"Ultramarines: A Warhammers 40,000 Movie“is based on the internationally successful war strategy game. It’s about a group of marines in the 41st millennium, where war has been happening across the galaxy. A group of ultramarines gets distress call from an Imperial Shrine World, where a group of Imperial Fist happened to be stationed there. But what they find out is that they’ve disappeared and an alien race is out to eliminate everything that stands in its path. It’s up to a group of super enhanced marines to stop the various alien races before they can take over. The film features the voices of Sean Pertwee (Doomsday, Dog Soldiers) Terrance Stamp (Superman, Get Smart) and John Hurt (Alien, Hellboy).
Film Review:
Adult CGI films tends to geared more toward the fanboys than a regular audience, so I usually don’t review these types for film. But I couldn’t resist taking a look at this film, after hearing that such great character actors like Terence Stamp and John Hurt were involved with this project. It was a good thing that I decided to take a look at this film as this was an entertaining and action packed film.
“Ultramarines: A Warhammers 40,000 Movie” is an action packed journey from start to finish. Director Martyn Pick does a very good job with the direction. What makes the direction good was the fact that I was caught up with the film’s universe. I was caught up in that universe because the way the animation was handled. The animation was video game like, from the way that the characters move to the gory effects that were used during the kill sequences. It makes the film’s universe more effective. I don’t think the film would’ve had the same result, if it was a live action film. Another thing that Pick does very well, the way that he gets the vocal performances down. Everything is synced with the character’s movements, which doesn’t make it distracting. That’s important when making an animation film work. He also does a very good job getting his actors to make the vocals work with the tone of the film. It’s very important for a film like this, because if the vocals don’t fit the tone then the film’s tone doesn’t work and leads to various problems.
The screenplay also did a good job making this film entertaining. Screenwriter, Dan Abnett does his best making this story an entertaining one. I liked how he’s able draw you into this universe with the storytelling. Abnett does that, by focusing on the characters journey, as they find out what happened on the planet and making the film‘s tone, very dark. It gets you interested in the story. The action sequences were thought out well, especially with the death scenes. It brought some intensity into the film that was needed due to the film’s dark tone.
The only thing that I didn’t like about this film was the fact that the story was short. I wished, Abnett added more stuff into the screenplay like a backstory or some character development. It could’ve make it more special, but that’s the only grip that I have with this film.
Blu-Ray Extras:
The discs has a good amount of informative extras for a release of its kind. The first featurette is “Into the Void: Making Ultramarines”. This was a good featurette, as it goes really goes into the production, the story, the cast and the fan base behind “Ultramarines”. It provides a lot information on these things and gives you a glimpse to how the CGI was created. It made this featurette a good watch.
The next featurette is “Between Chaos and Darkness: The Space Marines”. This goes into the art direction and the look of the space marines. This was a very brief but good featurette. Everyone who is interviewed here does a very good job going into how they created the look of the space marines for this film.
“Creating the Demon is the next featurette. It’s a very short, but informative. Through the voiceover of director Martyn Pick, he goes into the various stages of how the demon was created for the film. From the voiceover to the look of the demon, everything is explained fully here.
The disc wraps up with an animated graphic novel “Ultramarines” prequel which sets up the stage for this film and the film’s official trailer.
Final Summary:
“Ultramarines: A Warhammers 40,000 Movie” is an action packed film that’s filled with good CGI animation and action sequences that rock.
Review Rating: Three and a half stars
Blu-Ray Extras: Three Stars
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