Movie Info
Movie Name: Ultimate Avengers: The Movie
Studio: Marvel Animated Features
Genre(s): Animated/Comic Book/Action/Adventure
Release Date(s): February 21, 2006
MPAA Rating: PG-13
You guys suck…yeah, that’s my pep talk!
Nearing the end of World War II, America’s super-soldier Captain America is lost while trying to take out a group of aliens led by Herr Kleiser (who is also revealed to be an alien). When Captain America is revived in the modern day, he discovers things have changed but the world still needs a hero. Teamed by Nick Fury to a group including Giant-Man, Wasp, and Iron Man, S. H. I. E. L. D. sets to free the world from the threat of the Chitauri, but they can’t do it alone…only Thor and Hulk can help (if Hulk can keep control).
Directed by Curt Geta, Steve E. Gordon, and Bob Richardson, Ultimate Avengers: The Movie is a direct-to-video animated feature. The film follows plotlines established in Mark Millar’s The Ultimates for Marvel’s Ultimate line. It was relatively well received and received PG-13 rating.
Not crazy here…not at all
Mark Millar’s The Ultimates was fun, but I wish they had just out & out adapted it for this story. The Ultimates were a lot more dangerous and even less kid friendly than this movie. Issues that the movie didn’t approach include the spousal abuse by Pym toward his wife (though he is a jerk in the movie), Hulk is an out and out killer, Black Widow is revealed as a traitor, Thor is considered crazy for thinking he’s an actual god, and Captain America fights for the American government and not the people.
The version of the Avengers presented in the movie feels more like a sales pitch for the big motion picture Avengers than the Ultimate versions. The writers tried to make the Ultimate Avengers edgy but that mostly just entailed them acting like jerks and having poor communications when it comes to missions. They try to make Pym as big of a jerk as they can without making him abusive and Black Widow really is just an operative and doesn’t have much personality.
Hey Hulk…Eat shield!
The Chitauri in the book were presented as kind of a substitute Skrull but here the only shapeshifting one appears to be Herr Kleiser. The battle with the Chitauri seems pretty weak in this movie and the real battle comes from the out-of-control Hulk. The final battle with the Hulk really tops the battle the with Chitauri and the Chitauri appear to go out as chumps.
The Ultimate Avengers: The Movie isn’t bad and is better than some of the big screen movies released by Marvel. It does have the melodrama of a comic and that seems a bit cheesy when it is played out by actors. It was released on DVD and now has been collected with its sequel Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Black Panther (released in 2006 as well) in one package on Blu-Ray.
Related Links:
Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Panther (2006)
