Western Animation / Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens

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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 traditionally 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.

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.
• All Just a Dream: Following the opening credits, Ben finds himself hoverboarding through a seemingly empty and barren Bellwood, with no vehicles or people. Suddenly, he is attacked by various aliens of his, from Heatblast to Stinkfly, before being grabbed by Way Big. When the To'kustar angrily demands his "homework", we cut to Ben in class the next day, revealing that he fell asleep as his teacher was asking for his homework.
• 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".
• And the Adventure Continues: The movie ultimately ends this way, with the Tennysons facing another threat, being Dr. Animo and his giant frog.
• Asleep in Class: A quick dream later, it's revealed that Ben fell asleep in class when his teacher asks for his homework. Justified in that he spent the whole night helping Max and Gwen destroy a runaway tank, with Max even reminding him that it's a "school night".
• Attack Its Weak Point: All To'kustars have a weakness in the frills on their head, which can paralyze them if hit. Too bad Way Big decided to let it slip while he and the Galvanic Mechamorph were fighting the Evil Way Big, with the latter thanking "him for the tip", before trying to hit the To'kustar, forcing Way Big to save him.
• Bilingual Bonus: Chain combos into Stealth Pun: The To'kustar 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 To'kustar. The Retaliator hears this, trying to attack the Evil Way Big, forcing Ben to take the bullet.
  • The Mechamorph Retaliator armor, worn throughout by Azmuth's father, which not only functions as a weapon, but a pretty flexible repair kit, as To'kustar Azmuth uses it to repair the malfunctioning Omnitrix, reversing his transformation, and later reconstruct the wrecked Rustbucket.
• 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. Not to mention the final battle between Way Big and Evil Way Big (actually a transformed Azmuth), which involves a lot of wrecked buildings.
  Gwen: (while riding on Ben's shoulder) Nice going, dweeb! Maybe you can try to lead him away from the buildings?!
• Dream Tells You to Wake Up: During Ben's dream with all his aliens, he gets picked up by Way Big. When he panickedly asks what Way Big wants, he angrily responds with "your homework!" Cut to Ben sleeping in class, with his teacher asking his homework.
• Eek, a Mouse!!: Ben's mother when she sees Ben in his Grey 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.
• Extremely Short Timespan: The main story, excluding the ending epilogue, takes place over the course of three days, and two nights.
• Futureshadowing: Azmuth mentions Mana to Gwen.
• Grand Finale: Although Secret of the Omnitrix is meant to serve as the series' finale, this movie can be considered the true finale of the Original Series, bridging the gap between it and Alien Force.
• Glass-Shattering Sound: Evil Way Big manages to shatter two buildings' worth of windows with a Mighty Roar.
• Hot Skitty-on-Wailord Action: Humorously lampshaded by Ben, upon learning that the Galvanic Mechamorph that had been chasing him halfway across the world is Azmuth's father, wondering who Azmuth's mother could be. However, this gets subverted near the end, when its revealed that the Retaliator is actually a suit of armor being worn by Azmuth's father, who's just another normal Galvan like him.
• Interquel: The film takes place between the original series and the sequels.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: During the final battle with the Azmuth-turned-To'kustar, Gwen flies up to his head, using her mana to try and help him remember, desperately asking how to fix the malfunction in the Omnitrix. It actually works, with Way Big Azmuth uttering the words "Omnitrix" and "father", which finally convinces the Retaliator that the To'kustar is in fact, his son transformed, before he finally remembers; he grabs the Tennysons and his Mechamorph dad, using the latter as a repair kit to fix the malfunction in the Omnitrix, enabling Azmuth to transform back to normal.
• Lampshade Hanging: Gwen lampshades Ben's tendency to suffer from Aesop Amnesia.
• Look Behind You: Done to the Mechamorph when being asked about the To'kustar. Ben tells him that the To'kustar 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 To'kustar.
• Monumental Damage: Ben's battle with the Retaliator leads to Stonehenge getting destroyed. Thankfully, they avoid damaging the Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) statue in Rio, Brazil, and the Pyramids in Giza, Egypt. Four Arms even chews him out for it early on:
  Four Arms: (while holding up a large stone slab) Hey! You're wrecking ancient art!!
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: Tetrax somehow gets the ability to lock Ben out of his human form. He also can create "surfboards" and ride on crystalline waves, something that Diamondhead has never done before.
• 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 Endor Holocaust: During the final battle between the Way Bigs, there are a lot of buildings destroyed, but it's never stated if there were any civilian casualties, hinting that Bellwood was evacuated before the fight.
• 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: The eyes on the character lose their anime-like design and look a tad more normal. Additionally, many characters have more realistic textures; both Upgrade and Retaliator, who are Galvanic Mechamorphs, have glossy metallic textures, Wildmutt now has more distinct fur, and Diamondhead appears to have a leathery bodysuit, with his eyes looking like gemstones, which also applies to Tetrax.
• 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.
• Parents as People:
