1 Bleh
This movie may have had critics raving over it but to me, this movie was horrible. Firstly, a CGI computer animated Hulk who can leap like there is no gravity? What the? Secondly, Eric Bana (the actor who plays Bruce Banner) is looking like a tired kid who's had enough play and is saying "Let me out! I've had enough!" And the truth is, in an Australian interview with the Aussie star, he did claim to dislike working on the Hulk. It's a terrible movie in my opinion. Everything looks so fake due to so much CGI and Eric Bana is in it only because he gets paid so much money.
2 That which does not destroy Me, makes Me Stronger. -Nietzche
That quote could very well be The Hulk's motto, for no matter what is levelled against him, he grows stronger with increasing rage. The Hulk is another Marvel character I have enjoyed since peering into the pages of comic book legendry and watching the series with Lou Ferrigno {who also briefly appears herein}, and I must say that this film does him justice. in My opinion. Ironically, Dr. Bruce Banner just wants to be left alone, yet antagonists repeatedly attempt to get a rise out of him, to their horror.
The Hulk/Bruce Banner dichotomy definitely exemplifies the were-creature of The Id, at odds with himself, instead of accepting and controlling his own darkside, which in the comics, he eventually does accomplish. We also see this symbology in the characters of Dr. Jeckyl & Mr. Hyde, and of course, The Werewolf. If these emotions are seen as natural proclivities, balance is attained, thus expressing them in constructive ways.
The CGI kinematics are very well done, flowing gracefully and believably - yet the question remains, how does The Hulk acquire those purple pants? At no time does Banner wear purple pants, yet they appear mysteriously every time. But I digress. The Hulk presented here is an absolutely inhumanly large creature, sometimes growing to about 12" tall, his massive frame supplemented as his adrenaline increases.
I thought one of the most impressive scenes was during the mutant dog battle, as he heroically saves his love interest Betty from their fearsome jaws, and the desert sequences when he jumps miles across land, and in San Francisco - the savage beast is quelled by the gentle hands of the lovely girl, whose father is a general persuing him relentlessly through desert and urban environments, using everything from tanks to fighter planes, which The Hulk tosses about like toys.
Banner's father appears as an unassuming janitor working at the lab, released after years of government captivity, with a chip on his shoulder, and is intent on gaining revenge for his incarceration. His opportunity arrives when he uses the solution combined with Gamma Radiation to acquire his own powers of melding with whatever object he touches, and absorbing energy, which proves to be just too much for him when he and The Hulk lock together during the final battle scene.
Unfortunately, Banner must seclude himself from his beloved Betty for her safety, and dissappears into the world, but a force such as this cannot be contained forever, manifesting when angered again.
3 Artistic horror film based on comic, NOT the tv series.
I wish I had a dollar for every reference to the TV show, dare I write an article on this film, here.
Maybe Hulk is not be the best movie ever made, but what it did is something not many people know how to accept. I have never seen people's opinions so varied! (One person told me it was "too artistic"!) I recommend reading Roger Ebert's review on his webpage, because he gets it right. The film is about "children of egomaniacal parents", and this is what characters Banner and his girlfriend have in common. It is not so hard to connect one's self with the characters in this film, except that they, too, (as people with individualistic traits) were misunderstood in their childhood.
I credit Ang Lee for the art, research, and development of this film. His pet-project uncannily identifies the Hulk as a modernized classic horror and monster genre tale, and he made it a thing of beauty. I felt remorse over Banner and his girlfriend for "the curse of the Hulk". (I use quotes because it could've been named "the Curse Of the Hulk".) This movie was as graphic as Beauty And the Beast, the Phantom Of the Opera, Frankenstein's creation and the Bride, Night Of the Demon, King Kong, Curse Of the Werewolf, Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde, or particularly Forbidden Planet's CREATURE OF THE ID.
The first scene of Banner turning into the Hulk scared hell into me. The Hulk wrecked a laboratory like an angry rhino in a china shop, and people would run from the Hulk the way bystanders ran for their lives from a collapsing NYC scyscraper, with another teetering. I liked the animation of the Hulk, who, in this film, characterizes 5000 pounds of rage. The metaphor of anger and how it's used is the basis for the Hulk character. One horrificly fascinating scene is set in a steamy bathroom where Banner peers into the sink mirror and a reflection of the Hulk pulls him through it, and the two fall into a chasm. These scenes are very adult and obviously more connected to the subconscious rather than reality.
The visual technique of the film, with all its artistry and montage sequences, makes quite a cinematic presentation. (Additionally, Elfman puts in a great score with his signature of electronic instruments.) Experiencing the movie from the DVD using the DTS track, or from a High Def D-VHS with a large, plasma tv presentation in a dark room gives Hulk extra fright.
4 Awesome Special Effects Supporting a B-Movie
I am not a fan of the comic books, nor am I a fan of the CBS Hulk series that graces the pages of these reviews in comparison. It's nothing personal: I just have not been exposed to them. Therefore, my perspective on this film is one of an "outsider" to the series. I'll be honest. There were some "fun" moments in HULK. I enjoyed the split-screens and felt that they helped deliver a "comic-book-feel" to the big screen. Moreover, I really enjoyed the scenes in which the Hulk comes alive. The special effects are very cool and I think we all want to see Hulk kick some butt every once in a while.
However, there were also some "not so fun" moments. Unfortunately, while the storyline had more interest in it than I had expected, it still suffered from a lack of good acting and the lack of a good script. Whenever the Hulk is not rampaging on the screen, the film seems doomed to feel like a B-movie. I enjoyed Nolte's performance, but his seriousness seems to strike an awkward chord against the ridiculous cast that supports him. So, what is the solution? Give us more scenes of the Hulk blowing stuff up. That's the main interest that lies in this film and it is the only card it has to play.
While many reviewers have attacked those of us who call for more action, their attacks have not been well played. IF, and I do mean if, HULK would have served up an intriguing storyline, superb character development, and thrilling acting performances, I would not need the extra senseless violence. However, SINCE the HULK has not provided us with such quality entertainment, I think it should have kept to what it knows: mindless action.
5 What's With You People?
Even as a kid, BEFORE I started reading comics, I understood that the old Bixby/Ferrigno show was very different from the comic. Isn't it obvious that the Ferrigno Hulk was the way he was because CBS couldn't afford to have him fighting the army during the late 70's? This movie was based on the original source material and is a more accurate protrayal of the character.
Not that I didn't enjoy the old T. V. show (it's still one of my favorites) but as another reviewer pointed out, this movie is NOT a remake of the T. V. show! Stop it! I think you should all read a few of the comic books (from the early 1980s by Mantlo and Buscema) and watch this movie again.
As a major Hulk fan, I was very pleased with this film. I only gave it 4 stars because I thought it would've been improved by adding more Hulk scenes (he's the very reason that I paid my money to see it, after all) and making the ending battle less abstract.
6 IS THIS A JOKE?!
What a complete piece of crap. This movie is just one big mess. I'll stick with watching the original tv show (w/ Bill Bixby) and reading my old comics. Don't waste your time or money on this dredge. If you like comic books made into movies stick with X-Men and Spiderman, hell even Daredevil was ten times better than this train wreck. Oh well you get my point. Don't watch this movie!
7 A complete disgrace to Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno..
Best described as either Shrek on steroids or a colossal and BORING video game come to life, this film stinks big time. Pick up a dvd of the original show with the late, great Bill Bixby. No wonder they dropped the 'incredible' for the title of this mess. It's incredible to think how I wasted eight bucks to see this crap. Spiderman was awesome, this is garbage.
