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'Ultimate Avengers' Stun the Eyes

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    Marvel's latest venture in animation, "The Ultimate Avengers," is superbly animated and true to the characters. However, viewers may feel a bit cheated about the shorter than average length of the film (just under 70 minutes).

   The story starts out with Captain America on the front lines of World War II. In true comic fashion, the captain storms a German castle to dismantle an atomic rocket. This battle scene is one of the most beautifully animated sequences of the whole movie. While it's not quite "Saving Private Ryan,", it still delivers enough gunfire and chaos to recreate a believable battlefield. Cap' saves the day, but not before being plunged into sub-zero waters, where he remains for over 50 years.

   The rest of the movie involves the recruitment of the Avengers by Nick Fury. The film skillfully introduces the characters and briefly shows their various powers and abilities. Iron Man is a billionaire with a high-tech suit of armor, Giant Man has the ability to grow up to two stories tall, The Wasp can shrink, Thor may or may not be a Norse god of thunder and nerdy scientist Bruce Banner turns into the Hulk when life's problems get him a little miffed.

   The dialogue is a little too predictable and comes off like a bad Jerry Bruckheimer film, but cartoons have never been known for their Shakespearian language, so it's to be expected. As yawn inducing as the scripted dialogue can be, the voice acting is superb. Marvel held a nationwide talent search for the cast and it shows. Fred Tatasciore is dead-on as the rampaging green monster, the Hulk.

   Old school fans should take note that "Ultimate Avengers" is based on the revamped "Ultimate Universe," in which traditional comic characters like Spiderman, the X-Men and of course the Avengers were brought into the 21st century. As such, the events are loosely based on the first story arc of the comic "The Ultimates."

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