Fred’s No
Clue Movie Review
"The
Hulk"
Directed by Ang Lee
If you saw the initial Superbowl commercial and some of the subsequent movie trailers, you may have been thinking the same thing as me when you were thinking of seeing this movie. Is that what the Hulk is going to look like in CGI? It looks too fake. I am happy to report that the movie does deliver a great looking CGI Hulk. Way better than those commercials and trailers. Next time Universal, either don’t show me at all, or render those effects better first.
I was a fan of the Hulk TV show and read maybe a comic or two in my life, so I figured what the hell, let’s see the movie. I was hoping for a fun flick. I was extremely surprised by the movie. I felt it delivered on many different levels. It had probably the best well rounded characters of any recent comic book film that I can think of. They had depth. The movie delves deep into the psychological elements of the Hulk, which was great. Repressed memories, a father who was exiled for experimenting on humans and animals, a girlfriend that he pushes away and a lot of repressed anger. Bruce Banner is way screwed up. Eric Banna who plays Bruce, is a decent actor and does an OK job. Jennifer Connelly continues to impress me. Why isn’t this girl getting paid oodles of cash? She had a lot of expressiveness in her character and she’s not the basic comic girl that the hero saves. I was most impressed with Nick Nolte as Bruce’s father. He was incredible I thought. So evil, yet you could feel his passion was in his work and that he loved Bruce. The characters and the acting are probably what separate this movie from many other comic book flicks.
Ang Lee does a superior job creating a mood and a style with the film too. There’s some great shots in the film and great editing. I really loved this element of breaking the screen into panes at times, giving you the feel of a comic book just coming to life. I also liked that he didn’t shy away from close-ups. He is able to give you some really expressive eyes on the actors faces and even the Hulk. It helps to up the ante of the emotional scenes in the film. I also liked that there’s some moral ambiguity in the film. Everyone seems like they’re out for everyone else’s best interests although, they most likely are trying to further their own. Even Bruce/Hulk demonstrate this. The Hulk is Bruce’s way of letting out all of his repressed anger, he even says in the movie that he likes that and he doesn’t really care that he’s out smashing things around. That’s a bit selfish, don’t you think?
Now, don’t get me wrong. The CGI Hulk is not as good as Gollum in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. But it’s more in that vein. And although Ang Lee delivers good acting and cool editing, there are some hokey story elements. But all in all, you forgive it. It’s a fun movie without being mindless.
Personally, I think this is the best big budget summer movie so far this year. I enjoyed it a lot and I would recommend it especially if you’re a fun of comic/superhero movies. Marvel has been able to deliver good movies recently. This one definitely keeps up their streak and may have raised the bar a little higher.
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email me at no.clue@indenation.com
come back soon, until then, i’ll be at the movies…