8 AAHHH! My eyes are bleeding!
I saw this peice of crap in the movie theatures when it first came out. This film is a complete discrase to the comic book and even the cinamatic. "The Hulk" now replaces "Howard The Duck" as the worst movie of all time. if you buy this you are wasting your money, just as i am wasting my time writing this article.
The movie was slow and tedious, and to the person who said this movie is violent i beg to differ. How can something so CGI animated be violent. If they had anymore crappy CGI animation i would confuse this movie with "Shrek". In closing, don't watch this movie because it is a utter worthless peice of crap. and when the sequel comes out i will personaly burn down the movie theature so no one will have to veiw a second hulk movie.
-Dr. Dyslexia
9 it is VERY violent!!
ok first, they have bruce when he was a toddler and his dad is a complete maniac! i mean he did experiments on his own kid!!! then he tortured bruce's mom? and THEN he turns into a monster hulk and finally KILLS the mom!!! what the heck are they trying to do? then they have some kind of hulk-dog thingys that he punches and tears them in half??? YUCK that is disgusting!!!
and this is from a kid who watches jurassic park 1,2,3!!!! I do not reccomend this for 1,2,3,4,5 year olds. maybe even 6!!! oh yeah and his pants fall off when he turns back into bruce!!
10 A COMIC BOOK Movie!!! (Not A TV Re-Make)
Despite the fact that I loved the CBS Television treatment of The Incredible Hulk, even as a child I referred to the show as "watered-down HULK".The Hulk in the comics was described by Stan Lee, (his creator), as: "1000 lbs of unfettered fury, the mightest mortal to ever walk the earth . . .". In the comic books, Hulk could leap 1/4 mile, run 60-80 mph, and easily use a tank as a bat to swat another tank! This is the Hulk I longed to see on the BIG Screen, and this is the Hulk that was presented! In the comics, Hulk's main enemy (at first) was the United States Army. This was also the case in the film. Although the movie was slow moving, I enjoyed it the first time I saw it. Interestingly enough, the more I watch the film, the more I increasingly enjoy it! In the comics, Hulk gets stronger the angrier he gets! In the film, he gets bigger, an interesting choice but still true to the original concept. When I saw the teaser trailer for the Hulk, (at the first showing of Spiderman), I did not even know it was for the Hulk but I instantly associated Eric Bana as Dr. Bruce Banner before the mirror close-up! I thought his performance of Banner was absolutely on point. I did not have any problems with the special-effects at all, I thought they were excellent. I did subtract one star because the ending with his father was a bit muddled. The thing that gets me about some of the criticisms is that Hulk was CGI as opposed to an actor. If you pick up ANY Hulk comic, you can plainly see that Hulk cannot be accurately portrayed without GIANT proportions! I would have been disgusted if the used an actor in green paint!!! The story of the Hulk is a Dr.Jekyl/Mr. Hyde monster tale first, and a misunderstood superhero second.
11 Good....sequel would be better...
Wow. Way too many bad reviews that do not explain why they did not like this movie. Like or dis-like, if you are to review a film you need to explain why. Most of the poor reviews simply say boring or something along that sweet line of reasoning.
This is a good (borderline great) movie about a fantastic comic book character. Ang Lee does his best to go into the main character Dr. Banner's psyche and give us some excitement as well. Just because stuff isn't blowing up every two minutes does not make this movie a failure. The split screens...genius, a tribute to the comic books that made The Hulk what he is. This film is complex, fun, and in the end a well done adaptation of a comic book character. If your looking for dumbed down action, with 2 dimensional characters, this is not the movie for you. A truly entertaining and fun movie to watch.
Bring on the sequel!!
12 Why do some people like this movie?
My god this movie is horrible and too slow. The Hulk did not show up till 42 minutes of the film. The worst Marvel movie ever made. The best marvel movies are Spiderman 1 and 2, and The Punisher. Daredevil and The Hulk were the worst out of all. You will be very disappointed. It has bad special effects and horrible acting. The show is better but the movie sucked. Do not see it!
13 forget all the bad reviews
I don't understand why soo many people are giving this movie bad
reviews. I did'nt see at the theater because people had some problem with the animation of the HULK character. I watched with my friend on my home theater and was suprised. Neither one of us knew what everyones problem was. The movie was great. Sound was great. I thought the animation was great also.
I have learned not to listen too much to other peoples reviews, especially the long drawn out ones that are wannabes. This is another movie I will be adding to my collection.
14 JUNK
JUNK is the word to call this movie. Why? What's Jennifer Connelly doing in this movie? Eric Bana has no expressions on his face, it's like a test dummy. Nick Nolte... he could be one of the best actors in movie history, now he's one of the biggest fiascos in movie history. The night scenes are so dark you have to guess what's going on. The script seems to be made on a weekend, and worse yet, who had the idea to devide the screen in 4 arts? You can't concentrate in the movie. Why they made this movie? The T.V. series were much better.
15 Passes time
We all know it is a no-no to do genetic experiments on people. And once again a scientist David Banner has to do it to himself. Now to compound the problem he passes a trait onto his offspring Bruce Banner (Eric Bana). Add a little lab accident and et voila instant hulk.
This is not the best integration of real, animation and CGI. Yet the story is told and you have fun watching. There is a father / son conflict and a misunderstood Hulk dismantles a lot of military equipment with extreme prejudice. This film does not try to follow the TV series and is not so dated. The only real drawback is that Jennifer Connelly is just too cute and you forget to keep track of the story line.
16 You're making me bored...you wouldn't like me when I'm bored
This movie is beyond boring. If you're an insomniac I think I've found your cure.
17 Incredibly underrated
To begin with, I had very low expectations of "The Hulk." Many of my friends had gone to see it in the theatre and the basic sentiment among most of them is that it was "boring," "too-long", and "confusing." This coming from people who are not simply violent-action movie junkies convinced me to wait until this movie was released on DVD. In a way, I'm glad I did.
As someone who only has a basic knowledge of Hulklore, I can't authentically critique the movie much when it comes to how well it followed the comic books. What I can say is that in comparison to many other well-adapted comic book series (X-Men, Spiderman, and yes...even Daredevil) this one actually stands out when it comes to how well the main character's inner turmoil and past experiences are used to shape his current conflicts with not only himself, but the forces around him. Eric Bana (who cemented his hunk status with his stunning performance in the lackluster Troy) has received a lot of criticism for his lack of energy in portraying Bruce Banner, but when you consider how repressed and guarded the character is about his past and present emotions, it's obvious that Bana's performance is actually quite impressive in it's accuracy.
Another thing that stuck out to me from a characterization viewpoint is how Sam Elliott's character (the main villain) was far from one-dimensional and actually very relatable and humanistic, especially when it came to his relationship with his daughter Betty (an appropriately subdued portrayal by Jennifer Connelly.) In fact, other than the typical villain-type Talbot (Josh Lucas did very well too, by the way), none of the players in this film were overtly or innately evil. Not even Bruce's psychotic father David (Nick Nolte, in my opinion, took this character to a totally new level of moral ambiguity by adding necessary layers that most likely would have been lost if the character were in the hands of a lesser actor.)
All in all, I'd say the Hulk was kind of similar to "Daredevil" in the way that it's cerebral nature can either offend or enamor one to the film's nuances. I for one liked the comic-effect the split screens and overlays supplied, and despite a few awkward scenes the CGI Hulk was astoundingly humanistic in it's movement and especially facial expression.
