedness, but I guess that's what makes Ben who he is.
With the series pacing slowed down a fair share comes the inclusion of a few additional plot elements that help spice things up a bit: teenage drama, romantic interests, characters with the chance to mature over time, and more. Characters get emotional in Ben 10: Alien Force, and this time they not only know they're emotional, but they consciously struggle to figure out why they're emotional. It sounds like a big jump over Ben 10, and it is, but it's certainly for the better.
The new alien enemies that Ben has to tackle are an association of alien beasts (whom I presume will soon referred to as the DNAliens). The low-level but still quite strong episodic leader here is a gigantic fellow with a really bad temper and an even more dangerous penchant for good hygiene.
When Ben transforms into one of his new aliens called Humongousaur--a saurian creature whose immense strength and knack for growing up to sixty feet tall are a huge help--Ben bites the villain on the hand and as a result earns a wicked beat down under the guise of having "infected" the bad guy with germs.
Imagine that, he's afraid of good-guy cooties.
Regardless, the main villain of Ben 10: Alien Force has heard of "the legendary Ben 10," and has some nasty plans in store for our hero.
But Ben isn't the only super-powered human on the block battling against idiotic men in suits of armor with outdated principles and hoards of tentacle wielding baddies. Gwen Tennyson, still a martial arts junkie, has a much more active role in Ben 10: Alien Force than she ever did in the previous series. Here, she even initiates the action/combat more than she delegates. Incredibly supportive and compassionate, rather than a cousin on bad terms, Gwen's clearly grown into her own person. She's much more like an older sister to Ben… even though we actually do catch a glimpse of Ben's parents this time around (or of his mother, at least).
Also pitching in is Kevin, the ignorant, bone-headed and power hungry dolt from Ben 10 whose own malevolence landed him in the Null Void (the Ben 10 equivalent of the Phantom Zone of Superman lore). Although somehow and inexplicably having escaped the Null Void, Kevin's now a clever, buff and powerful ally, even if not so very willingly.
His absorbing powers have reached an all-new level to the point where he can absorb the properties of solids (i.e. metals, stone) as much or as little as he wants.
It may be true that his presence is oftentimes annoying, especially since the writers made it far too obvious that he's got a crush on Gwen ("I'll follow you anywhere" just sounds creepy); but the dynamic that Kevin adds to Ben 10: Alien Force as a cynic, constantly clashing with Ben, is invaluable.
I altogether have mixed feelings over the addition of Gwen and Kevin to the line-up of superheroes. In particular, Gwen's magic-user abilities are understandably advanced now, but there are times when she's portrayed as ridiculously and effortlessly strong, borderline on the absurd really. On two occasions she says, "Hey, let me try something," and proceeds to defy logic. After all, instead of going on a cool and action-packed search mission through an alien mothership, why not just cut corners, use clairvoyance and call it a day? She's a good inclusion to Ben 10: Alien Force, but already feels overextended. It also kind of bothers me that she looks (and defiantly sounds) closer to eighteen year of age, not fifteen. Yet even if Ashley Johnson's previous voice over work is negligible ("Gretchen," Recess; "Terra," Teen Titans), she does a good job here nonetheless.
