Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie

This is the first part of a two part article about Warhammer 40,000 animation and media, where it’s been in the recent past, and what we can look forward to in the coming years.

You all have to trust me. I’ve locked him away. I’ve attached him to adamantium chains that even a Primarch couldn’t break. Who am I talking about?

That Warhammer fanboy that likes to break out of his imposed exile and muck up the place when anyone even says the words ‘Raven’ or ‘Guard’ in a sentence (let’s be honest, a paragraph) together. I promise that I locked the door and threw away the key. But he has his ways.

You’re all probably wondering why I chose to discuss a movie made in 2010. It’s simple, really: We have to understand the past in order to move forward into the present. If this is the first time you’ve ever heard of Warhammer 40,000 (sometimes affectionately called ’40K’ by its fan base), then you have quite a lot of catching up to do. Go look it up on Google. There’s a whole wiki dedicated to the universe and let me tell you, it’s incredibly substantial. Go ahead! I can wait…

Finished? I doubt it. No worries, however, for I can give you a quick version of the universe. Don’t tell my boss this, but it just might be the best thing the British ever made. 40,000 stands for the 41st millennium, a time when humanity exists within a stagnating futuristic society ruled by the Imperium of Man, the literal juxtaposition of the Medieval Catholic Church and Medieval Europe tens of thousands of years into the future where mankind numbers in the trillions and is constantly beset by aliens, traitors, and the forces of the Chaos gods. In the 31stmillennium, this spectacular individual of legend called ‘The God-Emperor of Mankind’ began his Great Crusade to reunite all of the scattered vestiges of humanity under one rule: his. Using his own supernatural DNA, he created 20 sons called Primarchs in order to assist him in his mission. The gods of Chaos, understandably upset that the Emperor wanted to rain on their parade, tossed his infant Primarchs into the void and each one landed on a world far away from Holy Terra.

Does this stop the Emperor? Of course not! He instead creates superhuman warriors using parts of each Primarch’s DNA and calls them ‘Space Marines’, with each Primarch getting his own legion of warriors that shares his specific DNA. The Emperor eventually reunites with all of his sons, a LOT of bloodshed occurs, fully half of his sons (and their respective legions) betray dad, and while the Emperor and his loyal sons win this event called the ‘Horus Heresy’, the Emperor is critically wounded and forced to remain on the Golden Throne, an advanced type of life support. Humanity understandably panics and in a moment of brilliance, they decide to do the only natural thing that anyone would do: completely throw away the Emperor’s desire to create a society based on science and reason, become a feudal religious state where human life is worth practically nothing, and the Emperor is worshiped as a god (thus the God-Emperor). This creates 10,000 years of stagnation where technology barely advances (and in some cases, regresses) and things slowly escalate.

*I apologize to any Warhammer veterans who may read this article. There’s a great deal of information and background to this universe and I hope that very short version provided enough to enlighten the nonbelievers. Let’s move on to the movie.*

Created in 2010 and directed by Martyn Pick (Evil Never Dies), Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie follows the story of a squad from the Ultramarines chapter of Space marines who respond to a distress signal sent by some of their brothers from the Imperial Fists chapter. Written by Dan Abnett, a prolific writer heavily involved in many of the Warhammer novels, the movie does a reasonable job at staying true to the lore of the universe while providing fans of the tabletop game with several iconic set pieces: Humanity vs. Chaos, weapons nearly as large as a normal human, and the obsessive warrior tradition of the Adeptus Astartes (Space Marines).

If Ultramarines accomplished anything as a film, it was the voice actors who lent their talent in order to breathe life into the characters. Known for his roles as the Prophet of Truth in the popular video game series Halo and Chancellor Valorum in Star Wars Episode I – The Phantom Menace, along with many other superb characters, Terence Stamp plays Captain Severus and truly helps bring depth to this movie. Along with Stamp, John Hurt (you Potterheads know him as Mr. Ollivander) voices Chaplain Carnak and Sean Pertwee (Alfred Pennyworth in Gotham) plays as Brother Proteus, the obligatory headstrong warrior who wants to prove himself in the field of battle. The story has predictability to it and without the superb cast of actors, along with the impressive musical score by Adam Harvey, I feel as though Ultramarines would have failed spectacularly.

The story itself doesn’t present anything new or dynamic to this long running, fictional universe. I sometimes wonder if Games Workshop wanted to pander to a wider audience with this film; while certainly not horrible, I am familiar with Dan Abnett’s work and am well aware that his storytelling can significantly eclipse anything Ultramarines set out to accomplish. The animation helped set the mood for the dreary situation in which the Ultramarines find themselves and though certain portions of the animation had stunning detail (did you see Chaplain Carnak’s armor?!), the environmental details of the Shrine World felt bland, and the facial and body animations made the Space Marines look like the plastic models you assemble out of the box. Perhaps Martyn Pick, Games Workshop, and the production team set out to intentionally create the movie in this manner, or maybe they couldn’t afford anything more. The latter reason has plagued many potentially wonderful projects in the past and detractors can levy little blame against the production crew. The former, however, asks for criticism. 2010 saw phenomenal animation in the form of superb hits such as How to Train Your Dragon and Batman: Under the Red Hood; either style could have been modified and adapted to the grim future of Warhammer 40,000.

Despite all of this, I adore this movie. I really shouldn’t. It’s about the Ultramarines, Games Workshop’s poster boys for the franchise (who are apparently, according to the movie,are the “best” of the Space Marines). It’s incredibly predictable, the combat looks like a Nintendo 64-era fighting game, and it accomplishes absolutely nothing in terms of the greater storyline of Warhammer. Yet I want to watch it again. By the Emperor, the fanboy is loose! It’s a Warhammer  40,000 MOVIE! How many of these do we get?

Not many. Ultramarines, however, had potential. This potential can be realized. With a dedicated animation team willing to create beautiful content, actors who burn with a passion for their craft, and a talented production crew, fans could very well get the Warhammer 40,000 movie they deserve. It’s not that it might happen…

It can happen.

What does the future hold?

Hopefully a lot of grimness and darkness.

And Erasmus Brosdau can help.

Victorus aut Mortis!

-Valiant

Stay tuned next week when we talk about The Lord Inquisitor and the potential for the Warhammer 40,000 universe in the digital medium.

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