Don't be discouraged by those who flat-out hated the movie. Keep an open mind, and don't be surprised if you find yourself enjoying the movie as much as I did.
18 A complete mess of a movie.
The Hulk has to be the WORST comic book movie ever next to those other comic book turned movie duds.This one is overlong and boring. Was there point or plot to this...NOPE,Hollywood did this for money and even the casting was pathetic like Eric Bana horribly casted as Bruce Banner(The Hulk),Jennifer Connelly and Nick Nolte were wasted and looked shameful in their poorly written roles.If there was a plot it deals with how Bruce's life has been and then he turns into the hulk and then his father plans to destroy him or something like that.The acting was terrible and the CGI effects looked cheap that even ketchup looks more realistic and the Hulk looks like a claymation figure that would be on MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch and the direction by director Ang Lee was totally confusing he uses camera tricks and looks like your watching a comic book.Avoid this as well as those other duds and rent something better.THE HULK should have been called THE JOKE.
19 Mature, sophisticated surprise
There are only a few moments when the Hulk actually looks real, but it matters little. Unlike so many comic-book adaptations, Ang Lee's "Hulk" aims for - and brilliantly achieves - another kind of realism: the emotional kind. James Schamus (surely the most under-appreciated champion of quality American films) has penned a superb story which ensures this isn't just another disposable summer film doing the groundwork for a franchise. It's actually ABOUT something: fatherhood, and the legacy we leave our children. Embracing both the Oedipal subtext and the need for thrilling action, Ang Lee, with typical confidence and subtlety, has delivered a film which is both stunningly entertaining and more than a little moving. The trailers hyped the digital effects, but there's so much more here to be enjoyed. Indeed, the trailers gave away absolutely nothing of Act 3 which includes a climactic performance from Nick Nolte which is nothing short of Oscar-worthy. Innovative cinematography and editing are intelligently applied and, as always, Danny Elfman's thrilling score is a perfect match. "Hulk" is a film that can and should be enjoyed again and again - it's subtle, intelligent and above all interesting. What a refreshing change for Hollywood. Teen boys disappointed their expectations weren't met should take a second look at this in twenty years' time - when they're fathers.
20 A misunderstood movie
I am more interested in the making of this movie more than the movie itself. When it was revealed that Ang Lee was to direct this blockbuster, few eye-brows were raised of the choice. If we sit through the making of the film, it was explained that he's needed to bring sense and sensibility to one of Marvel Comic's most successful franchise. In the end, we end up with a movie that is neither nor. It's just the way it is and expectedly, fingers are pointed. Rumours started to spread about cast and production crews were tense working under a Director who was tunnel-visioned in actualising his vision (nothing wrong with that). The making of the movie also divulged to us Ang Lee's donning of rubbery suits with sensors on them to feed datas to ILM's software to create the Hulk that he envisioned, & his involvements in the music creation (Ang Lee kept reminding Danny Elfman that his music score should be less Danny Elfman's). For Ang Lee, the making of this movie is a challenge, to tackle something that he hasn't tackled before. For him, that means trying to merge the art of comics with the art of films and trying to portray the characters here in a three dimensional manner rather than cutboard characters from comics. Ang Lee endeavoured to give us an insight into Banner and his alter-ago, his tulmutous relationship with his father (played brilliantly by Nick Nolte) who was really a mad scientist who played God, the forbidden love between Banner and Ross (Jennifer Connelly's character). Sam Elliot was brilliant as a General who was dead-heat in pursuing and terminating Hulk. He's not a Captain Ahab of Moby Dick's fame but rather, a humane General who was simply doing his job, to the resentment of his daughter, Ross who wanted to reconcile the relationship between the daughter and the father. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I respect the fact that a lot of thoughts and efforts have gone into making this a commendable adult comic movie. I guess as a result, it becomes the victim of its own success. People commented about the incredulity of Hulk flying on the air, of him jumping for joy in the Grand Canyon, not being faithful to the comics offering, of the unrealistic projection of the CGI Hulk. However, if people can see beyond the fact that the CGI is simply a part of the total sum, then, people would start to appreciate how tragic this movie actually is. This is a undeniably an ambitious movie. I think Ang Lee has achieved his brief of making an adult movie out of a comic strips but majority of the audience actually wants a candy pop no brainer action movie. All I can say is that the studio has misread the sentiment of the public and the fault is not with Ang for he did his bit brilliantly, perhaps, too brilliantly. Commendable effort.
21 He's green, mean and he's HERE!
I liked this movie. I wasn't expecting too, to be honest; it had so much negative criticism that when I watched it on SKY last night I was not expecting anything but a pile of pants.
It actually turned out to be quite good, very intelligent for a "super hero" movie and very well acted by all concerned.
Okay so it didn't follow the Hulk comic book we all know and love but who cares? It was a GOOD movie, fun, moving, humorous with spectacular special effects. I even liked the way Ang Lee sectioned the screens off into blocks so that we could see several perspectives, I thought that was neat and quite clever.
The plot was marginally more complex than most but then THIS is an Ang Lee film so with action you get intelligence which is a rare commodity these days and should be savoured like a good quality port if you get my drift?
Eric Bana as the scientist Bruce Banner was a good choice of actor, and Nick Nolte was brilliant as the deranged scientist whose mutated genes he passed on to his unsuspecting son during conception.
We have the delectable Sam Elliot (even with grey hair!) as the ruthless military man Ross trying to kill the Hulk, his estranged daughter Betty, played by the versatile actress Jennifer Connolly (who is in love with the Hulk's human persona, Eric and of course a baddie in the form of Talbot played by the unknown actor Josh Lucas a somewhat supercilious but ambitious young man who gets bounced around like a rubber ball by a very, very cross Hulk and meats a sticky end in the best comic book tradition.
This is a fairly action packed film, with lots of great and fun special effects, the mutated dog fight with the Hulk is great, and a frothing mouthed enraged poodle trying to get at Betty in her car is totally tongue in cheek but very well done. I also liked the San Francisco scene with the Hulk ripping up the road as he runs UNDER it and the domino effect of the cars he sends hurtling down San Francisco's steep streets, a sweet moment in the film I have to say!
And as for all those critics who have complained about how unrealistic this film is, erm, excuse me, this is just a fantasy film and when you are making fantasy come to life on celluloid you can over step the boundaries of physics, just simply because you can!
We also get a cameo by the original Hulk Lou Ferrigno who has a walk on part as a security guard; I like the fact that Ang Lee acknowledged the past as well as the future because I remember and still love the original Hulk series, as cheesy and as dated as it is now!
All in all Ang Lee did a great job with this film and I don't care what anyone else says, it's worth watching and its worth getting on DVD because the first time around you don't get to see every little gem he has put into this movie.
Some movies you have to think about when you watch them others you can watch and forget, with this version of The Hulk you have to think so using your brain cells is a must which I know is REALLY hard for some members of the moving going general public, must be all the "E's" in the butter popcorn they are eating is all I can say.
22 AAAAAAAAHH He's Green!
This movie is funny as hell. It wasn't meant to be a comedy, and I went to Ryder's house as a comic fan expecting to see a serious adaptation of the comic books. What I got instead was a 1950s B-Movie mockery of a riddle. There's a scene in this movie where Hulk is locked up and talking to his dad. His dad all of a sudden starts ranting about how the military is conquering everything in its path, which had nothing to do with anything. While he's talking, Banner starts screaming for no apparent reason. I laughed my ass off during that scene. It was funny man. Not as funny as when me and Ryder tried to copy the scene from Spiderman, but all we had was silly string, and Ryder fell down and smashed up his XBOX, I was laughing my ass off, and his head was bleeding all over. Damn, that was a funny day.