  • Ben's parents Carl and Sandra may have grounded him early on, but for good reasons; they include having failed to turn in his homework, escaping school when he had detention, and even leaving behind scorched footprints across the floor as Heatblast. While Ben feels worried that he'll miss his fishing trip with Gwen and Grandpa Max, they argue that it's just one trip he's missing, after having spent the whole summer with them, backing up their punishment a bit. Furthermore, after Ben ran away with Tetrax, they are very much worried about him, even calling Max to ask him where he is. Much later on, when Ben gets back to his home as Grey Matter, his mother Sandra understandably doesn't recognize him, thinking him to be some kind of monster, which freaks her out, especially when he transforms into Diamondhead, with his father Carl trying to protect Sandra.
  • The Galvanic Mechamorph turns out to be a more extreme example, when he reveals that he is Azmuth's father. He explains that he hasn't seen his son since millennia ago, and when trying to contact him after he left for earth, all he got was his ship's last recording, showing the To'kustar appearing and damaging the ship, which convinced him that the To'kustar killed him, which is why he's so bent upon getting revenge, completely unaware that it's Azmuth transformed. It's understandable that he wants his son back, and is justifiably furious when he believes that he was killed, but this does not excuse him trying to kidnap and even kill Ben, unaware that he was a human, let alone wearing the Omnitrix, something that his own son created, yet was unaware of its existence. Additionally, he spends the rest of the battle trying to hurt Evil Way Big, and it isn't until Gwen uses her mana to help him remember, which finally convinces him on the To'kustar's identity. Later, when it's revealed that he's actually a normal Galvan wearing a suit of armor, he'd been warned by Azmuth about the suit increasing aggression, something he failed to heed, but nonetheless apologizes to his son, who forgives him, and by the end, they are on much better terms.
• Parental Obliviousness: Carl and Sandra, Ben's parents, don't realize what the Omnitrix does, and thus don't even recognize their son as he's transformed. Similarly, the Galvanic Mechamorph/Retaliator, who is a Galvan wearing a suit of armor, who is in fact Azmuth's father, doesn't even stop to consider that the To'kustar that supposedly killed his son is actually Azmuth, who was transformed by the malfunctioning Omnitrix. He also knows next to nothing about the Omnitrix, a device that his own son created. Though, this can be chalked up to not having seen him for thousands of years, and only went rogue after believing he was killed. He even admits his fault to his son, and the two make up for it.
• Pick on Someone Your Own Size: Said word-for-word by Ben as Way Big when he meets the evil To'kustar, beginning the final battle.
• 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 To'kustar 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 To'kustar 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.
• 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, who hunts down a transforming Ben, unaware of who he is and what he wears, then tries to attack the Evil Way Big, completely unaware that it's actually his son Azmuth.
• 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.
• Shifted to CGI: Unlike the TV shows, this movie is done in CGI animation.
• 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).
• Stuffed into a Locker: While he is at school, Ben falls victim to this because of his bullies Cash and JT. Inside, he tries to transform into Four Arms to break out, but turns into Heatblast instead. Regardless, it helps him escape.
• Supernaturally Young Parent: Upon discovering that Azmuth's Mechamorph father is simply a Galvan like him wearing a suit of armor, Ben notices that his father looks a lot younger than him. Although Azmuth doesn't elaborate much on it, writer Derrick J. Wyatt later revealed that he's actually a clone of his real father, who was dying, forcing his son to transfer his mind from his failing body into a Physically Younger Clone of him.
• Time Zones Do Not Exist: Averted. It's nighttime when Ben leaves Bellwood, in the United States, and when he crash lands in England, near Stonehenge, it's daytime. It's still daytime when Ben gets teleported to Egypt during his battle with the Galvanic Mechamorph, since Egypt is a few time zones east of the British Isles, and when they get transported to Brazil, it's nighttime there, since Rio and the US share a few time zones.
• Title Drop: By the Galvanic Mechamorph:
  Galvanic Mechamorph: I will DESTROY ALL ALIENS!
• The Worf Effect: Way Big pretty much didn't do anything besides being clobbered.
• Wham Line: The Galvanic Mechamorph gives one, much to the Tennysons' surprise; he's Azmuth's father. Ben humorously wonders how Galvans can interbreed with Mechamorphs, however...
• Wham Shot: ...Azmuth says another Wham Line to his father, the Galvanic Mechamorph, having warned him about wearing the Retaliator Armor increasing aggression. Cue the Mechamorph de-morphing into a small cube, revealing another Galvan inside not unlike Azmuth, all but confirming that his Mechamorph disguise was a suit of armor (or as Ben puts it, a "Grey Matter wearing an Upgrade Suit.").
• World Tour: Ben's fight with the Galvanic Mechamorph initially begins sometime after the former crashes near Stonehenge in England, then goes to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Giza, Egypt, as the latter unintentionally teleports them around, before finally returning to Bellwood.
• 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, their memories have been affected and they conveniently forget about the punishment. This frees up Ben to go on a weekend trip with Max and Gwen, though he turns it down, having learned his lesson from the whole ordeal.
• You Don't Look Like You: Way Big has his Alien Force design rather than his Original Series design that was introduced in Secret of the Omnitrix.

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.