Ultimate Avengers

[Anarky]

Hell yeah!

This movie is just great, I mean, it has everything. Great story, really great animation and all the characters we love from the comic books... and they're actually all in character. And it's not a CGI-movie, which I'm so happy about, I could cry. It was most likely done with computers, but it looks and feels like the real thing. The voices are excellent and there's blood, death, broken bones, shattered glass, bullets, booze, Nazis and the Avengers.

Here's some story: In 1945, Captain America was able to destroy a nuclear missile launched by the Nazis heading towards Washington. They built this missile with the help from an alien race called something like Chatari. Captain America was able to stop the missile, but fell into the ocean and was frozen. 60 years later, he's defrosted by S.H.I.E.L.D. and not only he is back, but so are the Chatari. So the world's only hope are the Avengers, which have yet to be assembled...

If you don't like the Ultimate Universe (I don't either, really), watch this movie for the animation, you'll be stunned.

And check the official website for impressions and stuff.

Don't forget to tell us what you thought of this movie.

[Duke]

I plan on picking it up soon. I would have already bought a copy but i didn't think it came out tell next week. Definitely looking forward to watching it though.

[Mandi-chan]

Saw the teaser and thought the animation looked fantastic, but it didn't look very interetsing to me (although I do hope we'll see other Marvel animated movies in the near future as a result of this).

[MikesPizzaShack]

im watching it right now. i work at blockbuster and i can rent movies b4 they come out lmao. its just started but so far its pretty kewl.

[ZariusTwo]

Huge flame war erupted on TZ over this (coming down to Spider-Freinds forgetting people have opinions and expectations, but thats' merly due to the corporate side of things trying to give Marvel a majority consensus of "you did good, watch us bleet like a lamb"), downloaded it to see what the fuss was about, and the arguments come down to the animation.

I'll have to agree with one member there who said Little Mermaid II had tremendously more sufficent animation, as well as time and attention provided to it, if not story, that film looked enchanting, and this just comes off as a throwback to the 1990s' Marvel Action Hour with five cent increase.

The story in itself was decent enough, cliched slightly, but decent, when the sequel is prepared, there should be more depath rather than a general "cautioned" approach like they did here, this was a character building story first and formost, there are more conflicts with the team than there are with the general enemy.

Strong offering, even if it makes me barf that they based these Avengers on the Ultimates (a far superior book), and the best interpretation of The Avengers so far, but not the most definitive.

[MikesPizzaShack]

so i finished it a while ago. its was kewl but i dont know it just seemed to lack something....

[BigApple3AM]

The animation looks too nineties to me. It was fluid, but the style just threw me off. Maybe the colors? The voice acting is HORRIBLE, just awful. It doesn't look like it'll have blood, death, broken bones, shattered glass, bullets, booze, just nazi's and avengers (and shattered glass but I wanted to keep Anarky's listing in order). Looks all ages to me, the trailer made that clear with the little green thing at the beginning.

The trailer quality was awful, they sunk who knows how much money into the movie and the website and yet all they could upload was a pixelated tiny piece of crap trailer?

I'll probably pass on this, but it's a cool idea to start adapting recent comics into cartoon movies.

[Spitfire]

When I heard it was PG-13 I had some hopes for it so maybe I'll rent it.

[Jester]

I know I plan to at least rent this puppy.

[ZariusTwo]

Oh, and that characterisation of Betty was petty in comparison to the strong "I wont' give up on us" attributes of the 1990s' Hulk cartoon Ross

I guess an Ultimates movie is nothing without her hitting on Freddie Prinze Jr.

[Raph's Girl]

The Ultimate Avengers movie will be airing on Cartoon Network's Toonami block in April. They were gonna air it in March but decided to air a bunch of Myazaki movies instead.

Meanwhile Ultimate Avengers 2 which introduces Black Panther to the mix comes out in September....and 2 more marvel animated films will be out next year. I forget what they're called tho.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by Ectocooler

It doesn't look like it'll have blood, death, broken bones, shattered glass, bullets, booze, just nazi's and avengers (and shattered glass but I wanted to keep Anarky's listing in order). .

It actually has all those things. There wasn't really much blood, in fact I think I remember one scene with it, but all the rest was in there. I don't know how Giant Man stood up after that crack he took in the leg, though. He got WHOOPED on, which I'm happy about, cause he's an ass.