23 Hilarious!!!
This movie is funny as hell. It wasn't meant to be a comedy, and I went in there as a comic fan expecting to see a serious adaptation of the comic books. What I got instead was a 1950s B-Movie for the new millenium. There's a scene in this movie where Bruce Banner is locked up and talking to his dad. His dad all of a sudden starts ranting about how the military is conquering everything in its path, which had nothing to do with anything. While he's talking, Banner starts screaming for no apparent reason. I laughed my ass off during that scene.
This is the funniest movie of the year. Guaranteed.
24 What can I say about a movie that I fell asleep on twice
The Hulk starts out promising with the story of an obsessed scientist (Nick Nolte) trying to find out a way to regenerate cells. Then, the scientist has a child (Eric Bana), there is an explosion, and after very very few transistions we find that Dr. Bruce Banner is working on how to regenerate cells after exposure to gamma rays. What would you know it, Banner is exposed to the gamma rays and lives, but they cause him to become the Hulk. This is where the potential of the story dries up and crusts.
The rest of the movie focuses on a strange father/son relationship between Nolte and Bana. Neither of the two stars shines at the respective roles and the plot is too bizarre to really follow. Eventually, Nolte gets absorbing powers (it isn't really explained why) and he and Bana fight to the death near the film's end.
I have no idea why the writer of this movie decided to make it a father/son conflict. If you ever read about the origin of Hulk in the comic, you would know that Bruce Banner's father had no role in any of the comics (as far as I know). Nolte's characters is ill concieved and out of place. I mean, he has a freaking attack poodle!
It was also disappointing that the Hulk was never really a "hero" in this movie. The only heroic thing that he did was save Jennifer Connelly's character (from the attack poodle) once. Throughout the rest of the movie, he is just a nuisance that the military is trying to control. He freaking bounces through the desert for way too many scenes in the movie.
I don't really know a lot about cinemotography, but I can say that Ang Lee's directing was annoying. The moving box shots very really stupid and made the movie laughable.
In short, the Hulk is bad and hard to stay awake on. The story is just confusing and meandering. Neither Nolte nor Bana act well. Jennifer Connelly is ok but is basically just eye candy; her character is developed properly, like the way that most of the characters aren't developed properly. Just avoid "The Hulk." See "Spiderman 2" instead. It is 500x better.
25 HULK deserves another look!!!
I must admitt when i first watch this film in the movies i was left speechless i mean i didn't know what to expect... after having watch xmen and spiderman which i both enjoyed watch Hulk has left a different taste in my mouth... it was kinda bitter really..... yes my first experience of hulk is a bit disappointing like most fans will say... but then i got it on DVD and gave it a second chance and then it was like being hit by a gamma radiation i was energized and totally transformed into the Hulk!!!! now i absolutely love this film and i will explain why i do ...
firstly i would like to rate my favrioute comic movies :
1. Xmen 2 and Hulk(yep gets equal first position)
2. Xmen 1
3. Spiderman (chessy but fun to watch)
5. Hellboy (hmmmm not soo great of a film good character but)
100. daredevil (i wish i was blind so i could not watch this crap)
ok let me break hulk down to bits..
firstly the story is very different to any superheores i have even seem i mean this guy hates himself and his super cool powers, the military hates, his dad hates him when he's not green.. it seems just about everyone hates him guess how HULK will feel!!! secondly he doesn't help or save people most of the film he just try to stay out of people's way and making he's escape from the military guys...
how can i like this film when he's not super cool? well i like hulk becos he seems soo REAL, i remember when watching the movie some of the scenes where he's just looking at you quietly it really give you sense of feeling rather its sad or innocence... hulk is a very well developed character much more so than spiderman or xmen here ann lee has taken a different approach to bring hulk to life by first giving hulk a soul.
from many of my friend they told me how hulk became to be hulk was a sad story when he becomes the hulk he is unable to control his own action and the movie has captured that element very accuarately, i think most people when watching the hulk really expected it to be a spiderman but one shouldn't see it like that... you should see this film as the hulk only.
ILM has done a great job on bring hulk onto the big screen what i can say the speical effect and digital hulk is truely a MASTER PIECE i give all my respect to that... but one must not forget its story though not as action packed as xmen or spiderman but it offers a different view to a superheroe a human side to it a side that most superheroes movies have done little to bring out... ann lee's vision of hulk is a powerful one, most people who watched the hulk will no know that ann lee did the motion capture for the hulk all by himself yes that little man has all the hulk inside him...
the script is well written nothing too chessy or lame( eg. "we would not tell spiderman!" from the boy on the train from spiderman 2 just that line has totally ruin it for me how lame)
i recommend anyone who has seen the hulk and hated or did not enjoy it as much the first time around to watch it again cos it is REALLY A GREAT FILM its a shame that people want to see more and more of senseless action and not try to get in touch with the characters... the hulk for me was a film that touched me on a personal level sometime i feel i could change into the hulk but it seems no one can get me angry enough hehehe..
fan of the comic this is a must to collect...
you DO NOT want to make the hulk angry..
26 The Hulk was a Hulk of a Disapointment
I can remember watching the Hulk t.v series when I was much younger,always anxious to see the "green monster" and for the man who you did'nt want to see "get angry".However,the theatrical version&interpitation of Stan Lee's comic book did not translate well to the screen.
The Hulk has what seems to be a very mechanical&formulated script and screenplay.No matter that ILM did all the cgi work,it just goes to proove that a movie with an endless budget can still suck.This film was a huge dissapointment.I was really anticipatiing it to be interesting&well done because I was so surprised by Spidereman.
Well,all the amped up advertisements,trailers&teasers could'nt keep this film afloat.I'm not opposed to the casting,but the push to get the film made,made for a bad script.Eric Banna is a fantastic actor and one of my new Aussie favorites.If you want to see him at his best,I highly reccomend "Chopper".I watched that film while romping around in Australia a few years back&it is really something to see.
All the digital work was dull&have seen much of it before,and "the Hulk" moved unrealistically in many scenes,bending the usual flexibility given to science fiction and fantasty to it's breaking point.He looked like a well painted&detailed cartoon,just like most of ILM's digital character animations.CGI in my opinion is overused in films now-a-days,and it has'nt improved any in the last few years.Very few films have been able to make it work&pull it off,and the only one that comes to mind where it did work&work well,was the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
All in all,this film moves along at a "Hulk's pace"(pardon the pun).It is very slow,and borring...the story is hardly interesting enough to keep your attention.In the end,it is just an FX fest,and that is what makes it so difficult to watch&keep your interest.I love good sci-fi&special effects that make you go,"WOW" but those are few&far between.
Hollywood is far more interested in making the almighty dollar,and they don't care what kind of product the turn out.Every year a new "Block Buster" crapper of a movie promised to be the next Ben Hur is released.I for one would rather watch a low budget film with a fantastc story&characters,with little known actors than waste my money&time on a big budget piece of S#@!?*&#^*$!,which in this case,is exactly what you get.
27 grade B film
This is a well made movie with its special effects. However, the story line is not as interesting as the original tv series with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno.
28 Jennifer Connely, I love you.
Open-car-door-eared Eric Bana stars as the Hulk in this one, with a vague enough physique to fill the shoes of Dr. Bruce Banner. Homeless man Nick Nolte co-stars as a less-cool scientist who is trying to acheive immortality through regeneration...only it makes him more haggard and unappealing...
