Hulk

Having always heard terrible things about it, I had avoided Hulk (2003) as I felt I had better things to watch. Upon viewing, in the current day of superhero films, I am surprised to say how much fun this was! The acting is a little cheesy, the dialogue is a bit hokey, and the effects look cartoonish at parts, but that all comes together to make you feel like you are watching a comic book brought to life. Going as far as making scene transitions mimic the pages of a comic, the uniqueness of this movie create quite an enjoyable viewing experience. I also feel that this did the best job of portraying the lonely monster side of Hulk, instead of theGod battling brute we normally see. Ang Lee's vision of the Green Goliath is a love letter to the medium that inspired the film.

Smashing His Way into the First Wave of Marvel Movie Superheroes, (The Incredible) Hulk, an at First Failed Title that only went 6 Issues in the Early Sixties, did Recover and has had a Long and Intricate Career (Grey/Green). The 1970's TV Show with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno is Remembered Fondly.

Director Ang Lee Decided to give the Tragic and Unfortunate Scientist Bruce Banner and His Gamma Ray Created "Monster" a more than Serious, Psychological, Philosophical Bent that Audiences found Boring, Slow, and Pounded on this Film with some Brutal Bashing and the Sequel was Scrapped.

Critics, for the most part, Like the Movie Much More than Mainstream Viewers. They were Kind to the Depth of Characters and Rich Story. The Movie's Supreme and Interesting Template also got Noticed.

Back to the Haters. Folks Complained about the Length (2hr 20min), Nick Nolte's Bombastic, Shouting Performance, and Not Enough "Hulk". The Big Green Guy doesn't Show Up much in the First Hour.

Danny Elfman's Score is as Usual, Good but Derivative and Repetitive. The Characters like Betty (Jennifer Connelly), General Ross (Sam Elliott), and Talbot (Josh Lucas) are 100% Dead Serious and Chew the Melodramatics Ad Nauseum.

Overall, Director Ang Lee Accomplished His Vision, but in the Early Days of the Mega-Blockbuster Summer Superhero Movie, it wasn't Welcomed and was Dismissed as a Major Misfire. Viewed Today it Holds Up quite well and Deserves a "New" Look and Appraisal.

In a time where superhero movies seem to come from the assembly line and standards are (sadly) set already it is hard to find gems that really transcend these paradigms.

Ang Lee made a different approach to the superhero genre - and the people didn't like it! Why? After Daredevil, Blade, Elektra, Aeon Flux, League of extraordinary gentlemen, Spiderman (yes, i mean it), Spawn, etc etc there are many parallels you can draw between superhero films. And Hulk is the only thing that the others aren't: un-American! In a very rare exception we have a film here that doesn't have the arrogance and straight-forward story that we seem to have gotten used to too easily.

Spiderman (in particular) follows the EXACT steps you can read in a tutorial for film making - that may be neat to watch but leaves no space for surprises or artistic inputs. Ang Lee seems to have taken especially this thought very seriously and created a piece of art that the average pop-corn-formula-film-liking movie-goer may find hard to digest. No doubt, this movie is not made for assembly-line-film-lovers - it is constructed very thoughtfully and goes beyond the interpretation of a superhero. It plays with the chaos that erupts out of the events rather than glorifying another world saviour.

There is no real good and evil, there only is an overcharge from both sides that don't know how to master the situation. The American movie-goer averagely wants black and white sides, a proud US-flag waving and a hero that saves the day (+nation and eventually the world, maybe even the universe). Nope, not in this one. While most of the other films establish superheroes as something that fits perfectly into our society, Hulk plays with the idea of what would happen if unknown uncontrolled untameable power surfaces - and that both sides act incredibly humane. At this point 80% of movie-consumers are out and 90% of movie-lovers come in (that number is small as we know).

I appreciated the rather unconventional storytelling, I admire the cast, I treasure the artistic hybrid of comic and reality and I enjoyed the portrayal of energy. Now, anyone who has seen Asian action films will find many parallels - the question is, are YOU ready to adapt to some of those standards when they are being poured over a western story? I was... And I was overwhelmed!

