Customer Reviews

X-Men Evolution - Season 2, Volume 3: Enemies Unveiled

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This DVD features the Season Two episodes:

Joyride - When Lance (Avalanche) decides to join the X-men, he finds it hard to fit in and to make matters worse, he gets the blame for trashing the "X-cars". When the real culprets: Iceman, Jubilee, and Cannonball decide to take the X-Jet out for a "spin", Lance and Kitty (Shadowcat) stow away to stop them, but, when the controls are damaged and they're being followed, can they get out alive?

Walk on the Wild Side - When Amara (Magma) and Jean feel like the boys think they're better than the girls, Tabitha (Boom Boom) gets Kitty (Shadowcat) and Rogue to join them in a girls' crime fighting group, the Bayville Sirens! When they go looking for trouble, they find it, and are followed by a couple of friendly faces, and one not so.

Operation: Rebirth - When Magneto steals the remnants of the top secret "Rebirth" project, which Wolverine helped shut down way back in World War II, Logan has no choice but to try and stop him when S.H.I.E.L.D. and its top agent, Nick Fury, alert him to Magneto's plan.
Guest Stars: Nick Fury and Captain America.

Mindbender - After visiting the circus, Jean starts acting strangely and disappears. The X-men find out that she's being controlled by a mysterious man named Mesmero, and collecting artifacts for him, but when Jean isn't enough, Mesmero decides that the only way to get the rest of what he needs is to control more of the X-men!
Guest Stars: Mesmero

All great, the last episode has the first reference in the series to Apocalypse, the villain featured in the series finale, so, in a way, this DVD is the beginning of the end for the X-men.

X-MEN: EVOLUTION truly is an excellent coming-of-age superhero series. The choices made regarding who would be reincarnated as teenagers and who would remain as adults generally pay off. I find Cyclops and Jean to be more interesting characters as angst-ridden teens. It would've been intriguing to have had Wolverine as a highschooler, as he would've undoubtedly out-grouched even the sullen Rogue, but never mind. Kurt (Nightcrawler), on the other hand, is a pure hoot; the exuberant fuzzy blue elf is one of my favorites.

The animation here is more than adequate, and the voice acting, particularly that of Logan and Prof. Xavier, is spot on. This series is definitely worth collecting, and I guess those bums at Warner Brothers are very aware of that. Warner Brothers enjoys making us wait for the complete season 2 package. That, or the company must be really racking up the greenbacks from the gullibles who pay extra money collecting these mini-sets. Alas, I'm one of those suckers, at least, with this particular dvd. But this one, I just had to have.

It's a bit challenging to review these X-MEN:EVOLUTION four- and five-episode packs without mentioning the other, unincluded episodes of the season and its general story arc. Fortunately, three of the episodes here are self-contained stories, while "Mindbender" is a precursor to momentous events which happen in the third season. X-MEN: EVOLUTION - ENEMIES UNVEILED (Volume 3) includes episodes 9 thru 12 from Season 2 and offers up two of my favorite episodes of the entire series: the amusing "Walk on the Wild Side" - wherein the girls form their own strictly female crime-fighting club, the Bayville Sirens - & "Operation Rebirth" - wherein, during World War 2, Wolverine teams up with Captain America.

The other two episodes are "Joyride" - in which Lance (Avalance of the Brotherhood of Mutants) briefly joins the X-Men - & the eerie "Mindbender" - in which Jean Grey is acting really strange. As mentioned before, "Mindbender" sets the table for a key storyline in season 3.

This dvd contains several paltry special features: "Meet the New Mutants"; "Behind the Brotherhood with Mystique"; and Wolverine's Trivia Challenge. Really, if not for "Walk on the Wild Side" and "Operation Rebirth," I would've held out for the Complete Season 2 dvd package, which I hope isn't long in arriving. Warner Brothers, c'mon, get it together. What's taking so long, bubs?

More and more charactes enter the ranks to see who's in watch the cd. Its a great series you will love it.

