Two Hulks in Five Years
Earlier tonight I shuffled off to a late showing of The Incredible Hulk, not particularly looking forward to it but it was the one film that started at the Cineplex when I arrived.
I thought with director Ang Lee at the helm of 2003’s Hulk that perhaps Marvel could get it right with everyone’s favorite jolly green giant. I was wrong.
Eric Bana was barely okay in the role of Bruce Banner, and costar Nick Nolte provided some interesting moments. But when the Hulk-dogs appeared on the scene, I though the film had jumped the shark. Besides, the CG Hulk was too much like, well, a CG Hulk.
So why do it again? And with another CG Hulk who is too much like, well, another CG Hulk? The Incredible Hulk is wholly unrelated to the 2003 movie Hulk, and has a couple of things going for it. It appears Marvel had more control over the material. It had an A-list star as Bruce Banner, one Edward Norton, an Oscar-nominated performer who is no slouch when it comes to acting. (Marvel Studios scored well with Iron Man using another Oscar-nominated A-lister, Robert Downey, Jr.) It had a great supporting cast in Liv Tyler, William Hurt and Tim Roth. It hit the ground running and never stopped. It sported a decent script (with an homage or three to the television series starring Bill Bixby), solid direction and fair production values.
But after two great acts, the film seemed to delve into all-too-familiar territory with Tim Roth’s character becoming a super Hulk, and their climactic battle seemed uninspired. Still, it was fun, and Downey’s cameo as Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) was awfully cool. Not a bad couple of hours on the fourth row.
*** out of five.
I thought with director Ang Lee at the helm of 2003’s Hulk that perhaps Marvel could get it right with everyone’s favorite jolly green giant. I was wrong.
Eric Bana was barely okay in the role of Bruce Banner, and costar Nick Nolte provided some interesting moments. But when the Hulk-dogs appeared on the scene, I though the film had jumped the shark. Besides, the CG Hulk was too much like, well, a CG Hulk.
So why do it again? And with another CG Hulk who is too much like, well, another CG Hulk? The Incredible Hulk is wholly unrelated to the 2003 movie Hulk, and has a couple of things going for it. It appears Marvel had more control over the material. It had an A-list star as Bruce Banner, one Edward Norton, an Oscar-nominated performer who is no slouch when it comes to acting. (Marvel Studios scored well with Iron Man using another Oscar-nominated A-lister, Robert Downey, Jr.) It had a great supporting cast in Liv Tyler, William Hurt and Tim Roth. It hit the ground running and never stopped. It sported a decent script (with an homage or three to the television series starring Bill Bixby), solid direction and fair production values.
But after two great acts, the film seemed to delve into all-too-familiar territory with Tim Roth’s character becoming a super Hulk, and their climactic battle seemed uninspired. Still, it was fun, and Downey’s cameo as Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) was awfully cool. Not a bad couple of hours on the fourth row.
*** out of five.
Comments
The problem with a big screen Hulk is that you have to have a bad guy that matches the big Green Guy. The Abomination Character just gave me flash backs of Nick Nolte's Hulk character.
But, like Iron Man, Marvel was fully in control of this film: and it shows. Everything felt right about the film, and the homages not only to Bill Bixby, cameo by Lou Ferrigno, and other nods to the TV show were kind of cool. The opening to the movie was an updated version of an update to the show. And, several times, the composer queued several motifs from the show (the love theme and of course, the hitchhiking theme).
Overall, I liked the film. Twice I have tried to rewatch the Ang Lee version. Twice, I could not make it past ten minutes. That movie jumped the shark pretty early.