People are always referring to films that are so bad they're good, which is a promise that usually results in disappointment. Ultramarines is not so bad it's good, it's so bad it's fascinating.
For those not familiar with the world of Warhammer 40,000, a table based role playing game, the Ultramarines are a chapter of the Space Marines, whose alleged purpose is to 'defend mankind'. The film is just terrible. However, once I got past the dreadful CGI animation and simplistic plot, I realised that my main grievance with the film was political. The 'heroes' of the film are exaggerated depictions of a masculine ideal (there are no women in the film, and if I recall correctly, no mention of any either) who celebrate war and struggle. The Ultramarines serve a totalitarian state, with unswerving loyalty to their Emperor. When you throw in all the dubious Nazi iconography (eagles, skulls, Iron Crosses, etc.) it seems the filmmakers have, if unwittingly, created a pseudo fascist movie.
I mentioned some of my criticisms of the film to Harry K, who quite reasonably suggested that it was a little rich of me to unpick films on moral grounds considering my affection for everything wretched, after all one of my favourite films is Ilsa She Wolf of the SS, something I think we can all agree is morally bankrupt. I'm probably getting my knickers in a twist, I expect Ultramarines is actually perfectly harmless fun (well I say fun, did I mention before that it's dogshit?). In addition, I'm fairly confident that the filmakers weren't trying to make any political statement, I saw it at a screening where they talked in depth about the film's creation, and questionable content aside, it was clear that their motivation was to simply represent the Warhammer 40K world with an authenticity that would please fans.
Regardless of whether this is likely to corrupt the morals (like they need corrupting) of your average 13 year old boy, who is presumably the target demographic, is ultimately neither here nor there, the film corrupts your will to live, which is surely more dangerous.
For those not familiar with the world of Warhammer 40,000, a table based role playing game, the Ultramarines are a chapter of the Space Marines, whose alleged purpose is to 'defend mankind'. The film is just terrible. However, once I got past the dreadful CGI animation and simplistic plot, I realised that my main grievance with the film was political. The 'heroes' of the film are exaggerated depictions of a masculine ideal (there are no women in the film, and if I recall correctly, no mention of any either) who celebrate war and struggle. The Ultramarines serve a totalitarian state, with unswerving loyalty to their Emperor. When you throw in all the dubious Nazi iconography (eagles, skulls, Iron Crosses, etc.) it seems the filmmakers have, if unwittingly, created a pseudo fascist movie.
I mentioned some of my criticisms of the film to Harry K, who quite reasonably suggested that it was a little rich of me to unpick films on moral grounds considering my affection for everything wretched, after all one of my favourite films is Ilsa She Wolf of the SS, something I think we can all agree is morally bankrupt. I'm probably getting my knickers in a twist, I expect Ultramarines is actually perfectly harmless fun (well I say fun, did I mention before that it's dogshit?). In addition, I'm fairly confident that the filmakers weren't trying to make any political statement, I saw it at a screening where they talked in depth about the film's creation, and questionable content aside, it was clear that their motivation was to simply represent the Warhammer 40K world with an authenticity that would please fans.
Regardless of whether this is likely to corrupt the morals (like they need corrupting) of your average 13 year old boy, who is presumably the target demographic, is ultimately neither here nor there, the film corrupts your will to live, which is surely more dangerous.
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