| REVIEWS: MOVIES & DVDs | COMIC BOOKS | VIDEOGAMES | WEB SITES & MORE Ultimate Goodness on DVD by Mike-oh
When I first heard the news I kinda scratched my head. Marvel has been putting out excellent movies like Spider-Man, the Punisher and X-men and even some decent movies like Daredevil and the Hulk. And don't get upset if you disagree with the characterization of "decent." I'd rather watch a bad comic book movie anyday, including Elektra, before I'd watch something like the YaYa Sisterhood, Vertical Limit, or Dude Where's My Car. But I digress. So with all of Marvel's success with film versions of their creations, I wondered "why animated?" After a while, it made sense to me that an animated movie would give them a lot of creative freedom to produce a huge over the top story. Which is exactly what the Ultimates is. But animated? If you consider the animated style of JLA and Batman, it's definitely for kids. Very stylized. Lots of primary colors. The benchmark for animated comics. That's not going to work for the Ultimates. The Ultimates is gritty realism. Dark and dangerous. It's a story that shouldn't be told with primary colors. The good news is that the animation style of the Ultimates takes its lead from Japanese animated films like Ninja Scroll, Ghost in the Shell, and Hellsing. It's perfect for the Ultimates and pulled off nicely by the animation team lead by directors Curt Geda and Steven Gordon. As a matter of fact, everything about the production is top notch. The music, sound effects, backgrounds, character designs... everything. Especially the voice talent. Now keep in mind, last month, I finally got my hands on a copy of WilC.A.T.s: The Complete Series where the voice talent makes it completely unwatchable. So I had a lot of concerns about the voice talent for the Ultimates. Fortunately, the cast is awesome.
In addition to a great cast, great animation and a great story, there are some really great moments. Starting with the WWII scene in the beginning, the action is perfectly choreographed. I loved the introduction to Iron Man. Seeing him in motion has changed my mind about how cool an Iron man movie would be. Fighting aliens and meeting Thor. Watching Cap's expression as he adjusts to the 21st century while a giant SHIELD Helicarrier sets down in Hudson Bay in front of the Triskelion. All very cool. But nothing tops the fight with the Hulk. From the moment he backhands Cap to the part where he beats the soup out of Iron Man, the Hulk is presented in the most savage and ferocious way imagineable. This was my favorite part of the whole movie. It was the perfect climax. The Ultimates finally overcame their differences and their bad attitudes just in time to take on the alien invasion when in the midst of victory, they were faced with a bigger threat -- the Hulk. Their battle was epic. Worth the price of the DVD just on its own. The good news is there is a second movie in the making scheduled for a November 2006 release. I'll be picking up one of the very first copies. I know that when it comes out, it will ultimately be great. |
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