The Avengers

At my screening of Marvel?s The Avengers, the audience couldn?t wait until the end of the film before erupting in applause. In the midst of a massive action sequence in the third act of the story, the entire Avengers team, including Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Widow, assembled on screen and seeing them together was too amazing to ignore. It was a tribute to how entertaining the film truly was; a reaction to a wonderful payoff moment built up by well-crafted characters, witty dialogue and a thoroughly thrilling script. And I won?t be surprised if happens again and again once the movie is released worldwide.

A direct sequel that follows the events of the previous Marvel Universe movies, the film begins when Loki (Tom Hiddleston) finds his way back to Earth and steals the Tesseract ? an alien source of pure energy ? and threatens to enslave the human race with the help of his extraterrestrial army (called the Chitauri). Seeing no other option, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the leader of the covert government outfit known as S.H.I.E.L.D., assembles the team of superheroes known as The Avengers (Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner) to stop Loki?s plans.

Rather than creating an uneven mix or trying to focus more heavily on any one specific character, writer/director Joss Whedon has constructed The Avengers as a balanced ensemble. In addition to everyone getting at least one great action sequence, all of the characters are fully fleshed out and given an arc to work with, whether it?s Captain America?s struggle to adjust in the modern world, Thor?s guilt about his brother, Iron Man?s ego and single-mindedness, or Hulk?s fear of his own power. Even Black Widow and Hawkeye, who were largely minimized in their previous appearances, are fully fleshed out and provided with backstories that give us a better understanding of their characters.

As fun as the other Marvel movies have been to this point, the action sequences have operated on a small scale, and The Avengers does more than compensate. Seemingly taking on a philosophy of ?go big or go home,? the action is not only pure spectacle, but perfectly paced and shot by Whedon, who makes frequent cuts so that we can see everything that?s going on with the different heroes. The final battle sequence between the superhero team and Loki?s army is better than all of the action in the other Marvel movies combined and multiplied by ten. It earns the buildup from all the preceding films by being the most epic title we?ve seen with these characters yet.

Over the course of his career, Whedon has become well known for his smart characters, quick wit, and emotional gut punches, and this film will only serve to bolster that reputation. Though never even coming close to spoof territory, the movie is actually very funny, both in dialogue (such as Captain America actually recognizing a pop culture reference from The Wizard of Oz) and physical humor (most notably a confrontation between Hulk and Loki). Though a tiny bit off towards the beginning, the pacing of the film quickly comes together as the writer/director is able to both tell the story he wants to tell and mix in multiple high-tension fight and action sequences.

As a lifelong comic book fan, I walked into The Avengers with the highest hopes and deepest fears. A little over two hours later, as the credits began to roll, I turned to the friend sitting next to me, smiled and exclaimed, ?They actually did it!? What Whedon and Marvel have created here is not just extraordinary, but one of the most entertaining and satisfying comic book movies yet.

For our To 3D or not to 3D guide to The Avengers, go Here.

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The Avengers Promo Art and Featurette

Aug 31, 2011 by B. Alan Orange

More promo artwork from the upcoming The Avengers tie-in comic book Road to the Avengers has been discovered, featuring Loki, Nick Fury, and The Avengers team assembled. A featurette of the same name has also arrived, which will be included on the Thor Blu-ray and Thor 3D Blu-ray, in stores September 13th. You can check out the Road to the Avengers featurette and the images below.

The Avengers comes to theaters May 4th, 2012 and stars Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle, Clark Gregg, Tom Hiddleston. The film is directed by Joss Whedon.

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DVD Review: The Ultimate Avengers

You saw the promotional screenshots and you despised them.

You downloaded the trailer and you feared the worst for the movie.

You re-read the TPB and speculated about Millar and Hitch and how they may have become frustrated with the evolution (or should that read as "devolution") of their comic book masterpiece.

Now, the DVD has arrived, and guess what? Your fears have come true... which is a good thing. Read on, true believer, as this review would discuss the dichotomy that is the Ultimate Avengers movie.

Ultimate Expectations

Let's face it. Even if you are a devout DC fan, you have to admit that Mark Millar and Brian Hitch's run on the Ultimates is nothing short of a masterpiece. They have the widescreen in mind in their storytelling and the layouts of their pages. Even the characters were re-imagined to correspond to the Hollywood celebrities they desire for the roles.

People can't help but expect the best from the announced movie.

But when it was announced that the movie would be a cartoon, the a priori disappointments started. The Ultimates wasn't meant to be a cartoon. It was meant to be a summer blockbuster flick!

