Much like how DC sill does dominate with there animated shows and direct to DVD movies in the early to mid nineties Marvel was giving them a pretty good run for there money. With X-Men and Spider-Man being pretty good shows yet there are are a few shows that Marvel did around that time that alot of people seem to have forgotten about with one of those shows being the 1996 version of The Incredible Hulk and so then join me as I review the episode that sees Hulk gain , loose and then gain another friend again with the episode in question being called simply just "Raw Power" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when The Hulk is spotted in a nearby town General Ross has to team up with SHIELD to take hm down and Bruce Banner finds a friend who tries to help him get rid of The Hulk for good. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that good. Look to be honest here the main reason as to why this episodes plot isn't as good as it could have been is due t the fact that the episode does seem to light on plot with not alot actually happening for a good portion of the episode. The episode doesn't seem to be all that focused on plot as the episode does pick up and drop of its plot alot which for a film is pretty understandable but for a TV show episode is not something that you can afford to do with it getting so bad that at times it was hard to work out just what the plot of this episode was even meant to be in the first place however tho in saying this the general idea of someone befriending The Hulk first and not Bruce Banner was a good idea as does give the episode the chance to hit home the fact that The Hulk and Bruce Banner are two completely different people but the episode and it's plot doesn't fully explore that and like alot of things in this episode it does get dropped for literally no reason when that is the most interesting part of the episodes plot as a whole with the plot of this episode also not really being really rather entertaining and nor it is really rather engaging either in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Lou Ferrigno as The Hulk , Neal McDonough as Dr. Bruce Banner and Genie Francis as Betty Ross. Also starring in this episode is Luke Perry as Rick Jones , John Vernon as General Ross , Thom Barry as Gabriel Jones , Shadoe Stevens as Doc Samson , Michael Bell as Mitch McCutcheon / Zzzax , Leeza Miller McGee as A Co-worker / Zzzax and Kevin Schon as Major Talbot / Zzzax.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty pretty good. Unlike this episodes plot this episodes acting was actually pretty decent as all of the episodes actors are doing there best to turn in a good performance and while yes this is only the third episode of the show and therefore of course the acting won't be as good as it is in later episodes the fact that it is still pretty decent in the first place is still a good thing as given the episodes plot the acting could have been pretty bad very easily with his natural charm really shining through in this episode. With the best actor in this episode being quite hard to say as none of the episodes actors really stood out in this episode but at a push it would have be Lou Ferrigno as The Hulk as not only is he reprising the role that he helped to make famous in the seventies live action show but the Hulk oddly plays a bigger role then Bruce Banner does while this is something that very easily could have exposed Lou's lack of good acting the fact that the character only spoke very few lines in this episode helped to make Lou come across as being all the more better as an actor with the few lies that that he does say appealing to the characters childlike sense of wonder and nature. With the acting that's in this very episode not really being helped by the fact that this episodes script really is really bad as it gives none of this episodes actors anything to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does harm the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
Doing the animation for this episode is the legends and the greats that are currently over at Saerom Animation. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty pretty good. This episodes animation whilst it is still really good it's more on the same level as the episodes plot as you don't get the sense of there being alot thought and effort being put into the episodes animation as all of the episode is set at night and is mainly set in a baron desert with very limited buildings. This might not seem like much but it does then mean that the episode can't be as highly detailed with its animation and whilst this is fair enough as the show would need to spread its animation budget across an entire thirteen episode first season there does however still need to be some amount of effort put into making the episodes animation look good with even the inside of the building looking baron and deserted so such so that you wouldn't be able to tell just what type of building they are in as the animation doesn't give you any clues but on the plus side tho all of the characters do have very distinctive designs about them that do help to make them truly stand out from one another and the characters do have some really good movements that are fluid as they could be given the fact that this is a TV show but there's no getting away from the fact that the animation does look and feel cheap when this is something that really shouldn't be the case or this obvious for that matter.
Just to be honest both Betty and Doc Samson do next to nothing in this episode with Betty's role in the episode being to convince The Hulk to go after Zzzax and that's it. Which given just how close she is to The Hulk does feel like a waste of her character and while you really couldn't have her d all that much given the plot of this episode she could have done something more even if it's just trying to convince both SHIELD and her father not attack Bruce which yes granted isn't that much but it's still better then her convincing he Hulk to do the thing that he was going to do in the first place as that's just stupid and it makes it feel like the that the makers of this episode really had no idea o what to do with her character and therefor they just gave her the bare minimum to do in the episode. Yet she gets the goldstar treatment as both Doc Samson and Gabriel Jones just straight up disappear after The Hulk attacks the armies helicopters with there not even being a reference to either character being made in the rest of the episode this is despite the fact that both characters were set up to be major characters in the episodes plot and yet they just get dropped this goes back to what was being said about the episodes plot as much like the plot of the episode these characters get dropped which is something that would be OK if the episode didn't set them up to major characters heck with Doc Samson they literally have him trying to talk to General Ross about a device he's working on and they never bring it up in the episode granted they could pay that off in a later episode but if that is the case then why drop his character in this episode and with Gabriel Jones they set up that SHIELD is now helping General Ross take down The Hulk and yet when The Hulk defeats SHIELD we never see Ross chew him out for it which his inclusion in the episode seem pointless.
