Ultimate Avengers: The Movie (2006)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

A Major Disappointment

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

While it's just another origin story, I actually enjoyed this movie. I wish Marvel could make a movie that wasn't an origin story but whatever.

I saw Ultimate Avengers two years ago on the same week end as the second one. I just found both of the movies massively insulting to the Marvel Universe. The First and second movies were just plain tedious because apparently in this universe when the war was over, Bucky doesn't become the Winter Solider but instead he retires and steels Steve Rogers wife/girlfriend. Oh but it doesn't stop there Hank Pym is more or less like Scott Lang in this universe because he is a massive jerk to the avengers and his main priority is his wife and only his wife for example in the first mission when the avengers were in trouble and he heard Janet scream. But in the end Ant Man makes a good sacrifice. He was about to break the building down and not worried about the other avengers. In the second movie he was the same except that this time when his wife was hurt he threaten to throw Captain America out if he didn't leave. The Hulk was just a mindless brute like in the MCU and the reason why Betty divorced Bruce was because of the Hulk. Speaking of I didn't really find Betty a nice woman in these films because of that. Thor, Iron Man, Wasp (Apart from the fact she looked too much like Hope Pym and had darker skin colour), Black Panther and Black Widow were just themselves. Speaking of Black Panther in the second movie we get introduced to him, I found this one just too bloody and brutal when a General stabbed his dad and when the General got stabbed a couple of times but wasn't even dying. I also found it just plain stupid that Iron Man was wearing the War Machine Armor. If you are an Avengers fan I would recommend you don't waste your money on these movies. You might be disappointed. My overall score 4/10 for both movies.

Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) became one of the biggest franchises on the planet, there was the Ultimate Marvel range of comics that would establish many of the foundations upon which the MCU would be built. Before the MCU had released Iron Man, let alone the first Avengers film, Marvel would take another crack at bringing them to the screen. The result, based on The Ultimates by writer Mark Millar and illustrator Bryan Hitch, was the 2006 animated DVD release Ultimate Avengers. Judging it on both its own merits and what was to follow, how well does it hold up? In some places, quite well. The animation looks fantastic for the most part as it works quite hard to capture the spectacular Hitch illustrations that made the comic some brilliant. While it never quite manages to attain the almost photo-realistic nature of The Ultimates best moments, there's plenty of good results from its efforts including the opening Second World War battle sequence and elements of the lengthy final battle sequence. In some places though the animation suffers from mixing traditional 2D efforts with 3D elements such as the battle sequence between the SHIELD Helicarriers and the Chitauri ships which never quite looks as good as it ought to while even some of the traditional animation looks clunky such as a shot of Captain America and Nick Fury walking through a cemetery about halfway through the film. On the whole though, the animation might be the best thing about the film.Somewhere that Ultimate Avengers has more mixed results is in its voice casting. It's perhaps inevitable that, given the mammoth success of the MCU franchise, that comparisons will be made with the current actors filling the roles. That's especially the case with Nick Fury as it was The Ultimates that modeled the character on Samuel L. Jackson and that led to him being cast, with the film keeping that in mind though the voice is by actor Andrea Ware which can be oddly disconcerting at times. Beyond that, there's some good casting choices including Marc Worden as Iron Man, Michael Massee as Bruce Banner and Nan McNamara as Betty Ross. Some have moments where they work and then don't including Justin Gross as Captain America who does pretty well as a team leader but seems out of place when he's trying to play the quieter, character driven moments. Others meanwhile don't quite work at all such as the over-the-top Olivia d'Abo as Black Widow or the aforementioned issues with Ware's Nick Fury, though it isn't clear if that's down to the performances or the direction. All of which helps or hurts the film, depending on circumstances.Where the film is the most let down by is in its adaptation of its source material, especially in its pacing. Bringing a twelve issue comic book series to life on screen is no easy task to begin with and, indeed, I initially saw this before reading the source material. What's clear from having now read the source material is that the writers of this film liked the ideas being presented more than perhaps the content of the comics themselves. There's moments when its quite faithful (the opening battle sequence), times when the writers are adding sequences (the Chitauri attacking a SHIELD satellite and space shuttle for example) or completely changing and dumping plot points (Iron Man's identity is a secret to SHIELD and the team for much of the film, the timing of the Hulk's rampage is shifted and the film is also guilty of completely skipping over the breakdown of the Pyms marriage that is a major subplot in the middle of the comic).Some of that is forgivable given the 70 minute running time and one has only to look at DC adaptations such as Justice League: The New Frontier or All-Star Superman to see that a project can still work like that. It might even have worked here except that Ultimate Avengers tries to have its cake and eat it too since it can't quite decide whether to be a loose adaptation or a faithful one. There's no real time for character development despite all the moments being presented as the emphasis is placed increasingly on action sequences and spectacle with the film rushing from one moment to the next. As a result, the pacing is all over the place and by the end of 70 minutes you're wondering if a plot has actually unfolded and if you should care about the characters at all. It's almost as if the film, despite its PG-13 rating, isn't sure if it should appeal to kids who might be watching or adults who are fans of the comic with the result being that the film doesn't quite work for either audience.Perhaps then it's fair to say to called Ultimate Avengers okay but disappointing. While there's some good animation and performances here, there's times when especially the performances don't work. As an animated film, it can't quite figure out who it's target audience is with results that don't quite work for either younger viewers or older ones. Above all else perhaps, judging it as an adaptation of The Ultimates, it either tries too hard or too little depending on the scene at hand which leaves what it does here a mixed bag of good moments and frantic pacing. In the final analysis then, Ultimate Avengers might be ultimately disappointing more than anything else...

ULTIMATE AVENGERS 110/10The Avengers Movie Should Be Like This. I Know Its Not The Marvel Universe But They Made Captain America A Little Better (Well Anything Is Better Than The 1990 Version). Thor Is The Same. Iron Man Is A Well Done. Hulk Is Also The Same. Hank Pym Is Also Greatly Portrayed. Nick Fury Is Better Than The One In The Live Action Movies. Go Ahead Look At It.ULTIMATE AVENGERS 210/10The End Has Come For Hank Pym. This Also Introduces The Black Panther. Wow This Dualogy Is Great. I Have High Hopes For The Avengers Movie Because Its Done By Joss Whedon. Don't Say His Fan Base Is For Teenage Girls Because I'm As Far Away From A Teenage Girl As You Can Get & I Love 'Buffy', 'Angel', 'Firefly', 'Alien Resurrection' Well You Get It. Both Movies Are Awesome.