Hulk

Just like how 5 films built up to “The Avengers” film; I think it would be appropriate that I will do the same thing. The only difference is that, unlike the films that would come out a year after another, except for maybe a few of them that came out a few months after one another, I will post a review of the films a few months apart. Today I will look at both of the Hulk films and express my opinion on what I think of them.

The first Hulk film came out in 2003, directed by Ang Lee. This film, for some reason I have no idea why, people hate. I actually thought this was a good Marvel film because it expresses rage and how one man tries to fight it. Eric Bana plays Dr. Bruce Banner, the scientist who became the Hulk after a lab experiment accident. On top of that, his father, played by the crazy Nick Nolte, is also a scientist who experimented on his DNA code and passed that along in the genes to Bruce. In the lab, his partner, Betty Ross, played by the very lovely Jennifer Connelly, is almost his lover, but unfortunately, it doesn’t work out because she talks about “my inexplicable fascination with emotionally distant men.” Her father, General Ross, played by Sam Elliott, is a very cold military leader who just wants to hunt down the Hulk, despite Betty’s constant pleas to not hunt him down.

The film is just a joy to watch. I don’t understand why people hated this film. I know that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I didn’t see anything wrong with this film. It shows what Hulk normally goes through. When he gets mad, he turns into Hulk, the military goes out to kill him, he fights back, and it ends with Betty coming in and calming him down. Remember, Bruce says that he would never hurt Betty, and she is the only person who can stand in front of him, and he’ll calm down. Also, the film gives us another villain besides General Ross and his military. Enter the entrepreneur named Major Glenn Talbot, played by Josh Lucas, who just wants to use the secret of Bruce so he can put together self-repairing soldiers. Did somebody say money-grubbing jerk? Because that’s what he essentially is.

Now this film shows, as Roger Ebert put it, “issues about genetic experimentation, the misuse of scientific research and our instinctive dislike of misfits, and actually talks about them.” Also, Ang Lee was inspired by many great classics to make this film. There’s “King Kong,” where the military is going after Hulk, and also the close-up shots that resemble the stop-frame animation, “Bride of Frankenstein,” when Hulk looks at his reflection in a pond, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” with Bruce turning into Hulk and back, “Citizen Kane” when Hulk destroys the lab, and “The Right Stuff” when a jet flies so high that you can see the stars. General Jack D. Ripper can be seen in Ross.

If you are a fan of Ang Lee, and loved some of his other films like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “The Ice Storm,” and “Sense and Sensibility,” then you will love this one. Remember, this film actually had a point to it with the science lab problems, emotional problems, and businessmen problems, and how to control them. You can watch this film and learn from it. Also, the main villain in the Hulk comics is General Ross and his military, so don’t get mad just because you don’t see Hulk fighting anyone when he fights the military and Talbot. Like Nolte tells Bruce, “You’re going to have to watch that temper of yours." Connelly’s character resembles a situation her character in “A Beautiful Mind” had to go through. Anyway, check out Ang Lee’s “Hulk.”

Now let’s move to “The Incredible Hulk,” the Louis Leterrier film released in 2008. For those of you who didn’t like Ang Lee’s “Hulk” because there was a lot of meaningful dialogue about the issues talked about in that film, then you’ll prefer this one. The reason why: it’s a mindless action comic book flick. Before you go crazy about what I said about it, hear me out first.

The film could be considered somewhat of a sequel to Ang Lee’s “Hulk,” but it’s not a good sequel. There is a good cast though. Edward Norton plays Bruce Banner in this one, but his performance wasn’t as good as Eric Bana’s, in my opinion. He did do a good job though. Also, like the parent-child conflicts that we saw in Ang Lee’s “Hulk,” not only with Bruce and his father, but with Betty and General Ross, we see that here as well, but only the latter. Betty is played in this version by Arwen from the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, Liv Tyler. She is still trying to convince her father, this time played by William Hurt, to not hurt the Hulk, but he doesn’t listen. Norton and Tyler put on a good performance, and show that they are in love, but don’t act on it because of the Hulk business.

Just like in Ang Lee’s “Hulk,” along with the military, there is another villain. This time it’s Tim Roth playing Emil Blonsky, who was recruited by General Ross because there is no one more over the top than Blonsky. He gets injected with the Hulk shot by Banner’s associate, Dr. Samuel Sterns, played by Tim Blake Nelson, and is turned into Abomination, I guess.

This is why I say this film is just filled with mindless action sequences, one after another. If you like this film over Ang Lee’s “Hulk,” then you must be a fan of mindless action flicks. I just can’t get into all of them. However, I do admit “The Expendables” is a mindless action flick, and I enjoyed both of them, but this one I just couldn’t get into. Also, nowadays a lot of comic book films seem to be becoming mindless action flicks, and I don’t like that. Comic book films are supposed to have action in them, but there’s supposed to be a point behind it. The story is not supposed to be a bore, like this one, it’s supposed to be an enjoyable story that is taken from the original source material: the comic it’s based on. The film would have been better if it hadn’t turned into a mindless action flick, and I’m sorry for repeating myself, but that’s what this film is.

Spoiler alert: at the end, General Ross is sitting in a bar when Tony Stark, played once again by Robert Downey Jr., comes in. Ross says, “Stark, you always wear such nice suits.” Stark then tells Ross, “What if I told you we were putting a team together?” and the General replies, “Who’s we?” before the credits roll. That’s right, this film led up to “The Avengers,” which I will remind all of you, I will get to that one eventually, I just want to build up everyone to what they believe I thought of the film.

Thanks for joining in on my Hulk reviews, stay tuned for this Friday when I continue my Morgan Freeman reviews.