Reviewer's Bias*
Loves: Cartoons, comic books, DC Comics cartoons
Likes: Iron Man
Dislikes: The comic scene today
Hates: Most direct-to-DVD crap

The Story So Far...
After years of animated Spider-Man and X-Men series on TV, Marvel's decided to move into direct-to-DVD animated films, starting with the Avengers franchise. Three films have been released so far, with a fourth, Dr. Strange, coming this summer. DVDTalk has reviews of all three DVDs: Ultimate Avengers | Ultimate Avengers 2 | Invincible Iron Man

The Movies
The first comic book I ever bought was "West Coast Avengers" No. 54. So me and the team have a long history, though I can't say I've ever been a big fan of this all-star squad. I've always leaned more toward the X-Men and their darker stories, though I read the Avengers books for years. Those were not the Avengers that appear on these DVDs.

Sometime recently, the head honchos at Marvel Comics apparently decided that the decades of history behind their main characters was keeping younger readers from getting into the comics, so they essentially threw them out the window and introduced the Ultimates line, in which the characters were somewhat revamped making them more relevant to new readers. In bringing their characters to the small screen in animated films, Marvel has gone with these new versions, hoping to repeat their success.

I can certainly agree with the idea that the history of the characters can be daunting, as I wouldn't know where to start if I was to begin reading comics again, but I got started once, and that wasn't in the '60s when it all got started. So jumping into a title in the middle of the run can obviously been done. It's a bit harder when it comes to a movie though, so using the Ultimate concept was probably a smart choice.

Ultimate Avengers

The first film combines the origin of Captain America and the formation of the Avengers, and introduces some other heroes who will either be entirely new to you or different, starting with the Asgardian god of thunder, Thor. Instead of the bold warrior he's been in the past, he's now friend to environmentalists and not interested in battling evil. That tells you pretty much all you need to know about the Ultimates heroes.

Tying into Captain America's battles against the Nazis and their alien allies (yes, that's right), the story sees a Samuel L. Jackson-channeling Nick Fury (again, yes, that's right) finding the Cap-sicle and thawing out the hero to have him lead a squad of super-folk charged with saving the earth from the space Nazis. If that doesn't make you want to watch...you're probably a rather sane person.

The band of superheroes isn't the most inspiring to ever come together, though Captain America remains as solid a character as ever. It's his teammates, including playboy industrialist Tony Stark (a.k.a. Iron Man), egomaniacal scientist Hank Pym (Giant Man) and his emotionally-battered wife Janet (Wasp), who wouldn't make you feel good about going into a fight together. Add in the fact that Dr. Bruce Banner is back in the lab battling his Hulk alter-ego, and the Avengers are basically a super-powered dysfunctional family.

So I was stunned to find myself getting lost in the film, thanks mainly to the well-done action scenes, which are full of energy and actual excitement, especially the film's climactic final all-out brawl. I'm not claiming this can compete with the better films you know about, but it was entertaining. Importantly, the action makes sense in the course of the story, unlike the dialogue, which is frequently awkward and blunt. The writing, which simplifies everything from the dark comic series to cater to family audiences, can't be considered one of the film's strengths.

It is however better than the animation, which is pretty simplistic and a bit low-budget looking. From the lack of detail to the choppy motion to the less-than-impressive backgounds, this movie, and those that follow, fail to impress visually, though once in a while a scene will look genuinely good. The cartoon mixes traditional 2-D animation with some 3-D CGI elements that are rather noticeable when mixed in. The 3-D pieces are well-made, but as is often the case, they don't blend well. Watching these films makes me wonder how it is that we are now 20 years past the days of TMS ("Bionic Six") and Sunbow ("G.I. Joe") productions, yet the quality of most action animation has sunk to mediocrity. You'd think that like TV and film, the technical quality would go up, not down with time.

Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Panther

If you enjoyed the first movie, UV2 serves up another heaping helping of superheroes-versus-space-Nazis fun. This time though, the battle takes place in the African nation of Wakanda, which means the team is joined by T'Challa, otherwise known as Black Panther. His kingdom, whose economy is tied to the aliens' past. In truth, it's really just a way to bring back the aliens and their cool character design, as there's not a lot else that really separate the two films.

The action is actually less of a focus in the story this time around, as it highlights T'Challa's difficulties in adjusting to his new role as a leader and Giant Man's struggles with his role on the team, his relationship with the Wasp and the effects his powers are having on his health. Unfortunately, this rather slows things down, but it does give the film a way to bring everything to a satisfying conclusion. On the other hand, Iron Man straps on the War Machine armor, which is always good for some bullet-flinging fun.

The animation remains the same and the writing hasn't improved much (except maybe in the depth of the characters), but the violence has been ramped up quite a bit, including a vicious assault by Black Panther that is actually a bit shocking. Sure, these attacks are against aliens, but when they are being mauled in human form, it could get disturbing for younger viewers. Of course, they might be shocked to see Thor wander around like a goth high-school girl, consulting his rune stones, exploring his feelings and fighting with his dad.

The film's biggest sin might be its use of the Hulk, who, without giving anything away, is barely in the movie, despite being on the cover of the DVD. I don't know if they are holding him back for use in an animated film of his own, but he was wasted in this movie and really deserves more than being the mindless alter ego of a weasly lab rat.

Invincible Iron Man

Of all the characters in this set, Iron Man is probably my favorite, largely because of the awesome look of his gear. Being a techno geek, the many gadgets, tools and weaponry in that iconic suit are a real draw. The character himself, Tony Stark, an alcoholic millionaire with a drinking problem, never did it for me, but boy, those suits rocked.

