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".
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".