Ultimate Avengers DVD Review

Santa was obviously wearing his geek hat this year; under my festive tree I found a brand spanking new laptop, all manner off comic bookery and the Ultimate Avengers movie DVD. So I was a very happy bunny. I quickly booted up my new computermotron, searched for a wireless network and promptly failed, so instead I shoved in the Avengers DVD and watched the whole thing, unfortunately I came away with very mixed feelings, let me explain why…

The film is roughly based on the first couple of story of story arcs from the Ultimates comic book, “Super-Human” and “Homeland security”, but for the sake of the film instead of having them run one after each other the stories are mixed up and intertwined. Which leads to an interesting combination of elements where we see Captain America stop a nuclear bomb during WWII then get frozen for 60 years, only to be unfrozen and then form the new super army “the Avengers”, an alien race attacking earth and Bruce Banner battling his inner Hulky demons. There is more too it than that, but I don’t want to spoil it too much for you now do I?

The voice acting and general story line are ok, but there is definitely room for a number of improvements. While I don’t mind the fact that two stories have been combined here, and actually think it makes quite a bit of sense to do so, there are a number of other changes that I’ not too pleased with.

The main issue I have is a general one, it seems that, while inspired by the Ultimates, a whole heap off this film is either watered down from the sources material of based more on the regular Avengers form the 616 universe. Tony Stark’s heart condition, the down playing of the violent relationship between Henry Pym (Giant-Man) and his wife the Wasp, and the smaller alien battle amongst many other changes may not be important to everyone, but if you know the Ultimates and Ultimate universe they will definitely bug you. I cant see the point of making this film specifically Ultimate, but then taking so much from elsewhere.
But as I said, there is a lot of room for improvement, but standing by itself the film is a fun if short little romp (always wanted to use that word, and it kind of works there. Hurray for me!!)

The animation and art style is in a similar situation to the story, good for most but with definite room for improvement. The general style is obviously that of the Ultimates, but with a cartoon network style sheen to it, this doesn’t really surprise me as literally animating the comic book would have not been easy at all, but a little more similarity to the book would not have been a bad thing at all. Also more time and effort and maybe even more should have been invested into the project as it seems to be lacking that extra quality you get from a lot of modern cartoons

Extras on the DVD come in the form of a trivia track running over the film, a doc on the making of the film and history of the Avengers feature, a brief look at the sequel and a reasonably funny look at some fan auditions for parts in the film. So not a bucket load by any stretch but what you get is good, interesting and quite informative.

So overall the DVD is quite good, not great but most definitely not terrible. it’s a good launching point for the series on DVD and hopefully things can only get better from here on out. The sequel is already out in America so I think I may have to use this inter-web thingy to try and dig out a copy.

Thanks to our Matt!

Xmas Hell Part 3! - Must Have DVDs

There are only 4 days to Christmas and what better last minute gift than a DVD and so here is part , and this time I’m going too be taking a gander at some of the BETTER DVDs available this merry Christmas season. So that means none of the horrible animal computer animation films that have been doing the rounds or even POTC, their all too obvious, these are much more interesting!!

∑ Ren and Stimpy Season 1 and 2
For some reason my dad never liked me watching this as a kid, so the chance to own in a lovely DVD set is oh so very enticing!!! On three discs you get all of season 1&2, which means that there is over 400 minutes of cartoon fun. However; the extras are slightly lacking, with only a few commentaries included and a featurette or two. So not the great “collector’s box set” it could have been, but the cartoon is just so damn good you must buy it for everyone!!

∑ Serenity and Firefly
I’ll put this simply, if George Lucas had put the spirit that goes into these two wonderful things, I wouldn’t hate the new trilogy like I do!!!!
From the great mind of Joss Wheddon (he’s the guys who did Buffy, you might have heard of it?), comes what can only be described as a western in space. But add to that a level of wit, subtle comedy and emotion and you get a genuinely fantastic thing.
Get Firefly first and then Serenity, its just better that way, and the film tends to tie up a few loose ends from the series.

∑ Spaced series One or Two
This is what the guys who brought you Shaun of the Dead brought you before they brought you Shaun of the Dead. It’s the tale of two losers who, cast out on to the street, join forces to find somewhere to live. Which they quickly do and the “hilarity ensues”!!!
Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson are Tim Bisley and Daisy Steiner - two hopeless twentysomethings sharing a flat and pretending to be a couple. Joining them on their urban adventures are wine-swilling landlady Marsha, the rather intense artist who lives downstairs Brian, Tim's best friend and would-be TA soldier Mike, and Daisy's best friend, the air-headed Twist. Together they tackle the big questions that the 21st century poses: who are they, what they mean to each other and who should switch on the kettle?

∑ Black Books series 1-3
More comedy, this time from the crazy mind of Dylan Moran. Bernard Black (Dylan Moran) owns a small second hand book store, but there is a small problem with this situation of his; he hates the people, the customers and even the books, and so spend most of the time drinking wine and shouting abuse, and Bill Bailey, great performances and whole host of cameos and you get one of the best British comedies in recent times.

∑ The Ultimate Avengers Movie
The Ultimates is one of my favourite comics at the moment (when they release them that is), and this straight to DVD movie follows, roughly, the first season of this comic book.

Thanks to Matt Thomas for the last minute guide.