Hulk (2003)

When the Hulk gets angry, his movie gets good, so you wish he'd get angry more often. Accepting this challenge after the triumphant Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, director Ang Lee has created an ambitious film, based on the Marvel comic created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, that succeeds as a cautionary tale about mad science and traumatized children coping with legacies of pain. That's the Hulk's problem: After accidental exposure to gamma radiation, scientist Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) turns into the huge, green, and indestructible Hulk when provoked, and repressed childhood memories fuel his fury. Hobbled by the obligatory "origin story" (to acquaint neophytes with the character's Jekyll-and-Hyde-ish fate), there's room for little else in a sluggish film that struggles to reconcile Lee's stylistic flair (evident in his visual interpretation of comic-book technique) with the razzle-dazzle of a megabudget franchise. What's good is good (Jennifer Connelly essentially echoes her role from A Beautiful Mind, and Nick Nolte is righteously tormented as Banner's father), but the movie's schizoid intentions remain largely unclear. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

 Best Film I Have Ever Seen!
This movie was just awesome. I have never read a Hulk comic but I loved the complex storyline of this movie. One thing I loved especially was the way the director used several frames he filmed to create a comic book like look. It was one of those rare supehero movies where you don't have a lot of action, but instead you have a lot of intelligence. If some people don't like it, Phooey on them. If you love the Hulk, you have got to see this movie April 22, 2008

 Now I can see it
With the DVD version, there was always at least one scene that was too dim to see - the forest battle with the giant dogs. Often you could not see where the monsters went, even though they were onscreen and should have been visible. This happened with several brands of DVD player, so I don't really think it was the rendering method's fault.

In the HD-DVD version all the parts of this scene were visible, and the increased detail made it even better. Very nice, it made a favorite movie even nicer. No issues with my Toshiba player either, so long as the firmware is the final release version. March 21, 2008

 Underrated
The Hulk movie was definitely underrated. The movie was about 30-45 minutes too long and dragged at parts but the action was awesome. The CGI Hulk was incredible and looked much more real in the film than on previews. This is a good movie when you have over 2 hours to kill and there's not much else on. March 15, 2008

 PURPLE PANTS STILL REFUSE TO SPLIT
Yes, the Incredible Hulk, that monstrous, green apparition that became the rage in comics in the early sixties and television icon in the seventies is back on screen. And although a normal man still grows in size enough to split his shoes and shirt, his pants remain made of some elasticized material that never breaks. Those of us on the heavier side are still seeking out this material as I write.

HULK made its way to the big screen in the biggest way possible. It was being touted as the next best thing since sliced bread before it even arrived. Directed by Ang Lee who was coming off of his art house AND theatrical hit CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, many were making predictions that this film would combine the pop culture found in comics with the artistic integrity found in this director. Face it, it was a no win situation for critics everywhere.

But for audiences it was different. The hype surrounding the movie was as enormous as the Hulk himself. Anyone who blindly accepted that this movie would be the best movie ever made had no choice but to walk away disappointed. But those who went in looking for nothing more than a good movie, a movie that would capture the essence and imagination found in the pages of those brightly inked comics of the past were delighted.

Story time. The story begins in the past when David Banner is researching DNA and trying his best to make a human that will renew its own body cells when harmed or injured. When the military doesn't allow him to try this on humans instead of animals, he infects himself. Not long after, he and his wife have a child. Recognizing that his son's DNA contains cells that were affected, he begins to search for a solution to change him back. Stopped by the military when they discover what he has been up to, he blows up the base and heads home. This portion of the film takes up the first minutes and is told in quick fashion, ending with David's son Bruce not recalling all that happened and waking from this nightmare.

Moving forward, Bruce (Eric Bana) has grown into a young scientist himself, researching much of the same ideas his birth father had. At his side in this research is Betty Ross (Jennifer Connelly), his now ex-girlfriend. All of their attempts to replicate the adaptive powers of amphibians, their ability to renew cells when damaged, have ended in short term success and long term failure. The frogs blow up. An accident in the lab exposes Bruce to the same nanomites and gamma radiation the frogs were hit with. But instead of blowing up, he changes. The experiment works on him, recharging his body.

The down side is revealed that night when Bruce's nightmares awake an anger, a rage, within. That rage changes him as well. The passive Bruce Banner finds his body physically altering until he becomes the primal essence of man, of himself. He turns into the overpowering Hulk.

Green skinned, standing well over 9 feet tall, body formed of hyper increased muscles, Hulk leaves the hospital bed Banner was sleeping in. And as he makes his way into the world, everyone is well aware that the military will take notice and track him down.

Part of what change Bruce while in that bed was a visit by the night janitor. It turns out that he is very familiar with Bruce since he is in fact his father David (Nick Nolte). Revealing himself and portions of what happened in Bruce's past (since Bruce was raised by adoptive parents and never told the truth), he is the catalyst that invokes the rage inside if Bruce.