SOOOO, the plot unfolds and I get less interested, then Bruce changes into the Hulk and crushes things with stuff. At one point, he fights mutated dogs, who just come off as cartoony Cujos, and rips one completely in half with his powerful arms...Then more plot with Jennifer Connely's face in it, then back to the Hulk jumping into helecopters and putting more and more pressure on his indestructable pants. For God's sake, he bought quality pants...he seemed to expect this.
Anyways, the Hulk does what's expected of him to tanks and things, and eventually beauty reaches the beast...The completely "Naired" beast...(No hair on the Hulk....what the hell. I guess I just expect SOME body hair, not a body so hairless it looks like candle wax...)
Nonetheless, I was impressed by this......."film"?.........It has great effects, and I like the direction style, for the most part. But don't expect the guy who wrote this thing to be in the "Hollywood scene."
He won't be writing anything anymore, except maybe on the backs of Denny's placemats.
29 The Hulk is boring. It's as simple as that.
Following the path created by Spiderman, X-Men, and even Daredevil (as bad as that was), Hulk jumps into the theaters at a time when Comic Book movies have become extremely popular. One of the reasons that Spiderman and the two X-Men films were so popular is that they didn't take themselves too seriously. They were a lot of fun with their over the top villains, incredible effects, and characters that we could all relate to in some way. Well, with the Hulk, Ang Lee decided to ditch that formula altogether. He has created a dull, drab, BORING comic book movie with mediocre effects and actors that are trying way too hard to create characters that we just don't care about.
Speaking of characters we just don't care about... Eric Bana's Bruce Banner just happens to be one of the most stale characters I've seen in modern cinema. The only thing I can relate to is that neither he nor I can successfully carry a movie... well I've never really tried. I think it's time for introductions: "Made for TV", this is Eric Bana.... Eric Bana, this is your future.... As bad as the CG Hulk was (and he was bad), the CG Hulk was much more personable than Bruce Banner. It's bad when your computer generated non speaking mediocre effect driven alter ego is better in the film than you are. Sorry, Bana...
Now for the rest of the cast. As much as I dislike Nick Nolte, he did have a few good moments. Too bad the rest of his over the top antics seem forced. As for his appearance.... I'm pretty sure he went straight from his DUI arrest to the set.
Then there is the lovely Jennifer Connelly. Why was she in this movie? I'm guessing to give the film some sort of credibility. She did make the movie less excruciating to watch, but she was really wasted in this role, and she really had nothing to work with.
A couple positive notes: I enjoyed Sam Elliot in this film, even though he is playing the same character he plays in other movies. He was entertaining to watch. I also enjoyed watching Josh Lucas from Sweet Home Alabama. Sure he's a poor man's Matthew McConaughey, but he still brought flare to his small part that was very much needed in this bore.
Now for the CG hulk. At times, the Hulk looks ok, but most of the time he looks like he was ripped out of the video game and superimposed over the appropriate frames. The film makers had to realize that the success of their film relied on the success of the computer generated Hulk. I wholeheartedly believe that once they saw how unsuccessful their Shrek-like creation was ( DONKEY !! ), they decided to showcase the Hulk to a lesser degree which is why we are forced to endure the excruciatingly slow first act. The entire first hour is full of back story and 'plot' that really makes the film drag. We didn't pay 8 bucks to catch up on some overly complex plot that would have been better served as a voice over narration during the opening credits. We paid the money to simply see the hulk cause havoc. And eventually he does just that. There were enjoyable moments where the Hulk gets to cause mass destruction and these are the moments that I remember most fondly (besides the closing credits when I got to leave ). These moments are few and far between, but they are fun though unoriginal.
There a few scenes which really bothered me. Firstly, there are moments when the hulk is jumping across the desert with each leap seemingly covering miles. It was as if he were flying across the land. Yes, Ang Lee. I saw crouching tiger... get over it. The other scene that bothered me worse than anything is truly inexplicable. It happens about 20 minutes after they should have ended the movie and it involves Nick Nolte's huge electrical beast (don't ask ) trying to suck the green out of the Hulk (I'm serious). Somehow they become some huge amoeba type mass of energy and I really have no idea why or how. It was at that moment that I realized the movie just kept getting dumber and dumber. Each minute was worse than the previous, so at any given moment I was watching the worst part of the movie.
One thing I feel Ang Lee did well was to use some comic book stylized transitions between scenes. There were some really nice transition effects using different frames ( ala 24 ), that really gave the movie some much need personality and style. Well done. I would like to see some of the other comic book films implement similar transitions in the onslaught of comic sequels headed our way.
In conclusion... yawn.
mastercritic.com
30 WTF was Ang Lee THINKING!?
What was Ang Lee thinking when he made this flick. Alright... here's the good part... the animation was AMAZING. The hulk looked and felt and reacted like a real human...(sorta) but the plot was so !@#$ing weak. I mean... seriously, I went to support the industry, and to see the re-birth of the hulk, but where can they go from here? It was ghastly. Details left for the imagination. Why did his shorts look fine in the morning when he woke up again as Bruce Banner. Were they spandex? Come on man, let's cover the details! ugh...
31 Sorry. It's really stupid & a waste of time.
But I wouldn't be surprised if it sells enough dvd's to make a profit. A somewhat confused plot, overlong action scenes & outrageous over-acting. Add to that a poor edit job. The fight sequence between the dogs & The Hulk seemed to take forever. The special effects were cheesy. I'm stupid. I sat through the whole thing. Rate this one D for mindless drivel.
32 Hulk Severely Underrated
Most of my friends had seen this movie, and told me to steer clear. But I am a fan of the Hulk, as well as director Ang Lee, so I opted for a rental just to quell my curiosity. I have to say that I was quite amazed. Did my friends watch the same movie I did? I think that if you approach this movie with a lot of preconceived notions of how it should/will look, then YES you WILL be disappointed. The Hulk is a cerebral approach to a superhero, and Bruce Banner's psyche. That really makes for a much deeper movie than one might think. BUT when he does 'Hulk Out', the violence is graphic, vicious, and darn satisfying. What I didn't appreciate with this movie are the multiple floating panels that show action from many points of view. A novel idea, but over used and distracting. Thankfully, Lee doesn't use these incessently, but enough so they can aggravate. At the very least, rent this movie. Give it a chance. It is beautifully done, and the CGI Hulk is impressive and expressive. I can usually spot CGI animation from a mile away, but the Hulk worked. He conveyed very subtle emotions effectivly. Check it out!
33 Not as Bad as It's Reputation Suggests
I went into watching "The Hulk" with some trepidition. I was well aware of it's reputation as being a disappointing rendering of the popular comic book. I went away feeling that it was not that bad. On the flip side, this film is the biggest botch of a potential franchise film since the screen version of "The Avengers". To be blunt, this movie is just a bummer. How else are you going to feel about a film where the title character is turned into a genetic mutant by his psychotic scientist father who also murders his mother? The film does have alot going for it, though. The performance of Eric Bana as Bruce Banner is excellent. Bana is an actor to watch for, particularly after having seen him play Hector in "Troy". Solid work is also delivered, as usual, by Jennifer Connelly as Betty Ross, Banner's girlfriend, as well as Sam Elliott as Betty's colonel father. The effects work is top-notch, particularly the Hulk transformation scenes. On the minus side, the villains created for this film are unbelievably bad, I mean terrible. Nick Nolte looks like his police mug shot as Banner's psycho father. Josh Lucas as another evil scientist, normally a good actor, gives a performance straight out of the Snidely Whiplash school of screen villainy. All he needed was a twirly mustache and the picture would have been complete. Basically, why this film ultimately fails as a potential franchise film is through the choices made by director and scripter Ang Lee. He chose to make this melancholic and dare I say it, arty, instead of something fun.
