Ultimate Avengers: The Movie (2006)

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

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...

Having only basic knowledge of a few of these characters (Thor and The Hulk), I watched this movie on a whim. I enjoyed it more than I expected, although I was a bit confused at first, trying to figure out "who's that and what's their motivation/ability?" - but I understand there wasn't enough time to go into every character's history. Plus the target audience is probably familiar with it all and impatient to get on with the action. Still, Black Widow, Giant Man and The Wasp especially needed more screen time and fleshing out.Much of the time and development is devoted to Captain America and I just fell in love with this character! First the movie grabbed me with an audio excerpt from Command Performance radio show and an awesome WWII opening sequence - I'm a big fan of this era and immediately perked up. I was impressed by the battle scenes, which reminded me of many live-action war films from the 1940s. It felt authentic... well, until we find out that the Nazis were in cahoots with...aliens! :)Anyway, Captain America's character is very sympathetic and I really felt for him - the storyline of an old-fashioned hero, a decent guy from the past, who has to adjust to modern times, just resonated with me. I'm sure part of that is because I can relate a bit, due to my own feeling of not belonging in this time period - but part of it is the truly good writing and voice acting. Not only does Cap have to deal with culture shock, but the fact that many of his friends are dead, and other loved ones have aged and moved on with their lives without him. This is really only touched on in a few minutes, but manages to be very moving nonetheless.The majority of the film deals with Captain America becoming the reluctant leader of the Avengers, a group of superheroes who aren't used to working as a team, and whose personalities, of course clash. They must combine their powers to deal with a major threat to the world ... those pesky aliens again! This basic idea reminds me of the Justice League animated series' pilot - but I enjoyed the execution of Ultimate Avengers much more! I bought the JL DVD containing those first few episodes packaged as a mini-movie, and I remember finding it...boring. Dull characterization and just not emotionally engaging. It did not make me interested in watching the rest of the series. But if Ultimate Avengers was the pilot for a TV series...Another sympathetic character here is Bruce Banner, who is desperate to find a way to control The Hulk and harness his violent strength for good. I liked the fact that he turned out to be the *real* threat at the movie's climax, rather than those paper-thin aliens. I sometimes get annoyed by tragic backstories and inner demons and so on - sometimes you just want a black and white, clear-cut good vs. evil story (like I said, I belong in the "good" old days with the Nazis! Well, not *with* them exactly, but youknowwhatImean) - but Ultimate Avengers' treatment of The Hulk was a great exception. Just enough angst to give him depth. I didn't find him too whiny like some people apparently did.I'm not sure I like this treatment of Thor though. Seemed like the writers just weren't respecting him enough - what with the other characters thinking he was delusional and not a real God... and calling him a chick, and all. And doesn't he have anything better to do than hang around wharfs threatening fishermen?! Although the female characters were underused and underdeveloped, it was nice to see Black Widow and Betty Ross make significant moves to help end the final fight.Last but not least: the animation. I don't know why some reviewers found it lacking. At no time did I think to myself "oh it's okay...for direct-to-video." Seems to me it would be more than good enough for a theatrical release. (I actually assumed it *was*, until I came online and read otherwise.) Cool character designs, some great background art, nice effects, and just the right blend of traditional hand-drawn animation and CGI. I hate the overuse of CGI these days, preferring subtle enhancements that aren't too distracting.Mainly though, the story is the thing. And, despite the flaw of having too many characters to develop in such a short running time, I found Ultimate Avengers a lot of fun. Not perfect, but better than the average action/adventure/superhero movie. Better than most animated OR live-action films in general, from this disappointing decade.

Boom! Bam! Those who like big action fights, here is one for you. Everywhere, things explode when aliens come and it is up to the chosen avengers to protect the city. Amazing! But the slow-paced plot can't keep the action up. The director did a great job in making it intense and great battles. Although it is short-running, the pace is not there. There was some unnecessary talking which can go to the deleted scenes. Anyway, the story has some good meanings, they must do teamwork in order to fight. It seems like it is some short special show that looks like a movie. But I did have fun while watching the movie, but it is short, 1 hour 12 minutes. Bravo to the last battle, it totally blew me off with great animation that is intense! The DVD's special features are something, a sneak preview of Ultimate avengers 2, a featurette and a voice talent search are something to look out for but the others are not. Good time watching the movie and the special features.

OK, so the movie is written and geared towards 12 year olds and I'm (cough) a little older than that. However it would have been a lot better if they tightened up the writing. The story line needed more about who/what/why on the alien menace to make you actually care and the dialogue lacked any subtlety or nuance to it. The Hulk sub-plot consumed too much time, which makes me wonder if he the was the primary enemy or the aliens. Overall the film is OK to watch if you're a fan. However it's too bad they didn't hire another writer to spent a couple weeks giving a cleaner story and shaping up some of the dialogue. Could have been a lot better.