Buy Ultimate Avengers: The Movie

Ultimate Avengers: The Movie

Lions Gate Films / Year: 2006

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Synopsis

For the first time ever, the earth's mightiest heroes assemble in an extraordinary film — the first of eight in a new series from Marvel.

A world in crisis. Age-old enemies on the verge of attack. So, a mighty team is recruited, and Earth's ultimate hero is sought to lead them - Captain America! Unfortunately, he's been frozen in ice for over 60-years! Inspired by Marvel Comics' best-selling series, "The Ultimates," this is the extraordinary animated story of six very independent heroes who, like it or not, must fight as one to save the world. Little did they know that their biggest threat would emerge from within their own ranks - The Incredible Hulk!

Review

Ultimate Avengers is a 70 minute Saturday morning-styled superhero cartoon based on the more adult Marvel comic series "The Ultimates." The plot is simple enough: the militaristic crime fighting agency S.H.I.E.L.D. puts together a team of super powered heroes to fight an oncoming alien menace. WWII super soldier Captain America is thawed out of a block of ice to lead the team that includes the likes of power suited Ironman, size-changing Giantman, insect-like Wasp, and Soviet secret agent Black Widow (voiced by Olivia D’Abo, the only familiar name in the voice cast). The team quickly learns to work together as they face both the aliens and S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist Bruce Banner’s destructive alter-ego The Hulk. And that’s that.

Ultimate Avengers has little in common with its source material and “ultimately” comes across as a way for Marvel to quickly cash in on licenses that have yet to make it to the big screen. A live-action version of this story would be costly, as would an animated version suitable for a theatrical release, thus it finds a welcome home in the world of direct-to-DVD features. Its PG-13 rating for “action violence” seems like a ploy to attract as wide of an audience as possible, although it's unlikely that anyone who is not a cartoon or comic book fan will ever give this title a glance. Fan boys will surely be pleased with the animated exploits of their favorite heroes and will be happy to learn that they have plenty more to look forward to, as this is only the first of eight direct-to-DVD features that Marvel Studios has planned. A preview of Ultimate Avengers II is included as a special feature.

-- Eric Bresler