Neil Welch See, if you're not the sort of person who keeps up to date with all sorts of alternative continuities, then you won't have the vaguest idea of the significance of the "Ultimate" tag so, as far as I'm concerned (what with me not being that sort of person and all) I'm just going to consider the movie on its own merits.It is a tolerable super-hero animated movie telling an Avengers origin story, with a couple of reservations.One, the animation isn't always that great - there are times when you get a distinct whiff of what one might refer to as "TV animation." And, two, the voice casting (and character design) for Bruce Banner is spectacularly bad. Neither the look nor the voice convince and, what's worse, they don't fit each other.Apart from that, it's OK. But no better.

xamtaro Touted as the animated adaptation of Marvel comics "Ultimates" miniseries by Mark Millar, i must say that the movie did not quite live up to expectations. First came the 30 second teaser. The one with Hulk bashing on Giant-man then Iron man flies in and then the Hulk fights Captain America. Heavy blacks, realistic features, gritty and powerful. THe animation in that teaser was so brilliantly done that it looked exactly like in the comics. The framing and scenes were shot-for-shot translations of the comic panels. But when the actually movie came out, it was very different.1) Gone was the gritty-ness and real world feel of the story. MAny of the characters no longer act like how their counterparts did in Ultimates. rather they seem closer to the regular Avengers in the mainstream marvel comics continuity. 2)THe movie felt "kiddy-fied". The political bashing, the philosophical aspects, realistic character interactions, heck even the violence, ALL toned down. This is no longer the Bad-ass Ultimates i know and love. 3)Another aspect i loved about Ultimates was the flaws of the characters. No one was a perfect boy scout. Captain America was overly smug "holier-than-thou" attitude, Giant-man was abusive, Hulk was horny, Thor was an extremist, etc. Those real-world flaws, once again, toned down or completely gone. Captain America is now a "for the greater good" boy scout again, Giant-man is just another obstinate a**hole, Hulk is just savage as usual and Thor is just stubborn. OK the story has its merits. It moves for a more mainstream superhero type tale as opposed to the real-world gritty type. Not as clever or intricate a saga as expected, but good clean superhero fun. A couple of interesting themes are explored such as Captain America being unable to adjust to the modern world or Bruce Banner wrestling with his inner demons, even the tumultuous relationship between Giant Man and Wasp. Alas, they are only touched upon for a few moments and then forgotten for the rest of the movie. A complete waste if you ask me.The animation is......inconsistent. You got great scenes with exceedingly smooth animation combined with a high level of art detail and all the right shadows and shading, like in the final battle with Hulk. But then again you got really crappy, flatly colored scenes like the Space satellite scene and the WWII para drop scenes that look like they were Flash animated using basic motion tween and stock footage. For a movie, such inconsistent animation comes across as being sub-par. If it was touted as an OVA miniseries or a TV series pilot, i might have been more forgiving toward the animation quality. But no it was touted as a MOVIE, hence i expected MOVIE level animation. Cos honestly, it looks to be only on par with some of the best X-men Evolution Episodes.Anyway, 6/10. I'll give it 7/10 if i wasn't such a big fan of the Ultimates graphic novels. Good clean Superhero fun. Straight forward plot that is easy to understand. Adequate quality animation The growing up older kids will love it. THe is sufficient violence(though not overly so) for the kids to go "look, im watching a grown up's show".

jonathon this is a great animated film and is the first that marvel released the story is true to the comics with only little chances made for movie reasons. the animation in this movie is spot on and it makes the story more believable. the actors do a good job in this movie and they really get into there characters it looks like they had lots of fun while recording it it's really good to see all my favourite marvel characters there in one movie. It's also a good thing to see captain America's human side and to see that he does get hurt emotionally i also like the fact that they touched on tony starks alcohol problem and i also like the fact that no one no's who iron mans's true indentitity is which is great. Overall this was a great solid animated movie which was all done in 2d animation and using very little cgi.

crispy_comments 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.