There are some SPOILERS in this review, so please beware before reading.
The Hulk is certainly the most unique of the films based on Marvel Comics characters to date. It tries hard to be a serious drama with themes of emotional repression and the inability of people to control their id, but never truly succeeds in that venture. It is also not simply a popcorn, summertime blockbuster with little intelligence, heart, or spirit. What it is is solid entertainment with a terrific cast, a poignant story, and special effects that would make George Lucas blush green.
Most people know of the Hulk, or the Incredible Hulk as he is many times referred to in print or on the 1977-'82 television series, and that he is basically a giant green behemoth who smashes things and is the alter ego of a meek scientist who, along with his verdant other identity, is usually on the run from some authority figures. This film tries to flesh out the Hulk mythos much more, and does borrow from not only Stan Lee and Jack "The King" Kirby's original comics stories, but also from the groundbreaking stories of writer Peter David, who wrote The Incredible Hulk for many years. The film does succeed in giving us good reasons why Dr. Bruce Banner is the Hulk, but most of the time, this backstory only serves to slow the film down, nearly to the point of boredom.
Director Ang Lee really was not a good choice to helm an action-filled, thrill-a-minute Hulk film, and because of that, he never delivers that sort of film, a film I would have much more liked to have seen. However, I understand what he was trying to accomplish with The Hulk, and while he never truly succeeds, I have to commend him for his effort.
Eric Bana is wonderful as the tortured Bruce Banner. He does a great job of trying to come to terms with a horrid childhood and the rampaging beast that has been unleashed inside of him. The always stunning Jennifer Conneley is very good as Bruce's true love scientist Betty Ross, who has also had a tough adolescence, but she is given very little to do here. Sam Elliot is great as the Hulk's first archnemesis, General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross. Ross is also a tortured soul who uses his pain of being a bad father to fuel his own war against both Bruce Banner and the Hulk. Josh Lucas is particularly slimy as the wormy and pathetic Glenn Talbot, who never gets the idea that the Hulk is pretty much indestructible to anything you throw at him. Nick Nolte is over-the-top and not all that great as Bruce's warped, psychotic father David Banner (a nod to the name of TV's Incredible Hulk and Bill Bixby's character). Nolte never really accomplishes anything in his role, and meets a fate where nothing is resolved.
The computer generated Hulk is awe-inspiring. Industrial, Light, and Magic have created a character that conveys the size and power of the original comic book icon, but also depicts real human emotion and suffering. Yes, the Hulk does not look real, but how can a being that is roughly 10-15 feet tall, weighs more than half a ton, can turn tanks into scrap, and leap miles at a time not look fake? The Hulk is a fictional character who is only realized in all of his fictional glory on the silver screen. The action sequences featuring the Hulk: particularly the nighttime battle with the Hulk dogs in the forest, and the confrontation between the Hulk and the Army in the desert made my jaw drop. As a long time fan of the Green Goliath, I was stupefied to see this hero of mine so fully realized and doing what he does best, smash, on screen. And to see the heroic qualities of this monster-man come to light, when he saves Betty from the Hulk dogs, and especially, when rescues the jet fighter that has come to destroy him from crashing into San Francisco Bay, I have to admit I was a bit misty-eyed. To me, the Hulk is a hero, just as much as he is a monster. He is a destructive force, but not a murderous one, as is evidenced in this film.
The last scenes of the film show us that Bruce Banner is alive and well and using his skills as a physician somewhere in South America. And much to my delight, it also shows that the incredible Hulk has survived as well, ready to smash evil and defend innocent people. It also serves to set up a possible sequel, where maybe the character development so heartily worked upon by Ang Lee will be eschewed for more action and more adventure.
The Hulk is not the best of the Marvel films so far, but it is the most serious and gives the non-comic book reading audience a real glimpse of Bruce Banner and his massive alter ego as he truly is and was intended to be.
Recommended.
The Hulk is certainly the most unique of the films based on Marvel Comics characters to date. It tries hard to be a serious drama with themes of emotional repression and the inability of people to control their id, but never truly succeeds in that venture. It is also not simply a popcorn, summertime blockbuster with little intelligence, heart, or spirit. What it is is solid entertainment with a terrific cast, a poignant story, and special effects that would make George Lucas blush green.
Most people know of the Hulk, or the Incredible Hulk as he is many times referred to in print or on the 1977-'82 television series, and that he is basically a giant green behemoth who smashes things and is the alter ego of a meek scientist who, along with his verdant other identity, is usually on the run from some authority figures. This film tries to flesh out the Hulk mythos much more, and does borrow from not only Stan Lee and Jack "The King" Kirby's original comics stories, but also from the groundbreaking stories of writer Peter David, who wrote The Incredible Hulk for many years. The film does succeed in giving us good reasons why Dr. Bruce Banner is the Hulk, but most of the time, this backstory only serves to slow the film down, nearly to the point of boredom.
Director Ang Lee really was not a good choice to helm an action-filled, thrill-a-minute Hulk film, and because of that, he never delivers that sort of film, a film I would have much more liked to have seen. However, I understand what he was trying to accomplish with The Hulk, and while he never truly succeeds, I have to commend him for his effort.
Eric Bana is wonderful as the tortured Bruce Banner. He does a great job of trying to come to terms with a horrid childhood and the rampaging beast that has been unleashed inside of him. The always stunning Jennifer Conneley is very good as Bruce's true love scientist Betty Ross, who has also had a tough adolescence, but she is given very little to do here. Sam Elliot is great as the Hulk's first archnemesis, General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross. Ross is also a tortured soul who uses his pain of being a bad father to fuel his own war against both Bruce Banner and the Hulk. Josh Lucas is particularly slimy as the wormy and pathetic Glenn Talbot, who never gets the idea that the Hulk is pretty much indestructible to anything you throw at him. Nick Nolte is over-the-top and not all that great as Bruce's warped, psychotic father David Banner (a nod to the name of TV's Incredible Hulk and Bill Bixby's character). Nolte never really accomplishes anything in his role, and meets a fate where nothing is resolved.
The computer generated Hulk is awe-inspiring. Industrial, Light, and Magic have created a character that conveys the size and power of the original comic book icon, but also depicts real human emotion and suffering. Yes, the Hulk does not look real, but how can a being that is roughly 10-15 feet tall, weighs more than half a ton, can turn tanks into scrap, and leap miles at a time not look fake? The Hulk is a fictional character who is only realized in all of his fictional glory on the silver screen. The action sequences featuring the Hulk: particularly the nighttime battle with the Hulk dogs in the forest, and the confrontation between the Hulk and the Army in the desert made my jaw drop. As a long time fan of the Green Goliath, I was stupefied to see this hero of mine so fully realized and doing what he does best, smash, on screen. And to see the heroic qualities of this monster-man come to light, when he saves Betty from the Hulk dogs, and especially, when rescues the jet fighter that has come to destroy him from crashing into San Francisco Bay, I have to admit I was a bit misty-eyed. To me, the Hulk is a hero, just as much as he is a monster. He is a destructive force, but not a murderous one, as is evidenced in this film.
The last scenes of the film show us that Bruce Banner is alive and well and using his skills as a physician somewhere in South America. And much to my delight, it also shows that the incredible Hulk has survived as well, ready to smash evil and defend innocent people. It also serves to set up a possible sequel, where maybe the character development so heartily worked upon by Ang Lee will be eschewed for more action and more adventure.
The Hulk is not the best of the Marvel films so far, but it is the most serious and gives the non-comic book reading audience a real glimpse of Bruce Banner and his massive alter ego as he truly is and was intended to be.
Recommended.