Category: Animation / Cartoons

Catching up on DVR stuff yesterday afternoon, I finally watched the recent Marvel/Lionsgate animation, Ultimate Avengers 2. I missed the original, alas — well, maybe not so alas, but I did miss that, so I came into this episode “cold.”

Not that it hurt me that much, as the writers made sure that no subtext or plot line went unaluded to or unflashbacked. Which is fine, really, but it made an already rather lightweight production mixed-metaphorically flabby.

The cartoon is based on the Ultimates series, part of Marvel’s updated, hip, violent, oh-so-cool Ultimate universe. The Ultimates are that universe’s rendition of the Avengers, but since the latter have the name recognition as a group (such as it is), the animateds carry both titles.

The show follows along the characters and setting of the Ultimates pretty well — along the same lines as, say, the Rankin-Bass Lord of the Rings does so the books (“Frodo … of the Nine Fingers …”). Costumes and temperments map up pretty well, though some of the more mature audience extremes — Stark as a real drunken playboy, Giant Man as a wife beater, Thor as a lunatic, Hulk as murderer, etc. — are toned down for the audience. That said, I’d probably rate this for 9- to 10-year-olds
— some of the settings are grim, and some of the action gets a bit bloody at times. The problem is, the sophistication of the story is right on line with what you’d expect 9-10yo’s to like.

The specific tale follows from the alien invasions of the first movie. The Hulk is imprisoned, Cap is plagued by visions from his past. And, off in Africa, the hidden jungle kingdom of Wakanda is being invaded by some of the aliens, led by (apparently) a Nazi officer. The story goes through Prince T’Challa taking the throne, engaging with the Ultimates to get help (countering against Wakandan xenophobia), Cap getting a second crack against an old arch-enemy, Hank and Janet quarreling, Tony trying out different
armors, Thor ticking off his Daddy by helping the morals anyway, etc. And, oh yeah, a big alien invasion.

(Ironically, there are a ton of similarities between the alien invasion here and that in the premiere episode of the recent Justice League animated series — similarities beyond both of them paying tribute to H.G. Wells. I leave the viewer to draw them out.)

The animation is okay — not nearly as slick as much anime or as stylized as the DC Universe shows of late, but passable. The end titles have some of the Bryan Hitch designs for the Ultimates, which shows off both how closely they’ve toed the line and how far from the mark in quality they are.

The plot is where this movie struggles. The external foe is hackneyed at best (invading aliens led by a shape-shifting Nazi spy? Jeez, even Stan the Man would have problems with that one these days), and much of what makes the Ultimates so interesting — their interpersonal conflicts and individual failings within the context of celebrity and Great Power — is toned down here to the point of being nearly pointless. The Pyms bicker. Cap is haunted. Thor and Odin don’t get along. Tony is egotistical and a slacker.
Banner is … well, Banner. T’Challa, meanwhile, misses the mark as the Black Panther of either world — combining a bit of the Lion King with Wolverine, but without the charm or attraction of either.

As a way to pass a bit of time in the afternoon, there are far worse ways of going. Frankly, though, this has minimal rewatchability and was entertaining only as a comic book fan, not in and of itself. Caveat emptor.