Anyone calling this movie the worst film they've ever seen (and there are quite few stating this) should stay with Spiderman, Transformers and Blade and get the same product over and over again (because they keep buying it). For my part I was grateful to see that there are people out there who get the chance to put a very distinctive stamp on their work making it unique and deep.

Five years later the audience won and an assembly line version was released, not as bad as some others but definitely not as creative and visionary as this one. Great job Ang!!!!!

Hulk is a very surprising film. When I first saw it when I was like nine or ten I was confused, shocked and somewhat disappointed. My expectations at the time had not been met. What I had been expecting and hoping was just endless scenes of the hulk smashing sh#t up. What I got was an art film. At the time I didn't understand or care about any of the split screens, dream sequences, etc, I was just waiting for the hulk to show up and destroy stuff.(The hulk dosen't show up till about 40 minutes into the movie, by the way.) I eventually began to get restless because it is a very slow movie and when it was over I felt very disappointed.

A few years later I bought the DVD to give it another try, and I was very surprised with how good it actually was, now that I had gotten older and could appreciate the style, acting and pretty much everything else. The acting is quite good in the film, especially Nick Nolte, who almost steals the show as Bruce Banner's father, David Banner. Eric Bana is decent as the hulk, but I prefer Mark Ruffalo as the hulk in the avengers. Unlike other movies based on comic books, Hulk actually looks like a comic book, due to the split screens. This works most of the time,as it gives the film a unique look thats different from other comic book movies.

Now to the much criticised CGI, which for me is a mixed bag. The close ups of the hulk work, because his facial expressions are well done and you can actually feel sympathy for him. However the long shots of him, especially in the desert scenes, look a bit cheesy but definitely not as bad as some critics have been saying. Apart from that the visual effects are top notch.

Overall, Hulk is a refreshing change from standard and bland superhero movies. It takes its time setting up the plot and characters, which works because you have almost fully fleshed out characters and not cardboard cut outs. The repressed memories and psychology of the hulk is much more interesting than the standard heroics of superman or captain America. So to sum it up, I wouldn't recommend this movie to young kids because there are a number of intense scenes and it is a fairly long and slow movie, so those with short attention spans won't be well rewarded. But for those who are prepared to accept that it is more an art film than an action film then you will be well rewarded.

The film isn't perfect, but every time I watch it on DVD it grows on me and I find myself wishing sometimes that more action blockbusters were like this, but then if they were I doubt they would be blockbusters.

If you saw this when it first came out, you would probably have hated the split screen cut away's etc The story seemed complicated at the time and it was the first re-enactment since the TV series so a lot of the audience had a sentimental attachment to Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. I've watched this on TV over the years and for some reason I am strongly drawn to it. I just think its underrated. Watching it now 21st May 2016 I think it does fit in with the Marvel Universe and offers a good backstory especially of his love for Betty Ross. The affects are not totally bad as when you watch you become more enthralled with the story. I am still not a fan of the split screen/24 dual story imaging but otherwise I think it is an underrated film. I'm neither DC or Marvel i'm more the action hero and for me it was always Superman and Spiderman /Incredible Hulk as the also rans. Superman was just the hero. As a kid growing up nothing more i'd love to do sometimes would be wear a shirt id grown out of and try and do muscular stretches at 10 and burst that old school shirt. This film has grown on me now i'm 43 and while I did n't like it at the time its grown on me the more I've seen it over the years on TV. Superman Returns V Hulk then this wins as Superman Returns was such a missed opportunity. Casting is great Bana,Elliot,Connelly and even Nolte buying into comic book Folk Lore for the time. When I first watched Hulk id have given it a 5.5 i'd now have to say its worth a 7. The special effects are not bad still - ie they draw you in and you don';t question the rendering like some tech head. The story seems easier to understand and HULK as a character fits in with the current Avengers Marvel Universe. Overall it's a film thats aged well and should be up-rated rather than under rated.