Anyways, the movie was awesome. Loved every minute of it. The ending is awesome. Can't wait for the second one.

[Mecha Cow]

It magically appeared on my computer a while ago, so I decided I might as well watch it. It was pretty cool, nothing amazing but it was entertaining. You can tell it's a setup for future movies. Wasn't a big fan of the animation and the coloring style though.

And it may be because I'm not familiar with the Ultimate universe, but almost every character except Cap seemed like a huge jerk. Are they like that in the comics too?

[ZariusTwo]

Originally Posted by Mecha Cow

It magically appeared on my computer a while ago, so I decided I might as well watch it. It was pretty cool, nothing amazing but it was entertaining. You can tell it's a setup for future movies. Wasn't a big fan of the animation and the coloring style though.

And it may be because I'm not familiar with the Ultimate universe, but almost every character except Cap seemed like a huge jerk. Are they like that in the comics too?

Yes. And there better written in the Ultimates.

[Brodie]

One gripe:
No scene in this with Banner saying he's sorry to Cap, and Cap saying hes sorry for breaking Banner's jaw, then kicking him in the mouth.

[redsai4lex]

I picked it up last night, and I enjoyed it from beginning to end, but that might just be because Im a Marvel fan...

I also liked the animation, and voice acting...
It was a great story to start off the Marvel series of cartoon movies...

I cant wait until they finish making the live action movies of each avenger,
I know Captain America was an old movie, but they need to remake it...

and I think they're still working on Iron Man...

Originally Posted by Raph's Girl

Ultimate Avengers 2 which introduces Black Panther to the mix comes out in September....and 2 more marvel animated films will be out next year. I forget what they're called tho.

actually Ultimate Avengers 2 is supposed to release in August...

and the other two movies coming out soon are
-Iron Man and
-Dr. Strange

[ZariusTwo]

Originally Posted by RedXander

I cant wait until they finish making the live action movies of each avenger,
I know Captain America was an old movie, but they need to remake it...e

I think its' been remade twice now, the first two TV Moviess with "Brick Mclargehuge" Reb Brown, and then the "infamous" 1980s', was'nt too bad either, more accurate than the last two films.

For the record, Marvels' movies beyond Spidy and X-Men the general public REALLY could not give a rats' backside about, as good as the UNCUT Daredevil and Hulk movies were to me and a few others, Marvel just dont' have a clue of how to properly market their other properties, or to maitain a consistent strategy of long term audience endurance to their characters in a telivision medium.

Had Marvel not been so busy trying to sell toys, or scared of a few network insistences, or had the insentive to push harder, the Daredevil cartoon would have been made long ago, and the film would have gotten a larger audience. The same with letting The Hulk go to hell after one great season, by listening to the network, they made the second season lighter, added She-Hulk, which attributed to them sinking their darkest animated effort and forced them to compensate to those networks by creating Avengers: United They Stand, and lord knows nobody wants to go back to that s*ite.

Ripping off JLs' "secret origins" was not, in my opinion, a great start to Marvels' rivaling to the far superior DCAU work, ADEQUETE? Yes, GREAT? No

[DrSpengler]

Here's the review I wrote for www.filmsy.com

Ultimate Avengers the Movie

“Ultimately Worth It!”

Marvel has never been as good at capturing their iconic heroes in animated form as DC has. Sure, there have been some major successes (X-Men the Series, Spider-Man the Series, The Incredible Hulk the Series) but there have been even more major failures (Avengers the Series, The New Fantastic Four, Mtv’s Spider-Man, Silver Surfer the Series). DC, since the era of Bruce Timm and Paul Dini began, has just been more consistent with their attempts at animating the classic characters.

If Marvel could just keep up the level of quality and consistency seen in Ultimate Avengers, they’d give DC a run for their money. This movie was VERY satisfying.

For those of you “in the know”, Ultimate Avengers is an adaptation of Mark Millar’s first two volumes of The Ultimates comic book. For those of you “not in the know”, the Avengers are Marvel’s answer to the Justice League of America. They’re a team of the Marvel Universe’s head-liners assembled to battle world-threatening catastrophes and villains that they would never be able to conquer as individuals.

