Western Animation / Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens

Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens is a 2012 CGI film in the Ben 10 franchise. It is the third for the original series (coming after the live action film Ben 10: Race Against Time and the regularly animated Secret of the Omnitrix) and the fourth film in the series overall.

The film takes place at the end of the original series where Ben is now back in Bellwood getting on with his life (as usual not particularly happy about it). During a fight with a tank, Ben is caught in the crossfire from Gwen's magic which affects the Omnitrix and causes it to go haywire more then usual. Tetrax comes to pick up Ben so Azmuth can fix it but en route they're attacked by a Galvanic Mechamorph hunter who's also looking for Azmuth. The malfunction from the Omnitrix cause Ben to teleport wildly around the world with the Mechamorph in pursuit, while Tetrax, Max and Gwen try to locate Ben themselves.

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The film has the following tropes:

• Aesop Amnesia: Lampshaded.
  Max: Now that you're in the clear with your folks, I suppose there's still room in the Rustbucket for a weekend road trip.
  Ben: No, grandpa. I never should've run out on my parents. No point in saving the universe if you lose your family. I've learned my lesson.
  Gwen: You'll forget it again. But you've learned it.
• Alternate Landmark History: Stonehenge was built as a Galvan practical joke.
• Ancient Astronauts: It's offhandedly revealed by the Retaliator that Stonehenge was just a Galvan practical joke. He also says that the Egyptian pyramids are "Tetramand workmanship".
• Attack Its Weak Point: All Tokustars have a weakness on their giant fins.
• Bilingual Bonus: Chain combos into Stealth Pun: The Tokustar species is based on Ultraman, a popular Japanese superhero character. The genre of Japanese cinema/television Ultraman belongs to is called Tokusatsu. In other words, Way Big is based on a toku star.
• Call-Back: At one point, Ben brings up how he and Gwen got sucked into a Sumo Slammers video game.
• Call-Forward: At the end, Azmuth comments that the Omnitrix was so overloaded with Mana (Gwen's fault) that he could pick up the readings from half-way across the galaxy. When Gwen expresses confusion on what Mana is, Azmuth implies that he knows about Gwen's true nature as an Anodite/Human Hybrid, which won't be revealed to Gwen until a couple of years later.
  Azmuth: They haven't told you yet? Eh, you'll find out soon enough.
• The Cameo: Dr. Animo appears at the end to attack the Tennysons as they get ready to fight.
• Chekhov's Gun: Tetrax's lecture to Ben on how to fight a Tokustar.
• Composite Character: Way Big has his sequel design but is voiced by Fred Tatasciore.
• Conveniently Empty Building: A freaking city! Also Ben's neighborhood is strangely quiet to all the noise of explosions and friends screaming in the middle of the night. Must be heavy sleepers.
• Eek, a Mouse!!: Ben's mother when she sees Ben in his Gray Matter form.
• Entertainingly Wrong: After battling several of Ben’s alien forms, all of whom are wearing the Omnitrix’s symbol, the Galvanic Mechamorph comes to the conclusion that all the aliens he’s fought are part of an organized hit squad.
• Futureshadowing: Azmuth mentions Mana to Gwen.
• Interquel: The film takes place between the original series and the sequels.
• Lampshade Hanging: Gwen lampshades Ben's tendency to suffer from Aesop Amnesia.
• Look Behind You: Done to the Mechamorph when being asked about the Tokustar. Ben tells him that the Tokustar is right behind him. The Mechamorph falls for it.
• Mistaken for Own Murderer: The Galvanic Mechamorph arrives on Earth to hunt down the Evil Way Big believing it to have killed his son, Azmuth. However, it is revealed that the Evil Way Big is Azmuth as a glitch in the Omnitrix transformed him into a Tok'ustar.
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: Tetrax somehow gets the ability to lock Ben out of his human form.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Gwen's magic spell used on Upgrade in the beginning of the movie is the source of everything bad that happens in the movie. This gets lampshaded later on, as both Ben and herself say that it's her fault.
• No Name Given: The Galvanic Mechamorph/Azmuth's father is given no name in this film, with the best name given in outside media being "Retaliator".
• Non-Standard Character Design: While almost everyone has their original designs in this film, Way Big uses his appearance from both sequel series.
  • The eyes on the character lose their anime-like design and look a tad more normal.
• Papa Wolf: Max when Tetrax tries to explain what's going on. As well as Azmuth's father when he thinks the Way Big killed his son.
• Poor Communication Kills: The Galvanic Mechamorph really Azmuth's father constantly keeps attacking Ben who tries to tell him he's just as confused as he is about where Azmuth is or who the Tokustar is. It isn't until he's fully subdued that he finally tells the group whats going on. This trope also nearly comes into play when they find out the Tokustar is Azmuth.
  • The entire film could be said to suffer from this, due to the fact that Ben doesn't tell Tetrax that he's grounded, as well as not telling him that his watch is malfunctioning. Everyone calls him out for not being honest on either. At least Azmuth's father has the excuse that the suit increases aggression, creating a lot of poor judgment.
    • Even worse is that Gwen is also a source of the trouble for not figuring out sooner that her magic screwed up everything in the Omnitrix.
• Reunion Show: All of the original voice cast return for this one.
• Ret-Canon: The film was previously classified as non-canon, but Derrick Wyatt, the art director for Ben 10 Omniverse, says that it's now classified as canon since the destruction caused by the battle between Way Big and the evil Way Big led to aliens being brought in to rebuild the area, where they established their own society of Undertown and Ben got Feedback sometime after the events of this film.
• Revenge Before Reason: The Retaliator.
• Running Gag: Whenever the Mechamorph Hunter has Ben subdued and is answered that said alien he's looking for disappeared. He dismisses this with "Aliens don't just disappear". A second later Ben (in alien form) does (though mostly due to either teleporting or turning into a different alien.)
• Shape Shifter Mode Lock: Sorta, Tetrax programs the Omnitrix to keep turning Ben into different aliens but won't change him back to normal.
• The Worf Effect: Way Big pretty much didn't do anything besides being clobbered.
• Status Quo Is God: Ben's parents see him transform into aliens but the memory is wiped from them at the end (remember they don't truly find out till Alien Force).
• Title Drop: by Azmuth's father:

  "I will DESTROY ALL ALIENS!"

• You Are Grounded!: Ben's parent do this to him due to a mishap at school thanks to Omnitrix going nutty. Ben's disappearance is what causes Max and Gwen to get in on the plot after they phone Max. At the end, when the parents are restored to normal from the accidental Omnitrix transformation. They conveniently forget about the punishment which frees up Ben to go on a weekend trip with Max and Gwen. Ben turns it down, having learned his lesson from the whole ordeal.

Tropes in the Road Trip Rumble short:

• Attack Reflector: Ben as Four Arms punches a mana ball Gwen launches at him, sending it back at her and knocking down the gas station sign when she dodges.
• Car Fu: Gwen uses her powers to pitch semi trucks at Ben.
• Escalating War: Ben and Gwen's squabble starts with Ben poking Gwen and ends with Ben and Gwen shooting missiles and throwing trucks at each other, respectively. They rough house for keeps.
• Exact Words: Gwen tells Ben to keep his two hands to himself when he won't stop poking her. He turns into Four Arms then insists he's keeping two hands to himself as he continues poking her with the other two.
• Seen It All: Max's reaction to his grandkids turning the gas station into a war zone is to just sigh like they do this on a regular basis.
• Spider Tank: Ben as Upgrade turns the Rustbucket into a walking tank for his battle for Gwen, before shifting it into a full Humongous Mecha.

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