Guilty Pleasures #15 - Ultimate Avengers 2

When it comes to direct to DVD flicks, DC is leaps ahead of Marvel. Whilst DC has had its slip-ups (JL: War and Son of Batman being notable examples), Marvel haven’t really had much success. But these are a few I’d recommend as only a casual Marvel comics reader

Doctor Strange: a nice introduction to the sorcerer supreme with great moments for the character as he overcomes adversity to become the sorcerer supreme. There’s debate about the addition to his back story and I think it adds depth and emotional weight to the character. People very rarely are jackasses just for the sake of it.

The Hulk vs Series: Both Hulk vs Wolverine and Hulk vs Thor are very fun romps within the Wolverine/Hulk universe, with Deadpool appearing as part of the weapon X squad in the Wolverine one (voiced by Nolan North)

And that’s about it. There are a couple of decent ones I’ll cover in future Guilty Pleasure reviews, but those are the two that stand out to me. (Thor: Tales of Asgard and Young Avengers are in the line-up for some-when)

We also have the following which I’ll cover briefly

The Invincible Iron Man – Largely forgettable

Iron Man: Rise of the technovore – confusing

Iron Man and Hulk: Heroes united – Childish

Iron Man and Captain America: Heroes United – Childish

Planet Hulk – Decent-ish

But today, I’m doing Ultimate Avengers 2. In 2000 Marvel began the launch of the ‘Ultimate Universe’ imprint. It was a way of establishing characters without being hampered by decades of continuity, hopefully attracting new readers in the process.

It started with Ultimate Spider-man, still the most popular of the series (although it got a new titular character after the supposed Death of Spider-man) then Ultimate Fantastic 4 and X-men. But the Ultimate version of the Avengers came out initially in mini-series called Ultimates (1, 2 and 3) it was the original Ultimates book that drew the inspiration for Ultimate Avengers. (Given the synopsis from Wikipedia, it follows most of the story (minus the wife abuse storyline for Hank) folding in the Hulk plot within the Chitauri invasion plot) it was a decent success that a sequel was made, Ultimate Avengers 2

Unlike the original, Ultimate Avengers 2 is a unique story, it does not follow the plot-line of Ultimates 2, at all (largely because it hadn’t been fully written yet) and we have tagline: Rise of the Black Panther. Black Panther is a criminally underrated character in Marvel. I’d go into his origin, but this is more or less the subject of the movie.

For this review, bare two things in mind: 1) I haven’t rewatched Ultimate Avengers for this, so don’t expect me to latch onto continuity errors between films. And 2) the only Ultimates book I’ve ever read is the Avengers vs New Ultimates: Death of Spider-man tie-in book

With that out of the way, let’s dig in:

Ah Lionsgate, it's been a while, hasn't it?

We open in Africa (I know this because a big subtitle says so) more specifically we open in Wakanda, where some of the guards are taken down by Chitauri soldiers. Inside King T’Chaka announces the return of his son T’Challa. He’d been sent away to study western philosphies to better integrate Wakanda with the rest of the world. The people do not welcome him and the elders look on disappointedly. The Chitauri attacks and T’Chaka prepares himself for battle, despite the protests of his son.

He takes the suit and becomes the Black Panther, with rocket firing claws and incredibly sharp claws he dispatches 3 chitauri soldiers but is taken down by a nazi general, which T’Challa witnesses. T’Chaka dies but the nazi survives and walks away for some reason.

Ah, t'is but a flesh wound

After the opening credits we see T’Chaka’s funeral. T’Chaka’s wife (I think) takes T’Challa to the secret layer where his suit currently resides, despite the fact he was wearing it when he died. He finds a newspaper clipping containing captain America and we cut to Captain America rescuing some hostages from a HYDRA cell. Whilst flashing back to fighting the same Nazi we see in the opening.

Black Widow and a SHIELD team arrive as the action’s over and begin cleanup, Cap had taken a bullet in the fight and Black Widow berates him for not calling for backup. Cap says that if this life wants to kill him, then let it. Widow reports to Nick Fury who calls for Cap to start living a life outside his work.

We cut to Bruce Banner, still in a cell from his actions from the original Ultimate Avengers. A doctor (I think voiced by Mark Hamill and he’s as creepy as hell) forces him to review footage from the encounter, berating his actions throughout. Bruce wants to see Bette Ross (his girfriend), banging on the cage door to get him to listen but the doctor hits him with a sedative, calming him down.

I'm fiddling with my glasses because I'm not a nice person

Cap struggles to sleep, dreaming about his time in the past that lead to his eventual freezing and discovering that most of his comrades are dead. He’s interrupted by an attack by the Black Panther. They fight until they’re cornered by SHIELD agents. Nick Fury calls them off to talk himself. Turns out the Nazi is Kleiser, Cap says he killed him twice but he always comes back. Nick tells him that the Avengers can help but T’Challa reminds him that outsiders are forbidden in Wakanda

He leaves and Fury makes the call to reassemble the Avengers. We cut to somewhere where Hank Pym is testing his growing abilities. He grows beyond the ability of his body to handle but insists on wanting to go further. He can’t and Janet forces him to shrink back down. He berates Janet for this move and says he doesn’t want to try shrinking. He storms off whilst Janet gets a message from Fury.