A multiple cat and mouse game follows with Betty trying to help Bruce, her ex-beau Talbot (Josh Lucas) trying to steal the program they were working on and eliminate Bruce as a competitor for Betty's affections. Betty's father, General Ross (Sam Elliott) tries to save his daughter from a man he fears (knowing all about Bruce's past) and sets out to gather the results of this experiment for military purposes at the same time. Bruce's father David attempts to harness the power and change from Bruce by using DNA samples found in hair left behind and applying them to his dogs and later on to himself. And through it all, Bruce is left to sort out each event on his own, with no help from anyone save Betty who realizes just how much he truly means to her.

This story could be called a simple retelling of Beauty and the Beast. But it goes beyond that. It talks about the rage that we all keep in check, never saying the things that we would love to say from complaining about low wages to flipping off the bad driver on the highway. It talks about the inner beauty of a person overcoming the surface that is visible. And it talks about the abuse of power, of scientist willing to risk their souls because perhaps they don't believe in them anymore. But most of all, this movie brings alive the pages that we once read so long ago and makes them real.

The standout in this movie, the make or break necessary to pull it off, is of course the visualization of the Hulk himself. Lee decided not to follow in the footsteps of the television series and instead opt for complete CGI (computer generated image). And the folks behind the special effects here have made the Hulk seem more real than any CGI images we have seen before. The rampaging Hulk would have been the easiest thing to do, with quick cuts and motion galore. But the passive Hulk, the one with facial expressions and emotion, that is where they truly shine. And the fact that he actually DOES resemble Bana is remarkable.

No easy sell as was SPIDER-MAN, this movie is entertaining throughout. Don't go in looking for the television series. You won't find it. Instead, go in looking for a return to the original story. Go in looking for a visual feast in special effects. Go in without unreasonable expectations. If you do so, you will find that this movie delivers on all counts.

For die hard fans, the DVD comes with a glut of extras, everything from a look at how the Hulk was made on film to interpretations of various scenes if they were drawn by some of the top artists working in comics today. All of the extras make this DVD one worth owning.
March 15, 2008

 There's a reason "incredible" is not in the title
It is unfortunate, but Hulk is so far my least favorite of all the comic book movies that have been created. One would think the Hulk could easily make the list as one of the better comic films, being the popular and dominating comic book creation he is, but director Ang Lee and a lackluster story keep this movie from being incredible, though effects still keep it somewhat enjoyable.

I'll be honest, it took a few seperated viewings for me to get through this film, as it is so slow and boring throughout. There is too much dialouge (and uninteresting speeches) to occupy a film featuring such a massive creature as the Hulk. Eric Bana, though a wonderful actor, does little with his character of Bruce Banner, making it difficult to understand the true emotions within this man. When he turns into the Hulk, its really the only part that becomes exciting (and very well should), but at that point we have a CGI creature that doesn't talk, just runs around and wrecks everything (which admittadly, is fun to watch as the visuals effects let loose and show off). Betty Ross is handled fairly well by Jennifer Connely, but the relation between Bruce and Betty isn't nearly as emotional or exciting as it could be. Again, most of the interaction was slow and boring, and though I could feel there were some emotional struggles between the two characters, I felt like I had to think about it too much to realise it. The rest of the cast wasn't anything special either, and overall, acting on everyone's part was below par as far as comic book movies go.

The directing is my next issue. I give credit to Ang Lee for his comic book style of split-screens, picture in picture and so forth. But the truth is the multiple angles for many of these scenes grow tiresome and distracting from the real action. Fortunately during the Hulk action scenes in the film, little of this style is used, or esle it would have been impossible to enjoy.

So where is the excitment in this film? It is when Bruce becomes the Hulk. The creature is massive and an impressive CGI, but to be picky, the closeups of Hulk make him look too smooth and not as rugged and detailed as he could be. He destroys practically everything he comes incontact with, and can toss military tanks with ease - a truly enjoyable sight to watch. Also enjoyable are the scenes when Hulk is jumping among the mountains throughout canyons, but at some point you stop and ask yourself "is he jumping or flying". It becomes a little overdone, but nevertheless, if you have a big screen television it is a sight to enjoy.

Overall, this movie is just bad. I find it very hard to sit through the entire 2 hour 18 minute run. The 15-20 minutes of non-stop action about 1:30 in the film is all that will keep you awake. Hulk could have been an impressive film, but so much went wrong as mentioned above. Thankfully, this summer of '08, a new Hulk film will be released and chances are the same mistakes will not be repeated, thanks to an entirely new crew and cast. Watch this first Hulk film while you can (if you dare) because chances are it is about to become forgotten for good.

Acting - 2.5
Action - 4
Characters - 1.5
Story - 1.5
Overall - 2
March 4, 2008

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