You saw the promotional screenshots and you despised them.
You downloaded the trailer and you feared the worst for the movie.
You re-read the TPB and speculated about Millar and Hitch and how they may have become frustrated with the evolution (or should that read as "devolution") of their comic book masterpiece.
Now, the DVD has arrived, and guess what? Your fears have come true... which is a good thing. Read on, true believer, as this review would discuss the dichotomy that is the Ultimate Avengers movie.
Ultimate Expectations
Let's face it. Even if you are a devout DC fan, you have to admit that Mark Millar and Brian Hitch's run on the Ultimates is nothing short of a masterpiece. They have the widescreen in mind in their storytelling and the layouts of their pages. Even the characters were re-imagined to correspond to the Hollywood celebrities they desire for the roles.
People can't help but expect the best from the announced movie.
But when it was announced that the movie would be a cartoon, the a priori disappointments started. The Ultimates wasn't meant to be a cartoon. It was meant to be a summer blockbuster flick!
Then the name. "Ultimate Avengers" is not really logically sound. The storyline is about the formation of the Avengers. They are the first group. The word "ultimate" is comparative. We can't compare this team with any other incarnation. So why Ultimate Avengers? Yes, the decision was made to attract the fans of both the 616 and the Ultimate universes, but hey... they could have called it as "The Ultimates" or "The Avengers" and their target market would have been able to recognize them, either way.
Then the screenshots. By Odin's beard, were they ugly! They looked like amateurish cartoons outsourced from a sweatshop somewhere.
The trailer didn't do much for the movie as well. Inappropriate voice acting, jerky motions and dull animations were just some of the concerns people aired a few days after it was offered for download.
Nonetheless, a lot of people eagerly awaited the DVD's release. Despite the seeming flaws of the movie, countless comic book and cartoon fans waited impatiently for the first complete look at the Ultimate Avengers.
Ultimate Review
This review is about the movie only. DVD extras are not included (sorry folks).
That being said, guess what?
I wasn't disappointed!
The movie clocked in at 71 minutes. It was a fast 71 minutes at that, as action never seemed to stop. The screenshots, the trailers... they never did this movie any justice.
Surely, you've watched better animated films before. But Ultimate Avengers is not bad, by any means. The integration of some computer generated effects was seamless. The art was consistent all throughout.
Marvel Films hyped the opening scene, taken from Ultimates Vol. 1, No. 1, as a powerful opening worthy of comparison to Saving Private Ryan and Lost. Well, that's an exaggeration, but the said opening scene did serve its purpose, and in my opinion, was the best animated moments in the movie.
Voice acting was spot on. Hank Pym sounded like a self-absorbed jackass. Thor sounded like a radical hippie. Tony Stark sounded like the playboy-billionaire that he is, while Iron Man's voice was technologically altered by his armor. Black Widow (yes, she's in the film!) sounded Russian enough. Bruce Banner sounded like a fan boy geek.
The only problems with the voices are Captain America's and Nick Fury's. Cap's was a little too much on the innocent side. You won't hear him shout things like "What are you waiting for? Christmas?" or "What do you think the A on my forehead stands for? France?" in this movie. He sounded rather timid majority of the film. Nick Fury, well, I just expected him to sound, and act, like Samuel L. Jackson. He did not. And neither was he as manipulative and heartless as his comic book version, either in the 616 or the Ultimate Universe.
The story was adapted well. It should've been based on the first 6 issues of Ultimates, Vol. 1, but some story points in the second half of that volume made their way to the movie. Black Widow being one of them, the aliens another.
Other than these two points, everything else is relatively consistent to the story arc from which it was based. There are some creative deviations, of course, but nothing too serious.
Ultimate Differences
Here are the differences between the Ultimates comic book and Ultimate Avenger:
o Tony Stark did not fund the Avengers. In fact, no one knows that he and Iron Man are one and the same, at least, not initially.
o Thor doesn't have a beard. But he did have some unintentionally funny lines.
o There were clues about Hank and Janet's marital problems, but they weren't explored further.
o Cap and Fury went out on a recruiting expedition, instead of having the Avengers, well, assembled when Cap was revived from his cryogenic state.
o The Avengers had a prior mission before the Hulk fiasco. It didn't fare well.
o The Iron Man armor is a combination of the 616 and the Ultimate versions.
o Understandably, the movie is less violent than the comic book. But the film also had its share of kid-unfriendly moments.
Great lines:
o When Cap awoke from his slumber and went on a rampage, only to realize that he is at the outskirts of New York City, he asked Fury, "did we win?" Fury said, "yes, we did."
o When Iron Man and Giant Man met for the first time, Tony remarked, "nice costume."
The movie is a relatively faithful adaptation of the source material. It's no LOTR. More like Pet Cemetery, where the movie was scary but the book was a whole lot scarier.
Ultimate Choice
At its core, this movie is about a man out of time and the guy who worshipped him. Captain America is the real deal. Bruce Banner wanted to become the real deal, and had to pay the price for his choices.
But is Ultimate Avengers worth the purchase?
From a guy who shared your sentiments prior to the movie's release, I would say yes. The technological aspects of the film may be underwhelming, but in the end, you'll feel that it was made with a lot of heart.
I can't even believe that I'm actually excited about the sequel right now.
coolboysshoes
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