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The Ultimates: Volume One
If we really had superhero teams working for us in a world that exists as you read about it in your newspaper this morning, what are the chances that they’d end up as guests on the Larry King show, arguing over whether or not their organization is worth the taxpayer’s money? Pretty good, The Ultimates argues. But that question raises another, just as important: What exactly would superheroes do in the down times, when there are no supervillains to fight? Would they sit around, antagonize their weakest member like bullies in a school yard, and fantasize about who would play them in the Hollywood version of their exploits (“Brad Pitt has signed on for a three-picture deal.”)? What makes Mark Millar’s The Ultimates, the Marvel Comics series, so interesting is that it suggests these scenarios. Here is a team of superheroes grounded in the reality of today’s America: The nobleness and chivalry of yesteryear’s Captain America, Thor, etc. have been replaced with a rag-tag assembly of male chauvinist pigs, egomaniacs, self-help gurus, and tightly-screwed patriots. And they’re all packaged as a media-friendly group of government-owned celebrities. After a fight with a super-baddie that leaves New York City in shambles, they would just as soon be interviewed by Howard Stern and Oprah, after going for a few drinks and complimenting themselves for a job well done, than be humbly and quietly noble. No book deals come with humility, after all. Or movies starring Brad Pitt as….you! The Ultimates represents today’s America, turned upside down with war, terrorist threats, and government incompetence. Instead of being the moral grounding in times of turmoil, like The Avengers or the Justice League of America, this superhero team is part of the incompetence. Not to say they don’t try: Certainly Dr. Bruce Banner means well when he injects himself with the Hulk serum just so his team will have a supervillain to fight; certainly Captain America is a capable military leader, though a bit overwhelmed after being revived 57 years after “dying” in World War II; certainly Iron Man is an alcoholic womanizer who is trying to reform and uses his riches to create his unstoppable armor. But as Thor puts it, “Look around you. You’ve become slaves to Play Station 2 and media hype. You’re not saving the world—you’re helping to herald its destruction.” This prophecy from a guy claiming to be the living incarnation of a Norse god. You’re beginning to get a sense of the dilemma here. It is now time for me to make a distinction: I have thus far been talking about the comic book series The Ultimates, which is a very good social commentary. My chief concern with The Ultimates animated movie (subtitled Volume One, which is appropriate as it ends with a “To Be Continued” card ) is that I don’t think it realizes that the title it is inspired by is meant to be a sly parody of the real thing. It follows the script of the first six issues of the comic verbatim; it even contains the bubbles with the dialogue intact, so that you can read along. The problem is, I think that we’re better off simply reading the comic ourselves than watching another person’s reading of it. The way the actors read—heroically and without much expression—suggests that they are not aware of the witty, parodying script that they are holding. They think this is for real, and they’re delivering heroic voice clichés that the dialogue transcends. As we simultaneously listen and read along, we often cringe at their delivery, the voices in our own minds being much more sufficient. Marvel released this DVD as part of their “Digital Comic Series,” in which they provide the voices and narration over the panels of their comic books. The term “Digital Comic” is taken seriously here, to the point that I wish they had skipped it altogether and left the comics in our hands, to our own imaginations. There is no movement, so this hardly qualifies as an animated feature: We simply move from still panel to still panel, and actors read the character’s lines. Well, I’ll grant that fluidity is occasionally thrown in, though in an inconsistent manner: In scenes of rain, we see a haze on the screen that is supposed to look like falling rain, though it only succeeds in looking like static. Every so often, we’ll also see spotlights moving in the background. And when Wasp Girl flies, we’ll occasionally see her wings flutter. Pretty visually arresting, no? I suppose that this could have been a potentially interesting idea, if the creators had taken the time to cast professional voice actors and used interesting sound effects that would have allowed us to suspend our disbelief and create the movement in our heads (which is what comics are designed to do anyway). But as I have already noted, the voice actors here are downright incompetent and boring, and they rarely fit with the way their characters are reacting. It is distracting to see a face roaring with anger and hear the corresponding lines delivered practically in monotone. If you’ve read the comic, the voices that you create for the characters in your brain will be far better than the uncredited voices on display here, who talk like failed auditions for Superfriends. If you haven’t read the comic, read it instead of watching the DVD, or at least before you watch it. The lack of sound effects is also distracting. We’ll hear police sirens or thunder, but when two superheroes crash through a brick roof, we are only shown the pictures and a bored voice reading, “Ow! That hurt.” There are a few moments that the movement of the pictures themselves, which are detailed and professional, are enough to draw us into the action (which really reveals the comic’s quality, not the film’s), but they are quickly undermined by the lack of decent sound effects that are crucial to maintaining cinematic credibility. Why voice the characters and then leave out almost every other sound? This makes the whole experience feel incomplete and rushed, as if the producers really didn’t want to take the time to create a quality product that accompanied the inventive story. Surely it would have taken only slightly more effort to assemble a sound effects team, since they were already doing voices and a few limited movements. The pacing is also something of a problem. In a comic book, we move panel to panel and we know in our heads when we have shifted into another scene or another plot development. We are able to make that transition in our minds and prepare ourselves for it. Films are a different medium; they give us information that requires time to register. They need segues as road signs that inform us that we are about to move onto another scene, even if it is as simple as a different musical variation, a dramatic pause, or a fade out/fade in. The Ultimates moves from panel to panel without ever allowing us to breath. Important plot developments whiz by before we have time to register that they are taking place, because it doesn’t pace itself the way a film should. We can’t skip from Giant Man to Captain America, from Thor to Nick Fury, all of which have different subplots that they’re dealing with, as if we’re simply cutting from one line of dialogue to the next, without quickly getting impatient and confused. Of
all recent comic titles, I can’t think of one riper for
adaptation than The Ultimates. It is clever, witty, exciting,
and it provides an insightful look at how superheroes might exist
in today’s world. We root for them even though they are
often unbearable in their humanity; in fact, their humanity is
probably why we root for them at all. It’s unfortunate that
such a rushed production like this is the only adaptation that
we have of this intelligent little allegory, in an age when dumbed-down,
big-budgeted superhero films seem to be coming out once every
few weeks (Batman
Begins exempted, of course). I propose that the folks
at Marvel scrap this “Digital Comic Series” before
we get to Volume Two and begin a new adaptation of The
Ultimates from scratch that still follows the comic’s
lines verbatim, only they should make it a live action movie and
up the production values. And just to prove that they’re
really clever, they should cast Brad Pitt in a three-picture deal. Intec Interactive/Eagle One
Media presents a production by Marvel Comics. Written by Mark
Millar. No M.P.A.A. rating, but contains cartoon violence and
an occasional innuendo (would probably get a PG). Running time:
143 (which includes all the special features on the DVD—the
film itself runs only a little over an hour). United States release
date: October 12, 2004. |
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