Movies / Animé and Toons

Ultimate Avengers The Movie DVD Review

By Hervé St-Louis
March 5, 2006 - 15:40

The new Ultimate Avengers' film from Lions Gate and Marvel Studio is the first result from a partnership between the two companies established in 2004. There are two agreements linking Marvel Studios with Lions Gate. The first one continues the partnership of the two companies begun with Artisan's release of The Punisher movie. Artisan was later purchased by Lions Gate. This agreement calls for an Iron Fist and a Black Widow film.

The second agreement was announced in April 2005 and covers animated releases, the first of which is The Ultimate Avengers' movie. A second Ultimate Avengers film is due for July 2006. Many fans have criticized the "Saturday morning feel" of the Ultimate Avengers, forgetting that this film was after all, a direct to video release and not a traditional feature film.

The frame count for this film was limited to 12 frames per seconds, which are repeated constantly. Traditional feature films usually use a higher rate of drawings per seconds making the animation more fluid. Obviously, the realistic character design of the series based on comic book artist Bryan Hitch's work limited the fluidity of this film. Compared to Warner Brother features such as the Justice League don't move much.

Although Lion's Gate studio is associated with Montreal-based Ciné-Groupe for animation projects, Marvel Studio built its very own animation studio from scratch. In the 1980s, Marvel Studios had its own studio which created some classics such as Spider-man and his Amazing Friends, The Transformers and My Little Pony. The pre-production for this project was done at Marvel Studios while they contracted out Korean studio Dongwoo Animation Co. For the layouts, the backgrounds, the animation and the compositing.

A recurring technical issue with this film is the stroboscopic effects that were not corrected by the compositors. Had the film been shot one a step of one at a higher frame rate this problem would not exists. Another way to fix stroboscopic distortions is to manually correct them, frame by frame. Stroboscopic distortions often occur when animation animated at a step of two (or 12 frames per seconds) is matched with camera movements, or 3D elements that move at 24 frames per seconds. In the Ultimate Avengers' film, several shots combined 3D animations of aircrafts with traditional cel animations.

Other technical problems in this film are the voice acting of some characters. In several shots, it seems that dialogues were recorded with a large gap of time in between sentences. There are several shots where general Nick Fury's tone switches of as if he were another character. In latter scenes, the loud effects of Giant-man's voice were toned down.

The story is an adaptation of a comic book story with some significant changes, such as the secret identity of Ironman. In the original comic book series of the Avengers, Ironman's secret identity remained a secret for long. In the Ultimates' comic book series, which is a contemporary version of the classic Avengers, Ironman's identity was known to all. In fact, SHIELD, the spy agency responsible for the Avengers, worked closely with inventor Tony Stark on the Ironman project.

By using an alien invasion as the basis of the Avengers' origin, Marvel Studios transformed itself as a clone of the animated Justice League was more dramatic.

This film has a great premise but Marvel Studios will have to work harder on their animated plots if they want them to become memorable products as opposed to animation footnotes that can be purchased in discount bins.

Last Updated: January 17, 2025 - 08:20