First of all, cards on the table, I’m perhaps not the best person to review Ultramarines, because I’ve led a life almost completely untouched by the Warhammer phenomenon. For the uninitiated, Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop game played with tiny, hand-painted figures of soldiers and monsters, and governed by extremely stringent rules. My only experience of it was being asked to play by a friend in my first year of high school and then never being invited back because apparently I wasn’t taking it seriously enough.
Hundreds of thousands of people do take it extremely seriously though and it’s become big business, as evidenced by the apparently recession proof Games Workshop outlets throughout the country which sell the figures and accessories. As proven in the extra features, Warhammer fans are a dedicated (and often hairy) bunch and now they have an animated movie set in their beloved universe. But, while I’m sure to the faithful this is a rousing and authentic experience filled with plenty of familiar characters and references that will no doubt have them clutching their tiny paint brushes with glee; to a non-believer like me it was confusing and underwhelming.
The story has the titular space soldiers going to a planet and shooting some creatures for apparently important reasons that are really just an excuse for a string of elaborately gore-filled action sequences. These may have been exciting were it not for the undeniably outdated animation. The film was completed in 2010 but compared to other CG movies released at the same time the animation looks terribly basic and often incomplete, like a temporary CG blueprint for a live-action film. The characters move in a weird jerky fashion and have disturbingly expressionless faces and it often feels like you’re watching a cut-scene from a PS2 game circa 2004 to the extent that I kept expecting a message to appear on screen telling me to press START to skip all this tedious exposition and get back to the game. In fact, I kind of wish this was a game because all the running around, alien-blasting stuff looks like it would be quite fun to play, but to watch, not so much.
The one big draw Ultramarines has for non-Warhammer enthusiasts is its incredibly classy voice class. Terence Stamp, John Hurt and Sean Pertwee lead the company of gravelly-voiced British thespians. And while those three could recite their shopping lists and make it sound momentous they all seem to be actually committed to giving authentic performances rather than passing time in the recording booth waiting to get paid. In fact in the special features John Hurt charmingly reveals that his son is a big Warhammer fan and that’s what convinced him to sign up. It’s just a shame the animation can’t do credit to the actors’ blood-and-thunder performances.
If you are a fan of Warhammer then I can fully appreciate that this may well be a fantastic film, breathing life into your passion, and it does have an impressively bleak and gothic atmosphere despite its limitations. But unless you go into it with a lot of affection for the source material it’s a bewildering, silly and ultimately forgettable watch. But then what do I know? Until about 20 minutes ago I thought Warhammer and Warcraft were the same thing!
Overall Verdict: If you aren’t already familiar with, and a huge fan of, the wonderful world of Warhammer then this impenetrable and rather shoddily animated movie won’t work on you at all. But if you are I imagine it’s probably fantastic, and you can add a couple of stars to the rating!
Special Features:
Into the Void Making Ultramarines
Between Chaos and Darkness The World of the Space Marines
Creating the Demon
Animated Graphic Novel Ultramarines “Prequel
Trailer
Reviewer: Adam Pidgeon