The VICIOUS DVD Wrap: Ultimate Avengers 2 – Rise of the Panther
Posted by Steve Vicious on 08.16.2006
The Black Panther calls upon the Avengers to help defeat a mutual enemy. Is it better than the disappointing first film? Find out…
Rated: “PG-13” Running Time: 73 minutes
Back of the Box
Mysterious Wakanda. It lies in the darkest heart of Africa, unknown to most of the world. An isolated land hidden behind closed borders, fiercely protected by its young king – the Black Panther. But when brutal alien invaders attack, that leaves the Black Panther with no option but to go against the sacred decrees of his people and ask for help from outsiders. And so he turns to…THE AVENGERS – Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Giant Man, Wasp, Black Widow and the Incredible Hulk. These mightiest of heroes have battled the aliens before and barely survived. They thought it was over. They were wrong.
The Film
After returning to Wakanda, Prince T’Challa discovers that his kingdom is under attack by the returning Chitauri (the aliens from the first film). They are led by the Nazi alien shape-shifter Herr Kleiser, who was originally killed by Captain America in 1945. Unfortunately for the prince, his father (the original Black Panther) is murdered by Kleiser during battle.
When he assumes the role of King and of the Black Panther, T’Challa leaves Wakanda to ask Captain America for help. Captain America informs the Black Panther that he has killed Kleiser before but he keeps coming back. This leads us to believe that Captain America does not want to fight Kleiser anymore.
However, Nick Fury orders the Avengers to assemble and sends them to help the people of Wakanda. Well, not all of the Avengers assemble; Thor is dealing with the Odin’s wishes to not meddle in the lives of mortals and Bruce Banner is imprisoned in S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters for being uncontrollable the last time they fought the Chitauri.
When the Avengers arrive in Wakanda, Black Panther reveals that the Chitauri are invading because they seek the Heart of Wakanda, which is a mountain of unrefined Vibranium capable of producing dangerous weapons. Unfortunately, the people of Wakanda do not welcome the Avengers with open arms and a fight breaks out. To my surprise, the Wakandans do a decent job of fighting the Avengers by driving them off their land.
Meanwhile, Captain America, with the help of Black Panther, catches one of the Chitauri. But it’s a trap and Black Panther turns out to be the shape-shifting Kleiser. Spider-Man would have never fallen for that trap because of his Spidey-sense. Anyway, the trap seemingly leads to the Avengers’ demise as their ship is destroyed.
Fortunately, the Avengers survive thanks to Thor. But Wasp is severely injured in the attack and Iron Man’s suit is destroyed. Iron Man dons the War Machine because it is loaded with some killer artillery, although it’s not the most mobile of his suits.
Elsewhere, the imprisoned Bruce Banner discovers that the Chitauri’s weakness has something to do with the gamma radiation. Wasp and Dr. Betty Ross use his theory to attack the Chitauri with a portable Gamma Ray. They head to Wakanda to help the rest of the Avengers while Banner is left behind, still imprisoned
Back in Wakanda, Captain America and Black Panther finally defeat Kleiser by trapping him within the Vibranium. Iron Man and Giant Man use the portable Gamma Ray to destroy the Chitauri craft’s power core. Unfortunately, both Iron Man and Giant Man are severely injured. Giant Man’s injuries lead to his death due because his body could not handle the strain of shrinking himself and growing to his larger size soon after. Giant Man ends up dying in the arms of Wasp. When the team returns home, they learn that Hulk has escaped from his holding cell, which suggests that their will be a third film in the series.
The Marvel team explored the relationships the team members have (Black Widow and Captain America, Wasp and Giant Man), so it definitely did a good job of adding some emotional depth to the characters. However, I believe they pulled the trigger too soon on Giant Man’s death. Seriously, I did not feel any emotion for his death, although the scene where he dies in Wasp’s arms was a nice touch.
My other main gripe with the film, which is perhaps the biggest draw back of this sequel, was the return of the Chitauri. Is Doctor Doom not available? Come on! Marvel has tons of villains at their disposal and they give us the same damn aliens from before? With Giant Man’s death, I wonder if our favorite web-slinger might join the team in the third film (still not announced or planned). ***
Video [9.0/10.0]
The picture is presented in Widescreen (aspect ratio 1.77:1). The colors are very sharp and bright, plus the animation is excellent. However, I still prefer the animation style utilized in the DC universe.
Sound [9.0/10.0]
5.1 Dolby Digital is your option for both the English and Spanish audio tracks.
Extras [6.0/10.0]
- “The Ultimates” -- Featurette
This runs about 22 minutes and it does a good job of introducing things for the sequel. Civil War is mentioned, which if anyone at Marvel has any sense at all will become an animated film itself. Now that would be something to look for.
- The Ultimate Gag Reel
Self-explanatory, although there is something so wrong with showing Thor fart a lot.
- First Look at Iron Man [2:43]
The producers explained that this will not tie in with the Ultimate Avengers, but they still recommend you purchase both of the Avengers’ DVDs. I wonder if Iron Man’s butler from UA2 will appear in this film.
- First Look at Dr. Strange [2:05]
This actually looks interesting and I will definitely be waiting in anticipation for it.
- What Avenger Are You? – DVD-Rom Game
I am Iron Man…
The 411: While I came in to this film expecting it to be a little worse than its predecessor, the drop in quality wasn’t too much. Unfortunately for the Avengers, I just finished watching the far superior Justice League in action and I was left wondering why Marvel can’t match the quality of the DC Universe’s greatest team. The extras are exactly the same as the previous film, but there’s still no commentary. If you enjoyed the first film, then you will enjoy Rise of the Panther.