34 SLOW STARTING FILM IS MARGINALLY FUN
A convoluted story line and some of the least believable special effects to attack the silver screen in generations spoil a film franchise that had promise. Director Ang Lee does some intriguing things with the camera work, though some of it is mildly distracting. Lee doesn't seem to get the best out of some very talented actors, and the whole story takes an agonizingly long time to develop into a superhero story. When it does finally become a comic book movie, it has several sequences of entertaining action that are at least enough to slightly forget just how badly animated the green beast looks compared to his 'real' surroundings. A short scene that pits the angry giant against several mutated canines looks like something out of a low budget commercial for sugary cereal. In the end, it is a major dissapointment for Marvel fans who have come to expect much better recently. It's yet another case where a film about extraordinarily intelligent scientists isn't nearly as smart as the characters are supposed to be.
35 It isn't easy being Green.
I'll just ask you this: isn't it better to have a trippy, funky, eccentric flick like Ang Lee's "Hulk" than no Hulk movie at all?
Look, let's boil Ang Lee's rippingly fun new movie 'Hulk' down to its core components: it's about brilliant nanotechnological research scientist Bruce Banner who one day, while working in his lab, gets 'belted' by Gamma rays. What should have been a fatal exposure combines with certain---erm, genetic irregularities---to create some major anger management problems for Dr. Banner.
You see, every time he gets angry---really angry---he turns into a big green man. A big green man with expandable purple stretch pants that assist with his modesty during his transformations from Eric Bana into a completely CGI-generated bright green monster. A big green man that hurls tanks and helicopters about like they were toys. A big green man whose erstwhile captor, General Ross (played competently but shallowly by Sam Elliot), decides to let escape from an underground Area 51-esque base, the better to 'fight him outside.'
Umm, OK. The truth is that Ang Lee brings his stellar cinematic sensibilities (from movies like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Sense and Sensibility") to Marvel's storied Incredible Hulk: like the little nanites that flow through Bruce's body and the gamma rays, the marriage of Lee to the comic book material results in a whole that is greater---and greener---than the sum of its parts. 'Hulk' is solidly entertaining, visually gorgeous, and---especially for a summer blockbuster---an unusually experimental film that manages to entertain and startle simultaneously.
Those who go to "Hulk" looking for stellar special effects will leave highly satisfied. SEE:
*green gamma-ray mushroom clouds!
*nasty insane killer giant poodles!
*Banner's mad scientist father David, who undergoes some startling transformations of his own (seriously: Nolte doesn't just *chew* scenery in this movie, he absorbs it!)!
*the incredible battle sequences between the Hulk and his tormentors---be they the hideous hulk-Dogs or our brave boys in the US Army---the latter pitted against the real "Army of One"!
The special effects centerpiece award of "Hulk" goes, of course, to the eponymous hero: the Hulk himself is completely computer generated. Does it work? Actually, the Hulk is one of the summer's most sympathetic characters, and displays far more humanity than his alter ego, played with considerable reticence by Eric Bana. The last superhero we saw who was this withdrawn was Michael Keaton's Bruce Wayne.
The acting here is all top-notch, and there aren't any uneven performances: Bana doesn't exactly reprise his "Chopper" performance---he's way too restrained---but then again, he's a nice counterpoint to his lab-destroying Green Inner Child. Jennifer Connelly re-affirms her position as Hollywood's most gorgeous underrated actress. Nick Nolte plays his leering, rasping role to the hilt, and ultimately steals the show.
There are times where the movie gets a little too awkward and goofy for its own good: I'd still love to know where the Hulk gets his one-size-fits-all purple stretch pants. There's Josh Lucas's death scene, in which they freeze frame the horrified Lucas in front of an explosion---highly goofy, but very comic booky, and it works; I laughed, anyway. The Hulk's surrender scene in downtown San Francisco also makes little sense; after all, if the Big Green Guy is so fond of leaping, why doesn't he just leap out of the way of all those army men and hop over to Oakland?
And speaking of that, what was General Ross thinking when he figures that it's a good idea to let the leap-loving Hulk escape the underground base, reasoning that it will be easier to fight the Big Guy on the surface? Time for a court-martial, Soldier.
But even though the buildup and exposition of "Hulk" makes the movie run a tad long, the film ultimately comes together, a testament to the solidity of its actors, the seamlessness of its CGI, and the talents of both Ang Lee and Director of Photography Fred Elmes, who worked with Lee on "Ice Storm" and has been a long-time DP for David Lynch (his credits include "Eraserhead", "Wild at Heart", and "Blue Velvet")---so it's no wonder that such lurid, dark emotions can be shot on such a visually brilliant palette.
Yes, "Hulk" is a Evil Dad vs. Good Son movie---and like so many other films that used the same device to telling effect (think Star Wars, or even, in a lopsided way, Spider-Man), "Hulk" succeeds at a very primal level. "Hulk", after all, is about secrets repressed under a banal, nondescript surface, about the rage that lurks within all of us. Ang Lee's "Hulk" says that if it isn't easy being Green, at least it looks good. Just don't make him angry---you wouldn't like him when he's angry.
36 Worst movie i have ever seen
Waste of money, waste of energy. all together useless
37 Just a slow start.
The Hulk is obviously based off a comic book, and happens to be, in my opinion, the best comic book based movie made. I thought Spider-man was okay(3 stars worthy) as well as the sequal. X-men was okay. Same thing as Spider-man, but I liked this one better.
It was very dark. Had a lot to do with Bruce Banner's strange past. Involving the death of his mother and his father being commited and all.
The movie begins with a slow start. Showing the events that lead to his teen age and his adult age, where he is a scientist working on regeneration. He eventually he gets hit by gamma radiation and unleashes the monster within him.
One night, when Banner(still called Krensler) is working late. He gets pissed, and the Hulk comes out. Creates a mess and leaves. This is where the movie picks up. Gets more exciting.
A lot of people didn't like the whole, slowly revealing the past thing, but I did. I think, if you're going to have a mysterious past, then you should reveal it very slowyly, and keep the audience guessing a little.
There is one thing I did not like, and that was the comic book feel. I didn't like it in the beginning, but halfway through the movie you'll get used to it and actually begin adapting to it. Getting used to it.
I don't like comic books. So I don't care if they change a lot of facts from the comic book. Once again, I judge a movie on how entertaining it is. Not on how close it is to whatever it is it's based off of.
By the way, this was better than better Spider-man 2.