If this episode is anything to go by then it's easy to see this show isn't talked about all that much as this episode doesn't really have alot of things going for it. With it feeling like that it was added to the episode just to fill out a season order and not because of the fact that the makers of this show had anything to say as the episode does feel like a cheaply made episode that was rushed into production as there's nothing really to this episode it's just there and while pretty much all kids nineties animated shows where very episodic in nature here it feels like that was being used as an excuse and not as an advantage as that is something that could have been used to tell a really dark story and yet it was instead used just to tell a bland story that doesn't really have alot of things that are truly going for it which does hold the episode back quite alot. Heck the nineties Iron Man show wasn't that good either but it was at the very least memorable you will remember somethings about that show after watching here less then thirty minuets after watching the episode I had forgotten the vast majority of it as that's how little of an impact it leaves you on and yet if the makers of this episode truly cared about making the episode be as fun as it could be then they would have gone the extra mile to but more effort and focus on the things that work like the relationship between Bruce and Mitch as seeing them as friends is a good idea and put less effort into just being bland and boring as on paper this episode could have worked as it had all of the ingredients there for for it to work but no one involved with the making of the episode from a writer or director standpoint cared enough to make it work in the first place.
Zzzax the episodes main villain is a pretty good idea for a main villain and yet for one reason or another this is the only episode in which the character appears. As while they do have Mitch get cured at the end of the episode it would have been great to see him come back as you very easily could have said that Zzzax was just laying in wait and just waiting for the perfect time to come back and then explain that like The Hulk there's no true way to get rid of him as he is someone that does challenge The Hulk as he can't hit him as he's pure electricity and therefor The Hulk does have to find a unique way to beat him or even do some damage to him which is something that he doesn't have to do for alot of his foes and yet with Zzzax he does and that is something that will challenge him and really make him grow as a hero. The characters plan whilst it is simple given the fact that he is only introduced in the final few minuets of the episode however this is something that is understandable as the characters plan is just to get some electricity for a local power station to keep his current form and that's really it which is a simple plan and if the character was introduced alot more earlier in the episode and not later then it is something that would have held the character back but given the fact that he was introduced just when the story was good as well wrapping up it does in its own way make sense that he would have this small scale plan that is simple but in saying this tho as this is only the third episode of the show his plan should have been alot more bigger and epic just to make it look like he's a big threat to this character as by having his plan be this small scale it doesn't make him out to be that much of a threat it just makes him out to be a badly done villain and that's it.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty one minuets and fifty four seconds. Which to be fair to this episode is pretty much the bogstanderd running time not only for this show but for alot of other animated shows from around that same time period but in saying this tho this is an episode that really didn't need to be as long as it is as you very easily could have told this episodes plot in about five minuets and have it be apart of a much more larger plot for a better and yet it wasn't and it really should have been as that is something that would have fixed alot of the issues with the episode right away as then it would be seen as being nothing more then a small part of a bigger episode with this episode not really having the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time in the first place. This episode really doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as the episode really doesn't take the time to fully develop its plot as the episode just moves from plot beat to plot beat so fast that it doesn't take the time to ear those plot points rather it just expects us to be along for the ride and while a more established show like X-Men: The Animated Series for example could do that this show that at this point in time was only three episode into it's first season really couldn't do that with the makers of this episode putting more thought and effort into having Betty be apart of the episode for no good reason then they did into giving this episode some much needed plot development. This is also true for the episodes character development altho here you do have the excuse of the main characters could also get there development in future episodes which is understandable as this is a TV show afterall but it still would have been nice if we got to the see groundwork being layed for that development with the makers of this episode being more focused on rushing to plot points then they were in giving its characters some form of character development but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is an action show that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. The episodes action was to be frank here the best part of the episode as it will always be fun seeing Hulk smash things and just go nuts on things that are trying to do him and it does make sense that the episode would focus alot of it's action on exactly that as that is what we've come to this show to see with the episodes animation really shining through and making the action leap of the screen. With the best action scene in the whole episode being the fight between Hulk and Zzzax as we first see Banner struggle to maintain control and not let the stress of having to fight his friend Mitch but when that does get to be to much we see him Hulk out with the fight at fist taking place inside of a laboratory before ten making it's way to the outside with Zzzax starting to get some power with Hulk only just finding away to hold him down by throwing a fence at him and while of course General Ross does interrupt the fight and try and kill Hulk after a brief chat with Betty Hulk then fights Zzzax at a damn only just managing to beat him by throwing them both into the water below, that fight whilst it's not that good of a fight interms of hero battles it is still alot of fun to watch as we get to see Hulk try and and work out how to even hit Zzzax without hurting his friend with the rest of the episodes action being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall there really isn't all that much to this episode as it does feel like an episode that was just there with the episode getting alot of things wrong which do make the episode feel like a chore to watch however tho the things that it does get right do more then make for it in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then ad for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . Uk , the official Marvel Animated Universe fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very post being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.