As I've said in my other reviews for this show, X-Men: Evolution is not the best kids' show out there, but it's got some good qualities. My favorite element in the series is the Kurt/Nightcrawler character; I also like the high school setting and the anime style of the drawings, as well as the different scenarios the writers come up with.

I particularly like the first episode on this disc, since it's really neat seeing Lance join the X-Men for a while. It's just a shame that he was treated unfairly and decided to leave again at the end. The second episode, where the mutant girls go all feminist and start a vigilante group, is a bit silly, but it's also cool seeing them in different clothes and all kicking butt together with no guys around for a change. The other two episodes are just average.

this other reviewer took the words out my mouth, so i'll just quote him

"Any "traditional" X-men fan over 25 will be disappointed with X-men Evolution. Fans who did not grow up reading the X-men comics or cherishing the original X-men Animated Series may like it, (people under 15) but these fans are not the hard core base of X-men fans to which I refer.

So many bad ideas went into this Evolution series. First of all, I can't get past the ridiculous notion of the X-men attending the local public high school! (And with Mystique as the principal?)

The X-men's school was the Xavier School for the Gifted - Period!

In addition to that, the idea of the "good" mutants going to this same high school as the "bad" mutants is just plain stupid. They were mortal enemies, and no way could they co-exist in the same school, even with the conflicts that happen in these stories.

Furthermore, the introduction, at this early stage of the X-men story-line, of characters like Nightcrawler, (whose depiction in this series stinks,) Rogue, (who is portrayed like some punk Gothic chick) and the new mutants is just not the way it happened nor should it happen even in a revised edition like this. I can handle Storm and Wolverine as early mentors, because they are supposed to be older like they are shown to be here, but the others were just not in existence at this stage of X-men history. Ice Man and Beast were supposed to be there from the beginning just like Cyclops and Jean. The Angel, who was my favorite, was another original member of the team, but he doesn't make his appearance until later seasons.

And since when were the twins, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch enemies as they were portrayed here? They were supposed to be as close as any brother/sister twins could ever be. Pietro was always supposed to be defending his sister to the end. He was never terrified of her. And what's with this show making Wanda so super powerful like that? She wasn't so super-mighty as portrayed here.

Lastly, I must criticize the art because it is just hard to look at. I know they are going for a stylized look like in some of the comics, but, like another critic observed, the noses are just plain bad. And the huge feet bother me as well.

If YOU like it just because it is something on the X-men being done, that's great, I suppose it is better than nothing.

But for me the original series in the 90s, (yes, that means the original "series") was far superior, (I don't understand how anyone could criticize the art in that show. In my view the art in many of those original series episodes rivaled even the best of Disney, especially "The Phoenix Saga", and the "Dark Phoenix Saga", as well as many more: beautiful art!)

Sadly, what we have now in "Evolution" is some Hollywood executive's vision of a revised X-men universe, targeting today's bubble gum brigade, (ie: the high school setting, Spyke and his skateboard.) Hollywood has always thought they know better than the creators of the genre, but usually, like in this case, it only results in a bastardization of what so many of us grew up loving."

A decent continuation on the X-Men: Evolution series. I recommend them all for any Marvel or X-Men fan.

I liked this episode when it originally aired and this is a good copy.

Rating it 5 cuz people think main stuff their looking for are the episodes, but features do play an important role, this time the xtras were not ssssoooo awesome ..just ok.

In all of the other X-men DVDs, they show very little on the couple that i like the best. Kitty and Lance. the first episode Joyride, is when Lance joins the X-men. Not everyone is pleased, but almost all are. Scott is the one who hates Lance and Doesen't believe that Lance is doing this out of truth. well when cars, jets, start mysterisoly getting very dirtty. Scott blames it all on Lance. But is it Lance or is someone else having the Joyride?? and Walk on the Wild Side is a episode very good towards "Girl Power" Jean, Boom Boom, Rouge, Magma,Kitty decide to become the BayVille Sirens. Stoping crime and Wearing Leather in the process. the other Two epsiodes are worth getting the Disc After All, any X-Men DVD is worth it.