Bet the insurance company loves you

In some mountains Tony Stark and the directors of a company he’s having a meeting with are climbing a mountain (convention: thy name is not Tony Stark) he too gets a call from Fury, and says he’ll pop by as soon as he can.

Thor is creating an incantation to see the future, he sees a red sky and the dead bodies of his fellow avengers. Bette Ross is examining the rubble from the invasion and notices pieces of some of the metal, later revealed to be part of the vibranium hull, have become brittle in the fight. Bette finally sees Bruce and informs him of what’s going on to help keep his mind off his coming trial.

The Avengers all report for briefing. Cap wants to go in alone (which Hank supports because he’s an ass in this one) but Fury says this is a team effort and puts Black Widow in charge. Kleiser reports to his boss on a spaceship, who says they must obtain the ‘meteorite’

This is my angry face, it's the face I'll be pulling most of this movie

T’Challa kneels at his father’s statue flashing back to when he was sent away, which as we suspected, the elders did not agree with. The Avengers land their jet and fan out. Cap has another flashback to war time, a fight with Kleiser specifically, where the guy shoots him and leaves him. He encounters the Black Panther, who tells him to leave, until Cap reveals that he too has a score to settle with Kleiser and allows him passage as long as the others go back to the ship.

I've always got one left in me

Black Widow and co are spotted by some Wakandan soldiers, who attack. Iron Man seems to be able to hold them back with his own. T’Challa reveals that Kleiser had approached a Wakandan leader in 1942, the then leader tried to offer peace, but only war was offered. The Chitauri sought the ‘heart of Wakanda’ (the vibranium meteor referred to earlier) the Wakandan’s fought back, eventually destroying the ship.

The soldiers are proving their worth, taking down Giant-Man with a flurry of poison arrows, and a spear and a swinging log severely damage Iron Man (the spear I get but the log should not have damaged him that much.) They corner Black Widow, but are told to stop by T’Challa, admitting that he allowed them passage. He will spare them as long as they leave now. With Fury’s coaxing they agree to

Props to the guy who invented holographic communication like this

Thor seeks guidance from Odin, who reveals that a Chitauri ship is coming. Odin wants him to return, leaving Midgard to its fate since it’s abandoned the gods but Thor refuses. Nick Fury sees Bette Ross who reveals that they’ve found a power source they can’t get a reading on that could potentially power New York for 6 months, she also notes that the brittle vibranium is concentrated in a single area, the area the Hulk smashed.

Banner tries to call Bette, but our Doctor isn’t interested, sedating him again. Cap monitors the area from the plane and notices a Chitauri soldier, he jumps into a fighter to investigate. T’Challa is relieved of his throne by the elders (I hate your guts, every last one of you, I hope you all die in some ironic fashion) T’Challa also spots the Chitauri soldier, and it’s fortunate he pulled his costume out of his ass and is in full costume in the next shot. Cap spots the soldier, supposedly defeated by T’Challa, who has failed to get answers from it. Black Panther suggests that maybe they’d have better luck on the ship, and he can take him if he comes with… Because that so obviously isn’t a trap.

We are the kings of Wakanda now

Thor arrives at the Triskelion bringing news of the spaceship with him. Black Widow berates cap, saying that by bringing the Chitauri on board he’s put everyone at risk. Black Panther reveals himself to be Kleiser in disguise. They fight resulting in the Wasp being injured, Cap’s shield and Kleiser escaping with the big ship opening fire on their vessel. Thor, remembering his vision manages to rescue them.

Jarvis (who outside of the avengers movie is a human butler) takes Tony Stark to select a new suit after the other one is destroyed, they take interest in the war machine. Bruce reveals to Bette about the gamma damaging the ship. Hank sits beside Janet, promising that he will become better, then proceeds to take 2 steps backward on that path the moment Captain America walks in. In fairness it was his fault but in not-fairness, YOU WERE ENCORAGING IT!

Nice to see James Rhodes not appearing in this movie

The ship projects a green energy dome over the planet, and Wakanda prepares for war. The green dome fires out meteor things that become Chitauri walkers and soldiers. The Wakandan defences are pretty good at holding them off. The armed forces of the other nations are not having as much luck. T’Challa puts a call in to Fury to tell him about the vibranium mound the Chitauri seek and to personally request assistance.

Noticing the weapons are powered by Vibranium, Kleiser orders a ship that had crashed into the control centre destroyed, the destruction powers down Wakanda’s defences (that is quite a big flaw in their defences, isn’t it?) just at that moment (how convenient) the Avengers minus Jan but plus Nick Fury arrive thanks to Thor. Kleiser is none too pleased, and more soldiers arrive to kill them.

