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The Incredible Hulk **
Bruce Banner, the tempestuous protagonist of the Hulk saga, is one of the more interesting and potentially fascinating characters of the Marvel Age. Someday someone will make a film of his struggle that explores his psyche and delves into the psychological background of the--oh wait! Ang Lee already made that film.
What we get in this "reboot" of what Marvel seems determined to make the next superhero franchise is, sadly, an entirely formulaic action cartoon that contains none of the wit or banter of Iron Man, little to no characterization that would help to make puny Banner and/or his alter-ego seem like actual people, and a lot of lifeless CG effects (but with more grunting). Anyone who thought that Marvel had learned anything from any of their past successes (the aforementioned Iron Man, the first two Spider-Man and X-Men movies) will be surprised (as I was) to see how quickly this particular film falls back on the rote stereotypes that superhero fans had hoped were behind us. One would be better off reading the comic, which easily offers more depth and life than this film does. Even when the film liberally borrows plot devices from Bruce Jones' memorable run on the print series (done here, in the Mighty Marvel tradition, without any attribution to the original author), it fails to do anything interesting with those devices that would make Hulk 2.0 truly worth the time and effort it took to create it.
I did find myself pleased by some of the geeky Easter-eggs: one early scene establishes the existence of Captain America, we witness the origin of the Leader, Doc Samson putters around in the background, and the last few moments of the film point the way toward the idea of an avenging super-team composed of characters we have seen in this and other Marvel films (and, presumably, films that have yet to be made). Additionally, the first major Hulk battle (which takes place on what must be the largest university quad in existence) is a gratifying revue of the Hulk's ability to destroy military weaponry. And both Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno get some screentime props, as do a few bars of the TV show's theme. These elements were appreciated.
But the cliches abound: the hyper-eccentric, potentially evil scientist; the stoic military general (played by no less than William Hurt, who should have read the script first); the devoted girlfriend (played by Liv Tyler, who never should have been allowed to escape from MTV, where her vacancy was utilized to its evidently highest potential); and the pitched final battle against a seemingly indestructible foe. Meh.
With the exception of Liv Tyler, who has perfected one facial expression that she keeps for the duration of the story, the quality of the cast is such that one might expect a little more from this film than what one receives. And, after Marvel took such great pains to let the audience know that this time the Hulk would be presented in a way that was truer to his comic-book origins, one might expect a film that was more exciting or more clever or more interesting than Ang Lee's film. But no. Ed Norton's script supervision notwithstanding, this Banner is puny indeed.
Bruce Banner, the tempestuous protagonist of the Hulk saga, is one of the more interesting and potentially fascinating characters of the Marvel Age. Someday someone will make a film of his struggle that explores his psyche and delves into the psychological background of the--oh wait! Ang Lee already made that film.
What we get in this "reboot" of what Marvel seems determined to make the next superhero franchise is, sadly, an entirely formulaic action cartoon that contains none of the wit or banter of Iron Man, little to no characterization that would help to make puny Banner and/or his alter-ego seem like actual people, and a lot of lifeless CG effects (but with more grunting). Anyone who thought that Marvel had learned anything from any of their past successes (the aforementioned Iron Man, the first two Spider-Man and X-Men movies) will be surprised (as I was) to see how quickly this particular film falls back on the rote stereotypes that superhero fans had hoped were behind us. One would be better off reading the comic, which easily offers more depth and life than this film does. Even when the film liberally borrows plot devices from Bruce Jones' memorable run on the print series (done here, in the Mighty Marvel tradition, without any attribution to the original author), it fails to do anything interesting with those devices that would make Hulk 2.0 truly worth the time and effort it took to create it.
I did find myself pleased by some of the geeky Easter-eggs: one early scene establishes the existence of Captain America, we witness the origin of the Leader, Doc Samson putters around in the background, and the last few moments of the film point the way toward the idea of an avenging super-team composed of characters we have seen in this and other Marvel films (and, presumably, films that have yet to be made). Additionally, the first major Hulk battle (which takes place on what must be the largest university quad in existence) is a gratifying revue of the Hulk's ability to destroy military weaponry. And both Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno get some screentime props, as do a few bars of the TV show's theme. These elements were appreciated.
But the cliches abound: the hyper-eccentric, potentially evil scientist; the stoic military general (played by no less than William Hurt, who should have read the script first); the devoted girlfriend (played by Liv Tyler, who never should have been allowed to escape from MTV, where her vacancy was utilized to its evidently highest potential); and the pitched final battle against a seemingly indestructible foe. Meh.
With the exception of Liv Tyler, who has perfected one facial expression that she keeps for the duration of the story, the quality of the cast is such that one might expect a little more from this film than what one receives. And, after Marvel took such great pains to let the audience know that this time the Hulk would be presented in a way that was truer to his comic-book origins, one might expect a film that was more exciting or more clever or more interesting than Ang Lee's film. But no. Ed Norton's script supervision notwithstanding, this Banner is puny indeed.
posted by Chazzbot at 3:06 PM
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