Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of excitement that can only be the animated ‘alien’ adventures of young Ben ‘10’ Tennyson – here on this second DVD volume aptly named “Ben 10: Alien Force Volume 2 – Max Out”. In case you missed the first volume then I can tell you that it's been 5 years since Ben last wore the Omnitrix (you know – that watch thing that lets Ben turn into 10 different aliens with handy powers). But when his Grandpa ‘Max’ goes missing, Ben must step to be a freako hero once again… So it's up to Ben and his pals Gwen and Kevin to find and work with new half-alien allies and stop a secret Highbreed invasion… You still with me?

This disc packs 88 minutes of alien shape shifting kiddie sci-fi fun from4 episodes which glory in the titles: "Max Out," "Pier Pressure," "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and “The Gauntlet”.

Yes that’s four more monster-smashing adventures with some teen-angst lite on the side. This volume of episodes blends high-energy action sequences with some imaginative foes for moody teenage Ben. Of the many animated series our there at the moment, Ben 10 at least manages to pack a little humour, mild horror and excitement into each episode.

In "Pier Pressure," a shape-shifting Galvanic Mechomorph takes the form of a friendly dog which ruins Ben’s night out as he tries to smooch a girlfriend. Ben's pal Gwen is the main focus of "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" - she is forced to choose between her alien background and her human pals. Good old Grandpa Max gets to help fight off some alien nasties in "Max Out."

Ben (voiced by Yuri Lowenthal, from Naruto) is a 15-year-old hero that my sons aged 9 and 12 relate to… The episodes here are a good mix of adventures but they will be over before you know it – surely it wouldn’t have killed them to put a few more on this disc?

VERDICT:

The animation is decent, and the voice acting above average. If you have kids who like action and aliens (or are just a big kid at heart) then Ben 10 would be a good DVD to add to your collection.

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