Ultimate Avengers

Before seeing Ultimate Avengers (and I realize that it came out first), the last animated based-on-a-comic-series-direct-to-DVD movie I watched was the fairly awesome Superman: Doomsday. Seeing what could be done in breathing life into the pages of a graphic novel, I had high hopes for what Ultimate Avengers was going to do, especially since I have generally considered myself to be a Marvel guy. After actually seeing the movie, I'm thinking about changing camps.

The huge difference (and the one that left the bitter taste of disappointment in my mouth) between the two movies was the tone of the subject matter. Superman: Doomsday, despite being drawn in the same style of the fantastic 90's Warner Bros. DC cartoons, wasn't afraid of dealing with darker material. Hell, for awhile, you honestly believe that Superman has killed a man. Ultimate Avengers, on the other hand, is a cartoon in every sense of the word. It's light, with only enough depth to convince its 10-year-old audience that it's a serious movie. There are explosions and (assumedly) deaths, but none of it is dealt with with any kind of gravity.

Even more frustrating is the potential it has for good storytelling. For example, the main character, Steve Rogers/Captain America, who has been frozen since the final days of World War II. Rather than focussing on the culture shock or disassociation that one would inevitably feel when put in this situation, Cap is immediately put in charge of a newly-created supergroup. The closest thing we get is him having a brief conversation with the now very aged woman he loved. Obviously, a quick chat would be enough to grant someone over 60 years of closure.

Now that we've established that Ultimate Avengers cannot really be taken seriously, we can look at it and judge it for what it is. Even there, it's still mostly just okay. In throwing together these superheroes, particularly less well-known ones like Giant-Man and The Wasp, the little exposition they get doesn't allow for much attachment to the characters. We know that it's all going to lead up to some huge, violent, super-powered battle, and when it does, the only reason it succeeds is because of how cool the fight is. Even there, the real final blow-out doesn't occur with the random alien race that has been built up as the big bad. Apparently the writers realized that having a band of superheroes you don't really care about pitted against an army of aliens you care even less about isn't a great way to wrap up a story. So, enter a rampaging Hulk, who is able to fairly easily dispatch of any of our heroes one-on-one. So, enter the after-school special lesson about teamwork wherein the Avengers learn that only together will they be able to vainquish such an unstoppable foe.

And that's really about all you get. A bunch of conventional cartoony build-up to a slightly better than average superpowered battle. 'Nuff said.

Rating: 2.75 stars