The first in what will hopefully be a long line of Marvel/Lions Gate Films animated projects is finally on the shelves. As of February 21, Marvel fans can now see Mark Millar's and Brian Hitch's epic Ultimates come to life.
As fans of the Ultimates know, the series is the Ultimate Universe's version of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers. Hence the incredibly original title. Following the first 13 issues of the series rather faithfully, the movie does a good job of making the characters work on the little screen. Minor story spoilers (first 10 minutes or so) follow, so be warned. Although if you don't know who Captain America or the Hulk is, you probably don't give a damn about the movie anyway.
Picking up exactly where the comic does, UatM begins in WWII as the Allied forces go after the Nazis. Captain America is among them, giving us our first taste of the huge-scale action to follow. Leaping into the fray and busting some Nazi skulls, Cap saves America from certain nuclear doom as a true hero would. And then he proceeds to fall into the Atlantic and die. Bummer.
From there, much like the comics, we switch to the present day and meet the rest of the cast. This is where the movie really works, since the characters work nearly as well as they do in the comics. I say nearly, because the comics aren't exactly for children. You can't have Hank Pym abusing his wife in an animated movie, nor can you have quite the same level of social/political commentary Millar infuses his work with. They do have to appeal to a mainstream audience, after all. The characters, though, are spot-on:
Captain America's story and character are developed beautifully. It's dramatic, it's poignant, and it's wonderful. From his battle with the Nazis, to his coping with modern-day America, the viewer really connects with him and can't help but root for the guy.
Thor is just a great character, both in the comics and in the movie. Despite his lack of facial hair, animated Thor keeps the same hippie/Norse God/possibly schizophrenic personality that makes Ultimate Thor so lovable. His quirky references to Norse characters and his love of Asgardian mead only make him better.
Much like Thor, Iron Man/Tony Stark is spot-on. His armor is the classic red and gold, rather than red and gray, but he is portrayed exactly as a rich playboy should be: chasing beautiful women, being the quick-witted smooth talker, and even having that delightful quirk we all love Iron Man for: his devotion to the hard stuff. Bruce Wayne only wishes he were this damn sexy.
Giant-Man, as stated before, has the biggest departure from his character. The wife-beater is gone, replaced by an arrogant “lab-jockey” who loves to bicker with everybody. It's close to his comics personalities, and it's really about as close as the creators could get him and retain a PG-13 rating.
The Wasp, though a relatively minor character, also stays true to her comic roots, as does Banner, in his role as a tragic, misunderstood, slightly psychotic genius. He gets fleshed out (and Hulked out, for that matter) just as well as everybody else. The Black Widow was, in my opinion at least, the weakest of the characters, since she was really just a femme fatale and little else. However, despite that fact, every other character was developed in a way to engage the viewer for reasons other than the big explosions (of which there are many, incidentally). Instead of the mindless kids' movie I was expecting, the story is truly compelling, and the characters work just as well as they do in the comics.
The animation is equally good. It is Brian Hitch's spectacular style, albeit a slightly simplified version of it. Everything is animated smoothly, with a seamless blend of computer effects and traditional animation that leaves painful memories of Spider-Man's badly-rendered New York in the 90's far behind. It's truly top-notch stuff.
The Special Features on the disc are also worth mentioning. "Avengers Assemble" is the typical creators-patting-themselves-on-the-back deal, and really seems like little more than George Perez and Kurt Busiek glorifying themselves. I must admit I didn't watch the whole thing, but I couldn't take it anymore after the first few minutes. If you've seen the analogous bits on other Marvel DVDs, you know exactly what it's all about.
However, one of the Special Feature segments is worthy of a paragraph all its own: the search for the voice talent. A while back fans were encouraged to send in their audition tapes to see if they had what it takes to voice one of the characters. These are their tapes. Some of them are pretty good, some of them are really funny because they're supposed to be, and some of them are riotously funny because they're horrid. Definitely worth your time. There's also a preview of Ultimate Avengers 2, which looks promising if predictable. There's also an Avengers trivia track you can play while you watch the movie, if you so choose. Toss in some trailers for UAtM, Elektra (?!) and some new Heroclix ripoff, and you've got a Special features menu that's at least decent.
Overall, Ultimate Avengers is, at the very least, worthy of a rental. Most stores are selling it for around $13, which, for a 71 minute movie, is rather reasonable. The story is very well executed, the characters are worth caring about, and the animation is top-notch. If you liked Ultimates, or if you have a passing interest in the characters or their universe, give it a shot. Fans of the comics will be happy, fans of animated superheroics will be happy, and the whole family can enjoy watching the bad guys get stomped. Grab yourself a mead or martini, or even a vial of super-soldier serum, and have a blast.
--The Almeister
Originally posted on waitingforwednesday.blogspot.com 2/21/2006
No comments:
Post a Comment