38 just missed a 5 star due to child abuse scene
the movie strays way off the point.every true comic fan knows that the hulk was created when david banner had a bomb blow up near him.it wasnt the dna from a serum his dad put into himself.it made me feel bad when i saw stan lee on the dvd condoning that crap too.theres a lot of science in the movie and a few child abuse scenes.this prevented a 5 star rating.it all could have been avoided by just keeping with the story.none of the new comic movies do that.anyhow,little bruce,not david now,grows up and the genes hit him and he becomes the hulk when hes mad.then his ol ladys dad,who is a general tries to contain him so they can get a sample of his hulk skin and make super soldiers and millions in the process.he gets out and then theres this incredible fight between him and the army.the kids like the parts with the hulk but get bored during the long science scenes and scared when the abuse is going on.so,just buy the dvd and skip the crap.ang lee is your director.he also did crouching tiger hidden dragon.he says he wants to break down the old monster stereo type and go into a new age where instead of monster comes out goes crazy and is killed,theres a analyzation of just what makes the monster tick.there are a lot of 1st time special effects in this one like the hulk being a cgi and interacting with so many other things and many split screen point of view.its the best hulk movie to date and there is a lot of old tv movies about the hulk.i think its fair to call this one emotional.the hulk is bubbling over with them.his girlfriend is dykey looking.can a cgi win an award?the hulk rocked in this one!the fights are outstanding!my favorite part is when a helicopter fires a rocket at him and the hulk catches it and then bites off the warhead and throws it into the chopper.that was cool!no one important is in this one.the special effects and ideas for battle scenes are excellent.i hope to see more hulk movies.its long and drawn out in spots but when its on,its really on.
39 you don't seem to know the hulk
Despite what others may think, I thought this movie was fabulous. I was really impressed by the story and the direction. If you did not like this movie, you must not have ever read a Hulk comic. Many people who were new to comics or went to see it hoping for a green version of Spiderman were probably disappointed. But guys, this comic is a serious comic about a split-personality anti-hero. This guy has problems from parental abuse and years of repression. How more today can you get? The only problem is the artistic license taken with bioengineering. However, times change and the movie works. Who cares if you can tell its CGI? He's nine feet tall and green. He throws tanks and runs faster than Comanche helocopters. Again, I was impressed that they kept the seriousness of the film, yet were able to pull off decent action. Til the Leader uses Rogaine, make mine the Hulk.
40 Movie concept too good! Ang Lee smash and make worse!
My title is what probably went through Ang Lee's mind when he made this movie. Listen here, you freaking moron. Nobody wants your crappy idealistic ideas. Nobody wants to see the Hulk being in love and sacrificing himself for some idiot woman. Take your crappy ways of directing someplace else! You sicken me!
There are some of you out there who probably thinks what I just said was harsh. Well, here are my reasons. Lets start with the story.
It starts off how you pretty much expect from a Hulk movie. In other words, a scientist named Bruce Banner gets shot with gamma rays, which makes him transform into a super strong being called "Hulk" who ultimately gets chased and shot at by the military. Added to the story is a moron named Betty Ross who keeps calling her father, who is a military general, to help her with Bruce. Alright now, what kind of moron would call someone from the military when something as extraordinary as Hulk comes around? That's like remarrying your ex-wife who just "realized that she still loves you" after you win the lottery.
Next is the action. Why is it that a movie like Hulk has so little action? Did Ang Lee, the director, thought that people were going to see Hulk for the romance? Hell no! The problem here is that there are too little action scenes and the action scenes are too short. There are about 7 action scenes and the longest of which is about 10 minutes long while the others are around 3-5 minutes each. So altogether, there is about 36 minutes of action, and I'm being generous.
Can you believe it? 36 minutes of action in this 2 hour movie? That means that there is about one hour and 24 minutes of talking in this movie that is suppose to be about a guy who transforms into a big green brute that smashes things! What kind of action is this? Why is it that the Hulk should have done the same amount of damage as Godzilla, while Godzilla should have done 3x the amount of damage that he did?
I can understand the liberties directors have to make, so that their conversions are enjoyable, but this is just too much. It's even worse if you're a fan of the Hulk comic, like me. There are just so many differences. after seeing this movie, I wanted to suck Ang Lee's teeth out, and take a dump in his mouth.
Update: Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that the ending sucked! So Ang Lee is trying to tell me that out of nowhere, Bruce Banner appeared in South America helping people? Yeah right. In the comic, the closest Bruce ever came to staying in another place was when the Hulk took him to Saudi Arabia and the USSR (as it was still called at the time of the comic). Of course, there were also a few times the Hulk took Bruce off Earth, but I'm not even going to go there.
Supposedly, they're making a sequel to The Hulk. It will feature more action too. Hah, that's what I thought. Ang Lee must be feeling embarrassed. Oh yeah, here's a tidbit. Eric Bana isn't too excited about the sequel. BURN!!
Also, here's a quote from Kevin Feige of Marvel Studios:
"We want to continue to take it very seriously and continue to follow his inner psyche, but at the same time allow us in the audience to have a little more fun, a little more action, a little more of the 'Hulk smash.'"
No, you waste of DNA. There should be A LOT more action, A LOT more of the "Hulk smash", and A LOT LESS of Bruce's "inner psyche". Also, A LOT LOT LESS of Betty would be nice. Really, are you expecting me to believe the chemistry between those two are there? I barely believe the chemistry in the comic.
To Andrew: Yeah, I know Bana had done some great movies, and Lee has directed some better movies, but still, this isn't one of them.
To Keith: Dream on, kid. I did not read the Hulk comic from the time he was in "Tales to Astonish" all the way to "Incredible Hulk v2 #474", then all the way to "Incredible Hulk v3 #074" just to be told that I did not like this movie because I never read the comic. On the other hand, that would be an interesting premise for the sequel. Leader vs. Hulk or, better yet, Hulk vs. Abomination! It is certainly more interesting than Hulk vs. Ross again.
41 SAD
THIS MOVIE SUCKED!!!
BANA TRIED BUT REALLY NEVER HAD A CHANCE WITH RETARDED DIRECTOR
42 OK......VERY BAD DIRECTOR!!!!!!!
ok.......the director for this one.......STINKS!!!!!!!!! There are many things in this movie that make me say WTF! First off, there wasn't really anything all about the hulk, bruce banner looks feeble and looks like he has gone weird, to many missing scenes, and what was with that scene where the guy was talking about bruce feeling ok in the trailer (maybe that was a deleted scene)! There was nothing really about the hulk towards 3/5 of the movie to the end. Of course, Marvel Entertainment doesn't talk too much about science. The subject changes.....looks ok, but why would you do that......the subject is way too different. Ann Lee should NEVER do another Marvel Entertainment movie. He nearly destroyed the story by remaking it in his own image. I saw this on TV, though, but maybe I can only watch it a few times on TV so I can have a good movie to watch.....but it was a dumb movie on a powerful superhero out of all Marvel superheros.
43 Unfortunately, I can see why this bombed in the theaters...
People have two views of the Hulk: Bill Bixby wandering from place to place and inadvertantly righting wrongs via his green growling alter-ego, or the monosyllabic Green Goliath duking it out with a variety of monstrous villians in the old comic books. (Personally, my favorite incarnation was Peter David's intelligent Hulk of about 10 years ago.)
Unfortunately for the bean-counters (and the Hulk fans) it failed to live up to any of the expectations. Ang Lee put together an artsy, slow-paced psychological drama with a few sequences of moderately enjoyable Hulk action. Throw in a somewhat confusing ending and you have a box office bomb (or should that be a box office dud?)
Sorry, Marvel. After an excellent film version of Spider-man and a good translation of the X-men, this just wasn't what people were looking for. Wish I could recommend it, but it's only going to work if you go in with a VERY open mind (and maybe not even then.)
44 THE HULK IS BIGGEST FLOP!!!
I am quite confused The Hulk story is mixed about his father, fight army, become Hulk and etc. I am very disappointed The Hulk is not good film because poor story, poor script, few action scenes, too long 2 hours and 20 mins film, too much talks.
I heard many movie reviews and film critics said The Hulk are very crap film. I am agree with it.
Sadly, Director Ang Lee always risk happened in The Hulk. The Hulk are no superhit and no blockbuster smash.
