DVD Review: Ben 10 (Omni-Tricked Season 1, Volume 2)

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The reboot of Cartoon Network’s Ben 10 has been a success as new fans embrace the tales of a young kid fighting villains. While on vaction with his grandfather Max and cousin Gwen, Ben Tennyson discovers the Omnitrix. The device allows the ten-year-old boy to chose the identity of 10 different alien heroes. This is great since he can pick the right form to fight invaders from outer space like a golfer can pick a club. Ben 10: Omni-Tricketed – Season 1: Volume 2 contains the last batch of episodes from the freshman outing.

The show has a fine sense of humor about the situations. “Hole in 10” has Ben (My Little Pony‘s Tara Strong) hitting a golf course for a fun round. But he quickly has issues when the pesky groundhogs turn out to be a mutated motorcycle gang. It’s like Caddyshack twisted by Sons of Anarchy. “Recipe for Disaster” isn’t merely an invasion of alien chefs looking for new dishes. Their first meals prepared on Earth call for big hunks of Ben 10. “Ben 24hrs” deals with a themepark that never closes. Can Ben and Gwen take that much fun without wanting to go back to the hotel? “Bright Lights, Black Hearts” lets Gwen sneak on a film set to see her movie star idol. Ben sadly recognizes the guy is a vampire who sucks energy. This exact thing happened when I met Michael Rooker on the set of Deceiver. “Don’t Let the Bass Drop” explores what can go wrong at an electronic dance music concert. Hopefully it will make kids rethink becoming DJs. “Xingo” has Ben battle his favorite TV cartoon. This is kinda meta. “Omni-Tricked” has Ben discover an 11th alien. At the same time he loses control over the Omnitrix and keeps transforming. Can he fix it before things get extra nasty.

One of the things that frustrates kids is when they put in a DVD that only has a few episodes. Well that’s not a problem here since the disc contains 16 episodes and a huge four part “Omni-Tricked” that wrapped up the season. That’s nearly four hours of shows. This disc is begging to be part of your next cross country trip so you won’t hear a peep out of the backseat. The reboot of Ben 10 brings out the best of the original show and a few new twists.

The video is 1:78:1 anamorphic. The transfers being out details in the various aliens. The audio is Dolby Digital 2.0. The mix goes fine during the action scenes. The episodes are subtitled in English.

No bonus features.

Cartoon Network and Warner Home Video presents Ben 10: Omni-Tricketed – Season 1: Volume 2. Created by: Man of Action. Starring: Tara Strong, Montserrat Hernandez, David Kaye, Greg Cipes, John DiMaggio & Todd Haberkorn. Boxset Contents: 17 episodes on 1 DVD. Released: September 25, 2018.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.