Like the Ultimate Avengers movies did with that group's origin, the genesis of Iron Man has changed in his movie, bringing the story closer to today, and tying in his buddy War Machine. The resulting effect to the character isn't particularly noticeable, but if you're a faithful fan of old Shellhead, it might bug you. Of course, there's much more that could bug you, like the lack of red and gold armor, so why limit yourself to some origin tweaks?

The story has two main parts, the first being Stark's projects in China, which unearth a group of evil spirits known as the Elementals, who are the harbingers of the Mandarin, an ancient Chinese villain of great power. While dealing with these superpowered tough guys, Stark has to take care of business back home, where he's been forced out of his own company, and is under investigation by the government. A mix of intrigue and action fill the rest of the movie, but it's thankfully mainly action, as the battles between Iron Man and the Elementals are quite good. What isn't good is the ending, which is a massive disappointment following the build-up that precedes it.

The look of the film differs quite a bit from the other movies in this set, as it's certainly darker, and seems to take some inspiration from anime, with a higher level of detail and a very "Asian" look. The battles with the Elementals are solidly animated, using shadows and selective color, along with a good mix of 2-D and 3-D, to create scenes that are head and shoulders above the Avengers films. If "Dr. Strange" can build on this, Marvel's animated films are headed in the right direction.

The DVDs
The three DVDs feature their original packaging (including the slipcovers on the first and third film) so you get three standard keepcases, wrapped up in a new slipcase that holds the bonus bust. Unfortunately, once you remove the bust, there's room for about 8 keepcases, so, unless Marvel ramps up production quickly, you're going to either have a useless box, or fill it with your live-action flicks.

Each film features an anamorphic widescreen main menu, with options to watch the film, select scenes, adjust languages and check out special features. Language options include English and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks, but there are no subtitles. Closed captioning is available on all three films.

The Quality
The Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation is pretty impressive for direct-to-video animated films, with action-packed tracks that spreads explosions and sound effects across your speakers. Dialogue is mostly front and center, but everything is distortion-free, strong and well separated.

The anamorphic widescreen transfer are very clean, without any dirt or damage, and feature nice vivid color where appropriate and a generally crisp image that clearly defines the cgi and traditional animation (occasionally a negative because of the clarity.) There's a few times when the outlines get jagged, but for the majority of the films, the quality is very high.

The Extras
The only extra that's different from the original releases is the Marvel Icons Iron Man mini-bust. Standing about four and a half inches tall, feeling quite substantial and depicting the classic version of the Iron Avenger, it's a nice little collectible for Iron Man fans, but if you already have the DVDs, it's probably not going to make a repurchase worthwhile.

As far as the individual discs go:

Ultimate Avengers

Though there's no commentary track, a helpful Avengers Trivia track can be activated as a subtitle selection. This was a nice inclusion for those who are either unfamiliar with the characters or have no knowledge of the new continuity of the Ultimate universe.

A 23-minute featurette, "Avengers Assemble," gives a nod to the characters' four-color history, as legendary artist George Perez, writer Kurt Busiek and series editor Tom Brevoort talk about how the comic book has changed over the years and their experiences in keeping the title fresh.

I've seen something similar on the "Ultimate Alliance" video game, but "The Ultimate Voice Search" was still entertaining in a sadistic "American Idol" kind of way. Submitted by fans hoping to get a role in the film, the videos in this segment range from silly to cringe-worthy.

The extras wrap up with a preview of Ultimate Avengers 2 and trailers for other Marvel movies. If you pop the disc into your DVD-ROM drive, you can access a personality game that will tell "Which Avenger Are You?" (Because you're wondering, I'll let you know, I am apparently The Vision.)

Ultimate Avengers 2

There's no trivia track this time around, but another good-sized featurette about the films' comic-book inspiration is a nice inclusion. The 24-minute "The Ultimates" features some of the film's crew, along with writer Mark Millar, artist Bryan Hitch and editors Ralph Macchio and Joe Quesada, as they talk about the comic book series, and the overall Ultimates concept. It's highly interesting, and very informative when it comes to approaching the characters.

More entertaining and certainly original is "The Ultimate Gag Reel," a nearly four-minute collection of bloopers in the vein of Pixar's classic silliness. To see these serious superheroes goofing off this way is a lot of fun, and it made me laugh out loud several times.

The extras come to an end with a few trailers and a pair of short First Looks at the animated Iron Man and Dr. Strange movies. Considering you now have Iron Man in your hands, that one's a bit of a waste, but the Dr. Strange film looks interesting. And I hope you liked that DVD-ROM feature from the last disc, because it's back for an encore.

Invincible Iron Man

A 12-minute featurette, "The Origin of Iron Man," is basically a mix of behind-the-scenes info and character history, with the film's creators, Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, and writer/artist Bob Layton weighing in on the movie and characters. It's a relatively light piece, but it's a good intro to the movie for new fans and old.

The three-minute alternate opening sequence, which is done in a unique art style, is nice, but considering the tone of the rest of the film, it might have been out of place.

"The Hall of Iron Man Armor" is a series of info screens you can click through to see pictures of the various suits Stark wore in the comics, along with descriptions of each. More art follows in an excellent montage of of concept art that's really better than the film itself.

The first scene of the upcoming Doctor Strange animated film is included, but as you don't really see the man himself, it's a bit of a disappointment. The rest of the disc has some trailers to watch.

The Bottom Line
I came into this set without much hope for it, after hearing reviews for the movies, and taking into account my general lack of interest in the characters. Surprisingly, the first Avengers film is pretty engaging and rather entertaining, while the others aren't half bad either. I have to say though, I watched the extras first, which provided context for the film and the new treatments of the characters, which were foreign to me. If you own any of the films, the bonus bust, though sweet, isn't enough to justify a repurchase, but if you're curious about checking out the movies, it's a nice package worth picking up.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.