Post by The Curmudgeon on Apr 8, 2007 20:49:11 GMT 2
A major disappointment.
Like I've said in some of my eariler reviews, sometimes this is just no fun at all. Whilst it's always funny to rip into, say, Pop Idol or something, here it's just... sad.
The Ultimate series of Marvel comics was a potentially awful idea done to surprisingly awesome effect. Taking the well worn ideas and characters from the Marvel Universe, going straight back to square one and re-imagining the origins and original characters could well have blown up in the writers faces. But not so. The writing in some of these books is simply superb, and sometimes makes the impossible seem scarily possible. Ultimate Spider-Man, of course, is a constant delight, with top class banter, witty one-liners and some brutal action (with the exception of the heartbreakingly average Venom and Carnage re-do's), and then there's the Ultimates (the Avengers) and... oooh, oodles more. Like I said - top idea.
But not here. Again, the characters are made teenagers, which is fine for, say, Spidey, who WAS a teenager in the first place, but a sixteen/seventeen year old Ben Grimm just doesn't cut it. Also, the script lacks major bite. After what we've seen with Spidey et al, we really do need something special to warrant another spin on the Marvel franchise (especially for its oldest family) and there's nothing here that excites or, crucially, convinces. In short, it just makes you pine for the original books.
The most galling thing though, is the sham that is Dr Doom (or, I'm sorry, Dr Damme). Change what you like from the original comics guys; the crummy banter, some dodgy storylines, but DO NOT REPLACE the original character names. So, what, a guy called Victor Von Doom isn't realistic, but having a THIRTEEN YEAR OLD BOY design and build the Fantasti-Car, an interdimensional rocket ship, is?? As the Human Torch himself said, "dude.. that's Fantasti-crappy."
I won't be buying THIS junk anymore.
