Prepare to experience the incredible – The Hulk openened on June 20th, raking in over 50 million dollars opening weekend alone. And I’m left to sit here and wonder.. Why?
Granted, I’ve never been a fan of The Incredible Hulk. The premise and origin of the character alone is absurd (though, no more so than that of Spider-Man or Ghost Rider, I suppose), and, really, once you get past the whole “strong” thing, what more is there to the character?
If you haven’t seen the movie, and intend to, reading beyond this point may or may not be a good idea, since I’ll be including spoilers. Consider yourself warned.
The movie does put more behind the Hulk’s character than I had initially realized was there. Granted, I KNEW that such things were present, I just never think of them. When I think of the Incredible Hulk (originally created in 1962, from Marvel comics), I think of a big, dumb, slow-speaking individual who can, when enraged, lift over 100 tons. A big green bag of raging testosterone, really. The movie reminds us that there is indeed more – Love, passion, and a very intelligent man, trapped inside. No, really. This movie tried pretty hard to be a love story.
Bruce Banner was adopted at a very young age, and has subconsciously blocked all memory of his early childhood. And with good reason, as you eventually find out that the movie’s version of Hulk continuity includes Bruce’s dad, David Banner, killing his wife (Bruce’s momma), right in front of little Bruce’s eyes. Of course, the knife wasn’t meant for mommy. David was trying to knock off Brucey, due to some genetic alterations pappy performed on himself, and passed on to his son.
Bruce grows up (strangely resembling Norm Hooten, from Black Hawk Down), and unknowingly follows in his father’s footsteps, in his studies of radiation, or genetic engineering.. It wasn’t too clear to me. While in college, he falls in love with the lovely Betsy Ross (Jennifer Connelly). Their relationship ends, though their friendship and partnership in the lab continue. There’s also some crap about a jealous ex-boyfriend of Betsy’s; her relationship with her dad, General “Thunderbolt” Ross; as well as scenes with Bruce’s dad, David, still being alive (and mentally disturbed); and General Ross’ dislike and mistrust of the Banner family.
Blah blah blah. An hour later, we’re finally allowed to witness what we came to see – The big green giant smashing the fuck out of everything. The ‘fight’ scenes (which consist ol’ “Thunderbolt” Ross, and the army shooting missles at the Hulk, mutant dogs sent by Bruce’s dad, and more smashing of army surplus) are certainly the highlight of the movie. The rest of the film sort of drags on, though. C’mon, we came to see Hulk beating the crap out of everything, not learn about the personal issues Betsy Ross has with her pop.
Maybe I’m being a bit harsh, but when one goes to see a superhero movie, one expects a superhero story.. Not a watered-down American Beauty with some stuff about a monster and the U.S. Military thrown in. Comic movie. Not a drama that uses comic characters.
Other than a few inconsistencies and the movie being too long, though, it’s not that bad. I wouldn’t go see it again, but it wasn’t terrible. I’ve certainly seen worse (Batman Forever comes to mind), but with the high expectations that Marvel’s films have given us (Spider-Man, Blade, the two X-Men movies), it was hard to sit there for two and a half hours.
And just when you think it’s over, David Banner becomes an SPB (super-powered being) of his own, and there’s one last fight scene between the Hulk and his dad, who has become a character that resembles the infamous Marvel comics loser, Absorbing Man. Only slightly more powerful.
The movie did have quite a few good points. The Hulk himself was done with computer effects, and excluding a few cartoonish motions here and there, he moved exactly as you’d imagine a seven-foot, 1,040-pound person with an IQ lower than tapioca would have. Though the story wasn’t too great, Bana and Connelley did excellent in their roles, and Sam Elliot looks exactly like Thunderbolt Ross. Also, Stan Lee (former CEO of Marvel comics, and Hulk’s co-creator) and Lou Ferrigno (who played The Hulk in the 1977 television series) have cameos as security guards. In fact, the closing line in the movie is a callback to the 70’s show. That was a very nice touch, I thought.
Now, I’m no expert when it comes to technical stuff about movies, but even I can tell that Ang Lee’s direction was excellent. The revolutionary style of filming he used in this film is sure to be copied in future comic-to-movie exploits, and likely other action movies (much like The Matrix’s “Bullet time” slow-motion effect). However, because it was so new and different, I fear it may also alienate some viewers that just won’t “get it.” It certainly helped give the movie a comic book feel. If only they hadn’t gone with the more dramatic approach in the script.. Regardless, I feel that Ang Lee did a great job, considering the below-average script he had to work with.
This movie reminded me of 1998’s Godzilla, and not just because the title character is a big, green monster. Both flicks took heroes with tremendous cult followings, and tried to make the movie into a meaningful story, with characterization and depth. But that’s not what we wanted to see – We want to see the title character breaking things. Lots of things. Entire cities worth of things. Hulk did a better job than Godzilla, I feel. The direction, acting, and special effects were done well enough to deal with the horrid script. I think this may have been the most exciting comic-to-movie adaptation to date, if there was a better writing team behind it.
Prepare to Experience the Incredible – Incredibly mediocre, that is. On a scale of one to eleven, Hulk scores a 5.8. Just enough above average to warrant one viewing now, and another when the DVD is released. Maybe.
Written July 03, 2003