Ben 10 Versus The Universe: The Movie is the latest adventure for the alien-fighting Team Tennyson, following four seasons of Cartoon Network’s 2016 Ben 10 reboot. While traveling the country with his grandfather Max and cousin Gwen in their RV, the Rust Bucket, ten-year-old Ben Tennyson found a mysterious watch called the Omnitrix, which has become permanently attached to his wrist. The watch allows Ben to dial up and transform into ten different aliens, each with its own unique superpowers, which he uses to protect the planet from dangerous aliens.

As the film opens, Ben has transformed himself into Heatblast, and is fighting a steampunk pirate captain on his floating ship. Ben doesn’t find his job to be challenging anymore, and makes wisecracks as he easily defeats his latest foe. However, that’s about to change. Phil alerts Team Tennyson to a dire situation—a deadly meteorite is headed for Earth. While the others are terrified, Ben is excited by the news—this is the challenge he needs! But first he’s going to need an upgrade. Phil discovers that the key inserted into the Omnitrix has been in the wrong direction this whole time, and reversing it unlocks a whole new level of abilities for Ben, including flight. And so, after some astronaut-style training, Ben jets into space to after the meteor. However, he soon finds his path diverted, and he is sucked into portal to an alien spaceship, where he is put on trial. The aliens believe he is the intergalactic alien warlord and conqueror Vilgax, disguised as a weak, harmless little boy. Meanwhile, the real Vilgax arrives on Earth, and he is after the Antitrix—a copy of the Omnitrix, built by eleven-year-old Kevin, a former school bully turned anti-hero. So Team Tennyson teams up with Kevin to try to protect the planet while Ben defends himself in space.

I had never seen either the original animated Ben 10 series or any of this latest reboot before receiving this movie for review, but since they sent it, I figured I’d give it a watch. I must admit that I was a bit lost at first as to what what going on. The film assumes that the viewer is familiar with the characters and the premise of the series. It is treated more like an extended episode of the series—which already has over 165 episodes in the reboot alone—and thus doesn’t provide any kind of introduction or exposition for first time viewers. Once Ben is launched into space, the film alternates between the two somewhat separate storylines—Kevin and the Tennysons fighting Vilgax on Earth, and Ben on trial and confronting some aliens from his past in space. In the final act these two come together, with Ben finally returning to Earth to join the fight against Vilgax. Both Ben and Kevin go through some transformative growth in their respective storylines. For Ben, he’s become a bit lax and overconfident in his duties and abilities, but realizes there’s more to learn and room to grow. And for Kevin, he starts off as more of a loner, thinking he can solve everything on his own, but realizes he needs and welcomes the assistance of Team Tennyson.

The film is action packed and has a very anime feel to it. Whenever characters are fighting, it often cuts to more of a blank background to focus just on the combat. Ben turns into so many of his different alien forms over the course of the film (as well as some new ones)—I suspect normal episodes of the series don’t have him transforming into this many different alter-egos. The film also has a lot of humor, with Ben and Kevin often making sarcastic comments or jokes as they do battle with their enemies. there is also some fun with the audience, such as at one point when one of the characters makes a comment such as “maybe that will be resolved in the next reboot”. While I think this movie is much more geared towards longtime fans of the series, new viewers could also enjoy it, but may require reading up on the series and characters beforehand. It would have been nice if there had been some kind of primer or “previously on” at the beginning of the film for new viewers unfamiliar with the series.

Warner Bros’ has released the film on DVD and Digital. The picture quality of the DVD looks quite good, with nice use of color, and a picture that remains clean and clear even during fast action sequences. The audio track provides clear dialogue, but being only in stereo, it lacks the more immersive nature of most modern animated films. The DVD release contains an small assortment of bonus material, including nearly 8 minutes of animatics and a slideshow. The disc comes packed in a standard DVD case with a cardboard slipcover. No digital copy is included.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:12:02)

• 480i / Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

• Animatics (7:42)
  Early version of some scenes from the film presented in animated pencil sketches with dialogue. Play All, or select from:
  • Vilgax vs. The Rustbucket (1:16)
  • Vilgax Returns (:40)
  • Omni-Nut Jetray Flight Test (1:28)
  • Kevin vs. Vilgax (1:05)
  • Ben’s Escape Attempt (1:55)
  • Ben vs. The Prisoners of the Null Void (:32)
  • Ben Saves the Incurseans (:46)
• Image Gallery (1:40)
  Collection of production images and concept artwork from the film. Slideshow auto-advances every 2 seconds.

Final Thoughts:

Ben 10 Versus The Universe: The Movie is geared more towards longtime viewers of the series, and doesn’t really provide any kind of introduction or recap to get new viewers up-to-speed beforehand. Once you get an understanding of the characters and premise, the film is entertaining, with a mix of action and humor that should appeal to most viewers. The technical presentation looks great, but doesn’t provide an immersive surround sound option. The disc includes a small assortment of extras that should be a treat for fans of the series. This release is primarily recommended for fans of the series rather than for new viewers.