The heroes to get to work, with Thor able to do the most, in spite of a message from Odin telling him to stop. Jan wakes up with Washington now covered by the dome and under attack. Bette tests out the gamma generator and it succeeds in destroying the vibranium. The chitauri soldiers attack the holding cell holding Bruce but are unable to get in. The Doctor offers to kill him, and gives Bruce a lethal dose of sedative before being killed himself. Bruce dies, supposedly.

Janet and Bette take off for Wakanda, a journey which even at decent speed would take several hours. Kleiser and Cap battle, with Cap restoring his shield but Cap is defeated until T’Challa intervenes. Nick Fury is down but Wakanda fire catapults and arrows and spears, taking down some of the Chitauri as the ship lands with Bette and the Wasp. They attach the gamma generator to Iron Man, who says he can down the ship, if Thor handles its cannon.

I'm not even an Avenger, I'm just awesome

Hank offers to provide support but will need to shrink down to do so, Janet’s worried as Hank hasn’t shrunk in so long. The plan works and Iron Man gets into the ship but Thor is taken down by the cannon. Cap and T’Challa have fallen to Kleiser until T’Challa enters his ‘panther form’ and tears him apart (yeah, his father did that just before he died, no idea how this relates to the comics at all) Kleiser regenerates from the injuries, but T’Challa has a plan.

The Chitauri attack SHIELD base but Bruce has woken up angry and turns into the Hulk, easily taking down the Chitauri soldiers. Together Cap and Black Panther defeat Kleiser by tossing him into a pit, and filling it with… I haven’t got a clue what. Inside the ship, Hank tries to hold off the Chitauri soldiers whilst Iron Man uses the gamma device on the core. He tries blasting it but when that proves ineffective, he tosses the device into the core and that works. They escape the ship, but Hank is badly injured in the process and knocked out. Tony manages to shrink him to a size where he can carry him but the injuries are bad. Hank says his final goodbyes to Janet before he dies.

Man, if only I could, I don't know shrink and avoid the fire

The ship begins to plummet towards Wakanda, Iron Man tries to hold it back but with limited power, his systems begin to shut down. He had successfully moved it away from the city. Thor recovers and uses himself to charge lightning through Tony’s heart, saving his life (and he didn’t try this for Hank because…)

They arrive back at the ruins of the Triskelion, with the Hulk free and trying to get as far away as possible. Nick and Natasha arrive at Tony’s place, where a memorial is set up for Hank. Cap and Black Widow rekindle their relationship as Nick Fury and Thor share meed and stories. And thus ends the story.

 

See you in the next movie

You’ll note I don’t have a lot of critiques regarding the plot, in fact I think the plot is fairly solid. It ties well into the events of Ultimate Avengers but that doesn’t mean I’m blind to the problems this story had

I can’t deny there is a hell of a lot of fighting in this movie. The last 15 minutes of the story are pretty much non-stop fighting (unlike attack of the clones, they cut between several rather than going from one to the next etc) the problem with that is that it does suffer on the character development side. Iron Man gets no character arc at all, neither does Black Widow, with the main focus being on T’Challa.

Bringing back the Chitauri for this one, I’m not sure whether it’s an ingenious or idiotic move, in the plus column, not having to introduce the enemy from scratch allowed a greater focus on the power struggles of Wakanda but on the down side it does cheapen their defeat in the previous film. And it’s honestly not used its full potential as the character development does not spread evenly

We are legion!

Captain America’s arc expands on the man out of time part of his character, we see him breaching his military training by bringing a potential threat aboard their ship, especially given what happens, it seemed kind of out of character for him to be that stupid about it. Its resolution is somewhat well played, but like most character arcs, it’s a bit rushed

Hank Pym being a dick got old quickly. His actions forced the redemption story we got near the end of the episode resulting in him sacrificing his life… Again the about turn, whilst it did have a determining factor, Janet being injured, it’s still rather rushed

I have to wear this? Does it come in a lighter colour, it'll kill in the daylight

Bruce Banner’s arc draws upon consequences from the ultimate Avengers film, which is nice. He’s pretty much side-lined for this story, which means we don’t see much of the Hulk in this piece at all. It is nice they played up Bruce Banner as a scientist and his relationship with Bette Ross.

Thor doesn’t really have an arc either, he’s barely in the first half of the story, and shows up as a bit of dues-ex machina in the middle. His struggle against his father would be more poignant if it actually meant anything, as it is… It’s just filler.

Avengers Assemble!

The tone is a little overly dark, there is a disturbing lack of any joy in this film, rather like the DC movies.

But to me, I think it’s still a fairly decent story, with a plotline that makes some degree of sense within its own world and introduces Wakanda nicely (although their weakness was a little dumb in my opinion)

Rage Rating -25%

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Images used in this review are from Ultimate Avengers 2 and belong to their respective owners. All images in this review are subject to fair use.