This movie acts as their origin story, for the most part, and the “world-threatening catastrophe” of invading aliens is somewhat cast into the backdrop. Basically, the movie starts out in World War II Germany, with the Allies storming an Axis fortress. The genetically engineered super soldier, Captain America, leads the assault only to find out that the Nazis are really ALIENS! He manages to disarm the nuclear bomb they send toward the United States, but winds-up sinking into an icy ocean. The story picks up “today”, and America’s secret defense agency, S.H.I.E.L.D. (lead by Nick Fury) have dug up Cap’s body, frozen in a block of ice. They thaw him out, discover he’s still alive, and elect him to lead a team of Earth’s mightiest heroes; the Invincible Iron Man, the Mighty Thor, Giant Man, the Wasp and Black Widow. The evil Alien Nazis are back and the individual heroes (with attitudes!) have to work together to stop not only THAT threat, but the threat of Dr. Bruce Banner when he changes into the Incredible Hulk and starts pounding everything in sight.

Alright, the plot may SOUND very hackneyed, and to be honest, it IS very hackneyed. But the interaction between the characters, their conflicting personalities and interests, is what makes the movie so enjoyable. That and the action. The action sequences in this movie are surprisingly well-animated. The fights are choreographed with flare and the hits are surprisingly brutal. The opening blitz on the Nazi fortress doesn’t spare you any of the gruesome realities of war while the ending confrontation with the Hulk will leave you wishing that the last Hulk movie had been so satisfying.

But this isn’t theatrical-quality animation by any means. Most of the budget went toward the fights scenes, which is good, but the “boring” parts of the movie (where characters just converse or deliver lengthy exposition) are made even more “boring” due to money-saving lack of animation. They just stand there, stiff as cardboard, and at times the animation around their lips can get a little dodgy and “blur” or “pixilate”. And no, this wasn’t a problem with my DVD.

Now, if you’ve read the Ultimates, will you like this movie? Yes and no. In order to cram the first two volumes into an hour and a half, AND tone it down to PG-13, they had to do a lot of trimming. So the Captain America in this film more closely resembles his boring old Regular Marvel Universe incarnation as opposed to his “psycho-kill-the-Democrats-Bush-is-Christ-Abortion-is-evil-Republicans-should-rule-the-world-BLARGH!” incarnation seen in Millar’s exceedingly “subtle” Ultimates comic. So yes, that means no classic “Surrender!? Do you think this letter on my forehead stands for FRANCE!?” line, unfortunately.

They also nixed the bit where Giant Man beats the crap out of the Wasp. There are hints in the movie that their marriage isn’t a story book one, but he never lays a hand on her. And the Hulk, though still a rampaging monster, threatens to rape no-one. And no Freddie Prinz Jr., either. Oh, and Thor doesn’t have a beard.

But barring those changes, this is actually a pretty damn accurate representation of the source material. The story remains almost entirely intact and the opening sequence, set in World War II, is ripped straight from the pages of the comic. You’ll love it.

So this is Marvel’s step in the right direction in regards to their attempts at animation. Characterization is a little on the light-side, but that’s forgivable considering they had to introduce so many in such a short amount of time. And as I heard it on the Ultimate Avengers II sneak-peek seen on the DVD, the sequel will devote a good deal more time to character-development. Thank you.

As a bit of warning for those interested in the special features on the DVD, the “Avengers Assemble” documentary is extremely hard to watch. And there are two words which can sum up why; “George Perez”. Yes, the documentary devotes about half an hour to Perez and another half hour to his Hulk-sized ego. The man, along with his painfully annoying voice, drone on endlessly about how magnificent HIS art is and about how HE revitalized the Avengers and about how HE saved the comic and blah blah blah. Meanwhile, Mark Millar (the guy who wrote the comic this movie was based on), and his charming Scottish accent, is given maybe a sentence or two to discuss his feelings on Ultimate Avengers. But that’s only a short couple of seconds before we’re treated to more egotistical ranting from George Perez.

So how shall I grade this movie? It had its troubles, but to anyone who likes the Ultimates, likes the Avengers, likes Marvel comics, or just wants a good animated action film…you’ll like it. It gets a B-. Not superb, but a very fun movie that stands as a preview for all the good things Marvel has on the horizon.

[Duke]

I finally picked it up Saturday, and enjoyed it. It definitely got me interested enough to be picking up the sequel and subsequent Marvel animated movies.