So a while back, for Alltern8.com, I brought you an neat sneak peak and exclusive premiere coverage of the Planet Hulk premiere party Live from New York and Los Angeles. Of course, it just wouldn’t be right to plug Marvel Animation latest release without a firm yet fair review of the film, and with this reporter finally getting his hands on a copy it’s finally time we take a look at “Planet Hulk” the film.

The Marvel animation studio has been around for few years now, cranking out such hits as the Wolverine and X-Men series, the Ultimate Avengers movies, and the Hulk Vs. double feature last year. Yet they have also been the ones behind such not so fan favorite films as 2008′s Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow and the ill fated Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme adaptation. With the recent acquisition of Marvel by Disney it is anyone’s guess what the studio will come up with next, however fans seem to have high hopes the merger will bring about some serious awesomeness out of the Marvel animation studio.

Now “Planet Hulk” began as a story arc that ran through Incredible Hulk issues #92- #105 way back in 2006, yet the events that took place during Greg Pak and Carlo Pagulayan are still felt in the Incredible Hulk series today. Not to mention the dozen or so spin-offs and limited series that have fallen into continuity with The Hulk’s adventure on the Planet Sakaar. The story is epic in scope, taking the character of the Hulk, a tried and true comics icon since the the early sixties who has overcome nearly every plot line an unstoppable brute can, and places him smack dab in the middle of a story that breathes new life into the character. It was an event of enormous magnitude that placed the Hulk on the level on the best space operas and epic fantasy sagas of all time, and in a direction that no one saw coming. Needless to say I highly recommend it.

The film by and large is a tribute to the comic book masterpiece. It hits all the high points of the series and gets it right. However it clocks in at a measly 81 minutes, which is a little disappointing, but only because it leaves you wanting more. It is as if the film version is a cliff note of the comic, leaving out some great moments from the series in favor of intense action and some fairly gruesome violence for a cartoon. It is almost as though the target audience is meant to be those a little younger than the readers of the original series. Yet with some surprisingly violent twists it may not be something you want to share with your little brother just yet. (Start him off with The Super Hero Squad, you’ll be glad you did.) As a direct to DVD and Blu-ray release the film was not rated, however had it it seen release in theaters it would have no doubt earned a PG-13 rating.

On the technical side of things, the film is solid, but doesn’t have anything special. The animation does a great job of capturing the landscape of the planet Sakaar. Rick D. Wasserman gave a voice to The Hulk, whose dialogue includes much more than the signature “Hulk Smash!” battle cry on this outing, and by doing so gave the mean green machine a depth of emotion rarely seen in the comics. I thought the other characters were voice nicely as well with Lisa Ann Beley, Liam O’Brien, and a host of talented others to round out the cast.

I don’t want to give any spoilers so I won’t. All I can say is this film is worth checking out. Proving that The Hulk can weight in as just as much titan in animation as he can in the live action films that have come out over the years. In the case of the “Planet Hulk” storyline I think doing it animated worked quite well, and while the future of Marvel Animation may seem shady with certain mouse-eared shadows looming behind the scenes, if Planet Hulk is but the first of whats to come, then not only did it clear the path, it set a new standard for Marvel animated features to follow.