Needless to say, Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Panther is the sequel to the first movie, Ultimate Avengers. Interesting that they came out the same year. Seeing as they're both only a little over an hour long, I wonder if they were originally meant to be one movie, but split into two movies to make more money? Regardless, this sequel was no better than its predecessor. At least the first movie followed a lot more closely to the comic book series on which it was based.
Rise of the Panther takes place a few months after the end of the first movie. But all is not well. Dr. Bruce Banner (Michael Massee) has been confined and under close scrutiny by S.H.I.E.L.D after he destroys half the city and nearly kills the Avengers. Captain America (Justin Gross) is having personal issues and keeps volunteering for dangerous missions. Drs. Hank (Nolan North) and Janet Pym (Grey DeLisle) are having marital problems. Thor (David Boat) is having very disturbing visions about his fellow Avengers.
Meanwhile, in the distant (fictional) African country of Wakanda, the young prince T'Challa (Jeffrey D. Sams) is, after a tragedy, forced to embrace his destiny and become the Black Panther. T'Challa is also desperate to protect his people from the attacks of the Chitauri, the terrorizing alien race the Avengers batled in the first film. But what would they want from the Wakandans?
Overall, the movie was entertaining to watch. There are cool fight scenes, ugly aliens, and Black Widow (Olivia D'Abo) is a badass. The scenes with Dr. Banner are especially interesting, as he's forced to watch over and over again videos of himself as the Hulk tearing up the city while being endlessly interrogated about his violent actions. It's a very Clockwork Orange feeling with Bruce slumped in a chair, staring intently at the TV. At the same time however, as with the first Ultimate Avengers movie, it was clear that the target audience was pre-teen boys, not young adults. The art is somewhat crude and a little rough (compared to its comic book counterpart), the plot is simplistic, and there are little bits of "fan service" (i.e., Black Widow in a tight, red dress that leaves nothing to the imagination). Since I knew about this from the first movie, it was forgivable.
Article comments
1 - Kaonashi
Oops, I made a small error. I meant to say, "Dr. Bruce Banner (Michael Massee) has been confined and under close scrutiny by S.H.I.E.L.D after he destroys half the city as the Hulk, and nearly kills the Avengers."
My apologies.