Picking up where the first Ultimate Avengers left off, UA2 finds the Avengers not getting along very well as they encounter the Black Panther and continue to deal with the alien invaders of the first feature. Thor is mostly absent from the film as he's off on some personal quest of his own that keeps him separated from the other heroes until the climax, while Bruce Banner/Hulk spends most of the feature incarcerated for the destruction he caused before.
IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM, DO NOT READ FURTHER, THERE BE SPOILERS HERE:
I'm going to go out on a limb here by going against the grain of the previous reviews, because honestly I don't think 'Ultimate Avengers 2' is particularly good. Heck, the animated direct to DVD features from Marvel & DC have been pretty hit & miss on both sides, and sadly UA2 is a miss for Marvel.
The first Ultimate Avengers, while not perfect, was still a solid introduction to the characters, their dynamics and their personal issues. The sequel, however, fails to offer any truly satisfying resolutions to those problems. Captain America's struggle to adjust to the 21st century and the effect it's having on his personality & work ethic is touched upon again but it never really goes anywhere, nor does the brief contrast shown between Iron Man and Captain America ever really develop, and his hook up at the end with Black Widow feels forced despite some previous hints of a mutual infatuation between them. Similarly, the marital problems between Hank 'Giant Man' Pym and his wife Janet 'Wasp' Pym are revisited and shown to have gotten worse, as Hank is made out to be an even bigger asshole with an over-sized ego here than he was in the first film, but as with Captain America's problems, the manner in which it is concluded - with Giant Man dying in the final act in what is apparently meant to be his redemption for being an egocentric jerk for most of the story - is not a satisfying one. If anything, Giant Man's death feels forced in the most laughable manner, partly because he really didn't even take enough abuse during the fight to warrant dying.
Iron Man himself was one of the few highlights of the film, and Black Panther came across pretty good, but that doesn't redeem the film's big flaw: it feels like it was rushed out the gate as quickly as possible, and the story & characters suffer for it. It's too bad, because the potential for a better animated film was definitely there, but it just wasn't utilized.
Still, the outtakes in the special features section were pretty funny.
IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM, DO NOT READ FURTHER, THERE BE SPOILERS HERE:
I'm going to go out on a limb here by going against the grain of the previous reviews, because honestly I don't think 'Ultimate Avengers 2' is particularly good. Heck, the animated direct to DVD features from Marvel & DC have been pretty hit & miss on both sides, and sadly UA2 is a miss for Marvel.
The first Ultimate Avengers, while not perfect, was still a solid introduction to the characters, their dynamics and their personal issues. The sequel, however, fails to offer any truly satisfying resolutions to those problems. Captain America's struggle to adjust to the 21st century and the effect it's having on his personality & work ethic is touched upon again but it never really goes anywhere, nor does the brief contrast shown between Iron Man and Captain America ever really develop, and his hook up at the end with Black Widow feels forced despite some previous hints of a mutual infatuation between them. Similarly, the marital problems between Hank 'Giant Man' Pym and his wife Janet 'Wasp' Pym are revisited and shown to have gotten worse, as Hank is made out to be an even bigger asshole with an over-sized ego here than he was in the first film, but as with Captain America's problems, the manner in which it is concluded - with Giant Man dying in the final act in what is apparently meant to be his redemption for being an egocentric jerk for most of the story - is not a satisfying one. If anything, Giant Man's death feels forced in the most laughable manner, partly because he really didn't even take enough abuse during the fight to warrant dying.
Iron Man himself was one of the few highlights of the film, and Black Panther came across pretty good, but that doesn't redeem the film's big flaw: it feels like it was rushed out the gate as quickly as possible, and the story & characters suffer for it. It's too bad, because the potential for a better animated film was definitely there, but it just wasn't utilized.
Still, the outtakes in the special features section were pretty funny.