Les Vengeurs Ultimate

As a fan of comics and of the Avengers I would say that this was a great first effort. The folks at Marvel ensured that the story and the characters stayed true and the Lions Gate people did an excellent job with the production. Although the runtime was short, all 71 minutes was very entertaining. A nice job of team introduction. The animation was "good" but I would like to see it improve some in future efforts. The extras were scarce, but they were interesting to watch. There is a nice preview of the upcoming Ultimate Avengers 2 as well as a DVD-ROM extra. Overall, I would give this effort an 8 out of 10. I see continued success with this co-venture. Nuff Said!

Ultimate Avengers is a feature length animated alternative tale of how the Avengers were formed.

Sadly the foe that brings them together is highly lackluster and ultimately faceless. Combine that with failing to make many of the Avengers even remotely likeable and you don't have the best movie.

Captain America is defrosted, Iron Man learns to play with others, Thor comes down from his high horse, Antman just annoys from start to finish and Hulk is..........destructive.

For a high profile Marvel animation this was more than a slight let down.

There are simply better out there and the actual Avengers movie is a far better origin.

The Good:

Has its moments

The Bad:

Highly bland

Characters can be annoying

Story is pants

No real antagonist

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Mjolnir doesn't know if it wants to be a hammer or an axe

Hulk is worthy

They still haven't explained how Hulks clothes change in size with him!

I just read a review that declares Ultimate Avengers the "Best Animated Superhero Movie of All-Time!" I'll go one better. It's the best animated action movie of all-time, beating big boys like Titan AE, Transformers and The Iron Giant. Most sane people agree that it certainly beats any single episode of Justice League, X-Men Evolution, Batman or Spider-Man. Some want to compare it to these TV series and their entire run but that's apples and oranges. If Ultimate Avengers spins off in to a series, then there can be discussion.

As it stands now, Marvel's first animation effort set the bar quite high, not only for its future endeavors but for other companies and other studios. Ultimate Avengers proves that animated features don't have to talk down to a presumably child audience. You can set up characters and develop a story just like a live action film. The bonus being that once it's time for action, animation offers no limits. Ultimate Avengers proved this in spades. The alien battle and Hulk brawl were intense and spectacular. Setting them up, though, was what elevates this film past the other movies mentioned above. Marvel's live action movie experience bringing the likes of Spider-Man, X-Men and even Daredevil to the screen must have given them the edge. They've brought a remarkable animated world to life with Ultimate Avengers.

Excellent movie here. For newbies, Ultimate Avengers is based off of The Ultimates, arguably the best Ultimate Marvel book out right now. This movie does a good job of adapting the comic to movie form. The transition isn't perfect, but it's still an outstanding film.

The movie has taken liberties with the comic story in order to suit it into movie form. Most people, like myself, won't mind, but a few die-hard Ultimates readers might be irked. In the movie, many of the characters are influenced more by their 616 versions than their Ultimate counterparts. The greatest liberty was taken with Iron Man. In the Ultimates, he willingly joined the Ultimates and his identity is public knowledge. In Ultimate Avengers, he is much more like 616 Iron Man.

Story wise, this movie combines the first and second arcs of the comic and does so in the perfect manner.

As far as voice acting goes, it's top-notch. All the characters sound as they should, although I still would've liked Sam Jackson to have voiced Fury. The best voice by far is Black Widow. She sounds excellent and is probably the best voiced of all the characters.

Overall, this movie does a great job of blending two major comic arcs into one story. The story will throw off people that were expecting a perfect comic-to-film transition, but people with an open mind will enjoy and appreciate the changes. Animation wise, this movie is like a cross between anime, and cartoon. I can honestly say that the animation looks as close as Brian Hitch's work as you're gonna get, which is a very good thing.

Final Verdict: I'm just gonna say it, this is a very good animated movie. It does the comic justice without straying too far from the source material. Fans and non-fans alike will find something to love with this movie. The animation is spot on, and readers of the comic will find many scenes to be almost ripped from the comic. All the characters are likable, and the voice acting is excellent. Unfortunately, fans of the comic will be unhappy with the more 616 than Ultimate aspects of the film. Nevertheless, it's a solid film and a very good sign of things to come by Marvel.

Score: 9/10

Where to begin? Ultimate Avengers is simply one brilliant rendition of Marvel's (and Earth's) Mightiest Heroes. I've read different reactions and I've heard from both sides of this debate. Some serious Ultimates fans wanted this movie to be an exact reenactment of the comic book. Marvel instead made a conscious decision to infuse the old school Avengers in to the Ultimates mix. It was a masterful decision. The combination works very well. Gone are the overblown and, quite frankly, juvenile elements of the Ultimates. Having a horny Hulk or an outrageously abusive Henry Pym may work to capture the teenage comic crowd (which is exactly why the Ultimate Universe was created) but it doesn't play with main stream audiences. The title Ultimate Avengers fits because it's just that, a perfect meshing together of two separate universe of characters. The edge that made the Ultimates popular is still present but the characters that made the Ultimates possible in the first place still shine through. Captain America is perfect. You can really see why Marvel is lining up to give him his own live action movie. It'll be great, maybe even better then this masterful animated treat.