Then the name. "Ultimate Avengers" is not really logically sound. The storyline is about the formation of the Avengers. They are the first group. The word "ultimate" is comparative. We can't compare this team with any other incarnation. So why Ultimate Avengers? Yes, the decision was made to attract the fans of both the 616 and the Ultimate universes, but hey... they could have called it as "The Ultimates" or "The Avengers" and their target market would have been able to recognize them, either way.

Then the screenshots. By Odin's beard, were they ugly! They looked like amateurish cartoons outsourced from a sweatshop somewhere.

The trailer didn't do much for the movie as well. Inappropriate voice acting, jerky motions and dull animations were just some of the concerns people aired a few days after it was offered for download.

Nonetheless, a lot of people eagerly awaited the DVD's release. Despite the seeming flaws of the movie, countless comic book and cartoon fans waited impatiently for the first complete look at the Ultimate Avengers.

Ultimate Review

This review is about the movie only. DVD extras are not included (sorry folks).

That being said, guess what?

I wasn't disappointed!

The movie clocked in at 71 minutes. It was a fast 71 minutes at that, as action never seemed to stop. The screenshots, the trailers... they never did this movie any justice.

Surely, you've watched better animated films before. But Ultimate Avengers is not bad, by any means. The integration of some computer generated effects was seamless. The art was consistent all throughout.

Marvel Films hyped the opening scene, taken from Ultimates Vol. 1, No. 1, as a powerful opening worthy of comparison to Saving Private Ryan and Lost. Well, that's an exaggeration, but the said opening scene did serve its purpose, and in my opinion, was the best animated moments in the movie.

Voice acting was spot on. Hank Pym sounded like a self-absorbed jackass. Thor sounded like a radical hippie. Tony Stark sounded like the playboy-billionaire that he is, while Iron Man's voice was technologically altered by his armor. Black Widow (yes, she's in the film!) sounded Russian enough. Bruce Banner sounded like a fan boy geek.

The only problems with the voices are Captain America's and Nick Fury's. Cap's was a little too much on the innocent side. You won't hear him shout things like "What are you waiting for? Christmas?" or "What do you think the A on my forehead stands for? France?" in this movie. He sounded rather timid majority of the film. Nick Fury, well, I just expected him to sound, and act, like Samuel L. Jackson. He did not. And neither was he as manipulative and heartless as his comic book version, either in the 616 or the Ultimate Universe.

The story was adapted well. It should've been based on the first 6 issues of Ultimates, Vol. 1, but some story points in the second half of that volume made their way to the movie. Black Widow being one of them, the aliens another.

Other than these two points, everything else is relatively consistent to the story arc from which it was based. There are some creative deviations, of course, but nothing too serious.

Ultimate Differences

Here are the differences between the Ultimates comic book and Ultimate Avenger:

o Tony Stark did not fund the Avengers. In fact, no one knows that he and Iron Man are one and the same, at least, not initially.

o Thor doesn't have a beard. But he did have some unintentionally funny lines.

o There were clues about Hank and Janet's marital problems, but they weren't explored further.

o Cap and Fury went out on a recruiting expedition, instead of having the Avengers, well, assembled when Cap was revived from his cryogenic state.

o The Avengers had a prior mission before the Hulk fiasco. It didn't fare well.

o The Iron Man armor is a combination of the 616 and the Ultimate versions.

o Understandably, the movie is less violent than the comic book. But the film also had its share of kid-unfriendly moments.

Great lines:

o When Cap awoke from his slumber and went on a rampage, only to realize that he is at the outskirts of New York City, he asked Fury, "did we win?" Fury said, "yes, we did."

o When Iron Man and Giant Man met for the first time, Tony remarked, "nice costume."

The movie is a relatively faithful adaptation of the source material. It's no LOTR. More like Pet Cemetery, where the movie was scary but the book was a whole lot scarier.

Ultimate Choice

At its core, this movie is about a man out of time and the guy who worshipped him. Captain America is the real deal. Bruce Banner wanted to become the real deal, and had to pay the price for his choices.

But is Ultimate Avengers worth the purchase?

From a guy who shared your sentiments prior to the movie's release, I would say yes. The technological aspects of the film may be underwhelming, but in the end, you'll feel that it was made with a lot of heart.

I can't even believe that I'm actually excited about the sequel right now.

Ty Gonzales has always been a comic book fan all his life. He reviews the latest, and only the LATEST, comic book related merchandise at http://www.comictoys.blogspot.com.