Ultimate Avengers - The Movie
by Bob Richardson, Curt Geda, Steven E. Gordon
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Actor: Grey DeLisle, Justin Gross, Marc Worden, Michael Massee, Olivia d'AboDirector: Bob Richardson, Curt Geda, Steven E. Gordon
Brand: Marvel Kids
Writer: Boyd Kirkland
Writer: Bryan Hitch
Writer: Craig Kyle
Writer: Greg Johnson
Writer: Mark Millar
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.77:1
Running Time: 72 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-02-21
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Lions Gate
DVD Reviews of Ultimate Avengers - The Movie
DVD Review: Not at Potential, But Not Beyond Reprieve
Summary: 3 Stars
The Ultimate Avengers arrises largely from the massive success Marvel has been having with film versions of their biggest superhero characters (although "success" might be a debatable word when speaking of Daredevil, Elektra, the Punisher or the Hulk), combined with an effort to stay competitive with Justice League Unlimited and cash in on the market for cartoon movies. If it seems a natural move from comics to animated features, be duly warned - it often seems awkward and highly uncertain in execution. The story is taken largely from Mark Millar's wonderful comic series The Ultimates (putting "Avengers" in the title to arouse the interest of more passive and less up-to-date comics fans), but toned down significantly for a broader audience, although. Alas, giving up this extra grit directly results in giving up much of what made The Ultimates such a great book that the idea of basing a movie off it seemed so appealing.
I finished watching this movie wondering who on Earth Marvel's target audience was supposed to be. Although several aspects of the action sequences and simplistic plot, not to mention the usual spectacle of superheroes with super-powers, would make it seem to be for kids, the PG-13 rating, combined with the several slower scenes and deviations from an action-packed main plot seem to work against this. One might argue that the movie was made for people previously not exposed to the Avengers, but this certainly would be counter-productive, given that, besides Captain America, none of the characters are developed nearly enough to be truly compelling or for you to learn to care about them at all, and in a lot of cases, so little about the history, powers and traits of some characters (notably Iron Man, Thor, the Wasp and the Hulk) is given that it would take someone who already knows the characters not to be somewhat lost about what's going on moment-by-moment. This said, the film CERTAINLY wasn't made for true comic fans (aside from the fanatical ones who love anything and everything that puts comic plots into the mainstream), with lousy characterization, some glaring inconsistencies with tried and true elements of the characters (I don't mind some creative licence, especially when creating for a new medium and a fresh story, but the Hulk lifting Thor's hammer was ridiculous), and a poorly constructed plot in which the main threat of the film is built up for most of the movie, then dispatched with relative ease, leading into a completely unrelated and anti-climactic final battle that, while not bad unto itself, was hardly an appropriate way to climax the piece. Even big fans of animated feature films would be yawning uncontrollably at the passable but certainly not remarkable animation. Who does Marvel think will be enjoying this?
Alas, keeping it down to little over one hour really hurt this little film, and prevented it from reaching its decent potential. Although I appreciate the importance of keeping the action moving along, the Avengers (and the Ultimates) is a great comic franchise for its characters, and there simply isn't nearly enough character development. Captain America is dealt with nicely, but the Wasp is so utterly irrelevant both as a person and as a hero that this movie would lose absolutely nothing appreciable by cutting her altogether. Hank Pym is purely annoying, Iron Man lacks any of his trademark charisma and suave, and Bruce Banner, who seems to have depth and an interesting story, never fully achieves this, and only comes off slightly less annoying than Pym. Oh yeah, and the Black Widow is there, so forgettably that I almost forgot to mention her in this review. Fury's OK, and fairly close the Nick Fury of the Ultimate universe, but still lacks depth. And finally, Thor, who is certainly one of the most interesting characters in the Ultimate universe, has only enough of his "psycho hippie or Norse God" story given to tease watchers, but not enough to be understandable without having read the comics or enjoyable on its own. I know that one movie could hardly go into full depth with all these characters, but more could have been done to make them something other than just annoying or boring. An extra half hour would have been extremely helpful.
The other big problem was the plot holes or empty plot elements that serve no purpose and aren't carried out. Hank and Janet's relationship problems are introduced...but nothing is done with them. Given their tremendous drama in the comics, this is a real shame. Then there's Hank's beef with SHIELD, which drives all of one and a half scenes, until he's suddenly an enthusiastic team player, for no apparent reason. Likewise with Iron Man, who says he won't help, then shows up with NO EXPLANATION WHATSOEVER. Then he leaves again, and comes back again - still without explanation. Want another character who says he won't help, then shows up for no apparent reason? Thor! And when, and why, does Banner lose control of the Hulk...no explanation! Hulk lifts Thor's hammer? Ridiculous, but okay...so why, then, is it such a challenge, if it's not to be made impossible...sounds like a job for NO EXPLANATION! Groan...the list goes on and on, and is filled with logistical problems, as people travel across massive distances with no apparent transportation in no time flat (see Captain America's moody huff after the team's first failure, and Thor's arrival from overseas halfway through a ten minute battle).
This may all sound pretty damning, but I'm trying to underline the fact that the film had potential that was simply not attained. It IS entertaining, it IS fun, and it's a good way to blow off a few brain cells. But a great film it is not, and if you're not enough of a fan to put up with some glaring errors, better to let it pass you by.
Description of Ultimate Avengers - The Movie
A world in crisis. Age-old enemies on the verge of attack. A mighty team is recruited, and Earth's ultimate hero is sought to lead them- Captain America. Unfortunately, he's been frozen in ice for over sixty years. Inspired by Marvel's best-selling books, "The Ultimates," this is the extraordinary story of six very independent heroes who, like it or not, must fight as one to save the world. Little did they know that their biggest threat would emerge from within their very own ranks- The Incredible Hulk!Bestsellers in DVD
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