Ultimate Avengers: The Movie (2006)

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Overview

Ultimate Avengers is superhero film based on the comic The Ultimates written by Mark Millar. Unlike other comic book adaptations this movie is based in the Ultimate universe, a offshoot of its main one. SHEILD is combating a alein race known as the Chitauri, shape shifting aliens who helped the Nazis in WWII.Fury tries to combat them with ressurecting project Rebirth but is forced to acellerate project Avenger.

Creation

Ultimate Avegners was created with a partnership between Marvel entertainmetn and Lions Gate. Marvel and Lions Gate used several people who had previouly worked together on X-Men Evolution. Boyd Kirkland wrote the script he had previously worked with Marvel on there X-Men Evolution tv show and was known for work on Batman the Animated Series.Steven E. Gordon also previously worked on X-Men Evolution and served as one of the directors for the project.Curt Geda also worked with them on X-Men Evolution and had done work with Warner Bros directing the direct to DVD Mystery of Batwoman.

Plot Summary

In 1945 Hitler is dead and the war is won by the ally forces. The allies however know of a secrete Nazi base rumored to hold a super weapon ment to win them the war despite having already lost. They send in Steve Rogers,Captain America and his men to take out the base. After landing on the beach in a arial strike the allies break into the fortress. Inside Rogers is shocked to discover Nazis working with aliens. His nemesis Herr Kleiser is reveleaded to be one of them. Rogers latches himself on to the super weapon, a nuclear missile and starts dismantling it mid flight. Rogers drops several grenades into it and jumps to saftey but is blown into ice and frozen. Seventy years later a SHEILD submarine with Betty Ross and Nick Fury discover his frozen remains.

Fury is forced to the war room when one of his satalites picks up a signal from a Chitauri ship that had stayed on earth. The ship recognizes it has been compromised and attacks the satalite killling all of the crew. Furys surpierors are unhappy with his progress on Project Rebirth led by Bruce Banner, despite having found Captain America. He is forced to jump start project Avenger, a group of super powered humans brought together to battle the Chitauri threat.

First on the list is Iron Man only SHEILD dosen't know his identiy forcing Fury to ask Tony Stark for help in contacting him. Stark refuses to send the message. Fury and Natalia Romanov than visit Hank and Janet Pym. Fury is unhappy at having to recuit Hank who previouly worked for SHEILD viewing him as a lab jokey only out for himself. The Pyms accept the offer if only to spite Fury. Rogers and Fury than visit Thor a radical enviormentalist able to control weather and weilds a mighty hammer, he also thinks himself the true god Thor. Despite seeing Rogers as a leader Thor refuses to work with Fury. When SHEILD learns of a incident that Iron Man helping in they surrond him and offer him a position on the team. With the team assmbled Fury debreifs them on the Chitauri threat and soon sends them to a SHEILD base which has been taken over by one of them.

The Chitauri has locked himself inside the main station and is downloading everything on SHEILD tech. The Avngers arrive and don't follow any of Steve Rogers orders. Janet shrinks and runs off into the base. Iron Man jumps into save her leaving his post after Janet is compromised. Hank nearly brings down the building also trying to save her. The only one to follow what Rogers is saying is Romanov who vents her frustration at the amateurs nearly getting them killed. Disorganized the Chitauri escapes with all of SHEILDs information. Fury arrives on scene and is furious leading to the team to run off quiting viewing it better to just work alone.

With the Avengers project failed Fury pressures Bruce Banner to finish a new Super Solider Serum. Despite having new interns the rebirth chamber is only just being finished. The 12 canidates are also reveled to be fakes and Banner has only been using his own blood. Banner hopes to use the serum to control the Hulk despite previously going on a rampage through the city, something which they had not fully recovered from. Insensed by further failure Nick Fury informs them that he will kill Banner if they survive the impending attack by the Chitauri.Banner escapes and gets into the Rebirth Chamber and ingests the serum, transforming into the Hulk now in control of his actions.

The Chitauri easily destroy the helicarrier Fury had sent to intercept the invading forces.Chitauri begin to rain down there forces all wearing vibranium armor making any of SHEILDs weapons powerless to stop them. Romanov and Rogers do have some sucess due to there position of vibranium enhanced weapons. The rest of the Avengers return to help defend the SHEILD base. Together they repel the forces along with the Hulk who also attacks them seeing them as encroching upon his fight. After the Chitauri are forced to retreat the Avengers are unable to celebrate though becasue the Hulk begins to attack them. Thor arrives and begins to battle him thinking him a giant from Asgard. The Hulk is able to overpower Thor and throws Mjölnir. The rest of the team is also defeated by Hulk despite there best efforts. Rogers is able to combat the beast with his SHEILD but is unable to inject hm with a sedative to force the Hulk to revert to Banner. Romanov is able to jump on Hulks back after he becomes distracted by Betty Ross, injecting him with the sedative.

Banner is but in a holding cell now in a semi catatonic state. The rest of the team celebrates outside now unified and hailed as Avengers by the press.

Production

Ultimate Avengers was created with traditional 2-D hand drawn animation and dynamic CGI vehicles and set pieces. The CG animation is most notably seen in several airplane tracking shots.

Critical Reception

Avengers generally recived positive response from critics.

Felix Vasquez Jr. of Cinema Crazed gave it a positive review saying "It gave me what I wanted, in terms of entertainment, acting, animation, and sheer style..."

Jonathan Weiss of dvdverdict.com enjoyed it saying "It's even more of a treat when they're done right. Ultimate Avengers—The Movie is not perfect by any means but its heart is in the right place."

David Corneliuse from FilmCritic.com was not as impressed by it saying "It's too violent for younger viewers, but not mature enough for older ones. It's a movie trapped in between target audiences."

Todd Gilchrist reviewing it for IGN liked it saying it was "well-executed if perfunctory origin story."