Contentar
Best movie of this year hands down!
Senteur
As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.
Kaydan Christian
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
jeremy-916-791020
As a fan of 40k (and a loyal Imperial servant), I was disappointed in this film. The tone definitely fit the 40k universe, but the animation quality is substandard, and the plot was surprisingly bland and rushed for something by Dan Abnett. The sound effects also lacked something to be desired as they were brief, and seemed somewhat stock as well.The soundtrack and battle scenes were, on the other hand, epic. The chanting was catchy and appropriate to the setting, and set the dark mood that I would expect from a story in the 41st millennium.If I could suggest anything to the writers, I would suggest using a different animation studio, and using either an existing story like Gaunt's Ghosts (also by Abnett)or an original one that has been more fleshed out.
paulfarey
Right then, I'm going to start this with a confession: I spent my formative years obsessed with Warhammer 40,000. There, I've admitted it to the world... or at least those in the world who will read this review, who I assume will be of the same persuasion. This movie makes the same assumption. The Warhammer 40,000 universe is vast, complicated, and diverse. It is so difficult for the uninitiated to just drop into it, so the film has a challenge from the start. How do you explain the intricacies of all the individual races, the doctrine of the Emperor's super-soldiers, or the rebellion of the Horus Heresy, all in less than two hours? Well, they could at least have tried!If you don't know the background already, you're going to struggle to understand a lot of what's going on with the plot, or the main character's motivation. In this depiction, the Ultramarines are weak soldiers who would barely pass basic training in our present day, when they are each supposed to be courageous, disciplined, genetically modified killers. During the film, they do little except fanatically yell "for the Emperor" and then run blindly, often to their deaths. They are diametric opposites of their literary and figurine-based counterparts. Similarly, the antagonist, the Daemon, was scrawny and lifeless, where it should have been magnificent and imposing. The potential of this character could have been limitless, but it was sadly wasted.The animation is awkward and bland, without adequately depicting believable characters or luscious environments. The figures move clumsily and the atmosphere is regularly hazy, presumably so they didn't have to draw a more realistic landscape. Come on, this is the 21st century, you can do so much better than this!The stellar cast of voice actors don't appear to have interest in any of the poor dialogue throughout the entirety of the script and I wonder how many of them list this film on their résumé?I had high hopes of this movie and was left disappointed. I know the Warhammer 40,000 universe has a small but dedicated following and I wonder whether there will ever be enough interest to create another film? One that could do justice to the fantasy worlds that had enriched my childhood.
rooksbailey8
I can tell you that this is a solid first step for the Emperor....Ultramarines deals with - yes - a squad of Ultramarines who are sent to investigate a distress beacon on the planet of Mithron, home to an important imperial shrine. Without giving too much away, this hardy bunch of the Emperor's finest soon discover that the sinister forces of Chaos are at work. From there, the movie proceeds according to standard Space Marine codex operating procedures, i.e., burn the heretic! Ha! This straightforward plot is largely executed by the numbers, something that, unfortunately, leaves little room for surprises or plot twists. As a result, the plot is ultimately little more than a pretext for the Space Marines to do their stuff.However, having said that, Ultramarines deserves high praise for faithfully - and important term when it comes to 40K - delivering a movie that truly does capture the essence of 40K. This is no small feat seeing how so many other studios could have - nay, would have - over-simplified and butchered the complex lore of this setting (and believe me, 40K, being a 20+ year old franchise, has lore deeper and more complex than Tolkien's Middle Earth!). It is all in here: the Cult of the Emperor, the daemonic forces of Chaos, bolters, chainswords, seals of purity...all that good stuff that makes 40K...well, 40K.The CGI is quite impressive at times and is loaded with all sorts of wonderful detail, even down to the texture of the Space Marine armor. In addition to the often lavish detail, the art direction of the CGI, one that combines a detailed realism with a bit of a graphic novel shaded cell technique, gave this movie a very distinctive look, one that is well suited to the nature of 40K's oft epic artwork. Even the combat scenes were deftly handled, and not without a bit of gore (parents might want to keep this in mind). Not everything is perfect, though, as I found the facial animations to be emotionally flat and devoid of life, with the Space Marines having a walking/gliding gait that seems thoroughly rigid and unrealistic at times.The voice acting was quite good, too. I guess this is no surprise considering the talented cast of voice actors, including Terence Stamp, John Hurt, and Sean Pertwee. Likewise, the music was first rate and filled with medieval sounding chants that are so suited to the warrior monks who are Space Marines.All things considered, I consider Ultramarines to be a success. Sure, 40K purists might find a few things to grumble about (such as the chapter strike cruiser being seemingly staffed by about a crew of twelve - in the novels, these things have thousands of souls upon them), but despite a handful of flaws, the movie delivers the goods and is most definitely a 40K film that remains faithful to the setting we all love.In short: if you are a fan of Warhammer 40K, do yourself a favor and rent/buy see this movie. It is not perfect, but it is a good first step. And remember: "Blessed is the mind too small for doubt."
lfoley1-45-426097
Well, I really thought this film was good. I'm not normally into Warhammer 40k, I'm more of the Warhammer fantasy type girl but I still enjoyed this film. It was a bit slow paced at first but the storyline was really well thought out.The cgi in this film wasn't the best, I got the feeling that this film was almost a bit of an experiment to see how people would respond to their movies but it was watchable and pretty good compared to some films. (maybe I am biased because I love Warhammer).I didn't think i would enjoy it but it surprised me and now I am so desperately waiting for the Warhammer fantasy film to be released if they are making one!