Incedible Hulk t.v. series is brilliant story, excellent performance, good director, good producer, good filmaker, very good script and excellent performances.
I beleive Incedible Hulk t.v. series is brilliant than The Hulk film.
The Hulk film is biggest crap and biggest rubbish!!!
45 This one-star rating represents unwarranted generosity
Since I can't read minds, I can't say for sure what Ang Lee was going for in "The Hulk." But what I can tell you is that he didn't succeed. This movie was rightly ignored by audiences, even though the critics couldn't praise it enough (as if we needed any further proof that movie critics don't live in the real world). But let's face it, what professional critic would dare to disparage Ang Lee?
I'm a big believer that a movie should be judged on its own merits, not in comparison to what we should have "expected" from a certain director, actor, etc. So let me now describe The Hulk on its own terms, not in relation to the excellent "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon": "The Hulk" is long, boring, flat, uninspired, slow-paced, dark, unmemorable, and it would be depressing if we were ever drawn into the story enough to be depressed by it, which we aren't. The few CGI sequences that the movie attempts are ridiculously cartoon-like and don't fit the overall tone of the movie at all (By contrast, if you want to see minimalistic CGI used to great effect, see Alfonso Cuaron's masterwork, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban").
The CGI Hulk only appears three times in the movie, which in retrospect is three times too many. The rest of the time we're treated to Eric Bana's flat, unsympathetic, and completely uncharismatic portrayal of Bruce Banner, which consists of him mumbling things that are supposed to demonstrate how this movie is a "cautionary tale" of man's attempts to master the universe through science, or to set up some "Shakespearian tragedy" in relation to Banner's father (Nick Nolte), who's also the villain Electro-Man or something.
Some reviewers here who love the movie claim that the rest of us "don't get it." Yes, I get the cautionary tale about science (H.G. Wells could teach Ang Lee a lot about these "cautionary tales") and I get the classical father/son king/prince tragedy (just read Homer or Shakespeare, for goodness sake). Not only do these themes not work in the movie, but Lee treats them way too seriously for a movie which is supposed to be about a guy who turns into a 50-foot tall green ape when he gets angry (as Bart Simpson would say, "At least his shorts stayed on").
I rarely say this, but if you haven't seen this movie, save yourself two-plus hours of your life. I would've walked out of the theater after the first 30 minutes if I didn't have Jennifer Connelly to look at. In retrospect, I should've gone home anyway and watched her in "The Hot Spot" again.
46 Better Than The First "Spider-Man"
"One of The Best Superhero films ever"
Bruce Banner(Eric Banner, Troy) is one of the best actors in the business, he shows not only anger in "The Hulk", but sadness and kindness. Thats what I want to see, I was getting tired of mindless action in "Matrix Reloaded", so I saw this film and I get character development and actual acting. Nick Nolte trancended acting in the 70's and he's not at his best in this film, but he was good enough for me to dislike his character in this film. Jennifer Connelly who won an academy award for playing the same exact role in "A Beautiful Mind", and she's not all that great in this film, in fact she's down right annoying, but we need that kind of vulnerability in this kind of movie.
This film doesn't need dialogue like "Spider-Man", or "Superman", or even "Batman", it puts us in a mood that is a little depressing, and silent, like when Bruce describes what he feels when he becomes the Hulk, there's a moment of silence and no music, just the sound of his voice. "Boom, Boom", Thats what he says when he describes what he feels. Ang Lee is way ahead of his time, when Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" came out, people described the action and the fighting instead of the actual story, cause it's to painful to describe. One of the main, characters die in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", and Bruce Banners spirit dies, but Ang Lee keeps that depressing mood in his films, and shows the Hulk in a different way. He actualy shows him the right way, a person, not none of this Hulk smash stuff, just a person, like me and you, and other people full of anger and a bad past.
47 Well-Made, but Something's Amiss
Short summary: Bruce Banner is hit with gamma radiation so that when he becomes aggitated or angry, he turns into a big green monster called the Hulk, but still manages to keep his pants on.
The biggest complaints against "Hulk" are that it doesn't have enough action and that it's too slow. I didn't find either of these to be a problem; the slow bits were for character development, working on Ang Lee's decision to turn this into an Oedipal Complex movie, and the space between action sequences made the audience appreciate them all the more.
My problem was what was in these slow parts. I think the script could have used one more re-write, because the character development in these scenes doesn't add up to anything. Dreams are used to willingly as deus ex machinas, and the dialogue just doesn't seem to click with the message trying to be delivered to us. Rather than trying to produce a theme about the father-son relationship of the Banners, I think it would have been wiser just to let us get to know the characters, as people instead of shells. That is why the movie felt somewhat flat to me; a well-made movie, but the characters just don't resonate as well as ones in other movies.
That out of the way, the Hulk looks fantastic. While he's still obviously a CGI creation, it looks realistic and plausible enough to pass, about as much as any creature in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I still wish we could achieve the amazing standard Jurassic Park set back in 1993, but perhaps we'll see that in the next year or so. The villain looked great though, and I wish he'd been introduced in that way before the final sequence.
Despite the flat character development, all of the performaces were well-done, particularly Eric Bana as Bruce and Jennifer Connely as Betty (with great hair earlier in the movie.) Nick Nolte does a good job as well, though his character seems set apart from the rest of the film.
The score is excellent. Danny Elfman can do no wrong, it seems.
The DVD is packed with more extras than anyone could ever want from "Hulk."
I think Ang Lee had the right idea going into this and I'm hoping they bring him back for the sequel. Less exposition, more character development, and maybe a little more action too. With the right villain and plot combined with Ang Lee's direction, I can see the potential sequel being one of those few that surpass the original.
48 Buy those cool Hulk hands so you can smash this DVD!!
Whenever the subject comes up all you read (or hear) is how bad this movie is and how disappointing it was. However, I never heard of many reasons as to why it's so bad. Well after viewing it for myself I realize that yes it's bad. I'll tell you what I think is bad about it. After a painfully boring first 40 minutes which explains how science can go wrong (been there, done that) you come to realize that now that the HULK is finally present the action isn't. Well at least it's boring and unexciting action. The CGI of the HULK is unique, but I'm not sure that's a good thing. I'd rather have a real live actor play the key title role in a live action comic book movie. Bad script w/ bad dialogue and I hate how director Ang Lee had 2 to 4 squares on the screen at one time. Even on a big screen t.v. it wasn't possible to follow. If you still plan to buy this DVD, buy those Hulk hands with it so after you watch it, you can Hulk smash it.
49 Action packed. Well directed!
The Hulk is a 2003 film starring Eric Bana. The director shows much expertise, and turns a comic book topic into an epic, excilarating movie. The special edition DVD is packed with dozens of special features, including a character simulation, level of an XBOX game, and many commentaries with the director and producer. The computor technology of today is used in almost every scene in the film. This not a downside, as computors are a contribution to moviemaking. This film is also a remake of "The Incredible Hulk", a previous version made in the 1960's. The graphics are much improved compared to that version.
The story is true to the popular Marvel comic book. A determind scientist has developed a mutation device, which he tests on animals. His superiors forbid him to test human subjects. However, he breaks his word and injects his baby with the formula. Years later, the young man has turned into a scientist like his father. One fateful day, he transforms into a green, gigantic, hulking monster. The welfare of New York City is threatened, along with the relationship of his girlfriend. The US Army is called to the case, resulting in a climax that will blast you out of your chair. People with high tech and action tastes will thoroughly enjoy this flick. Be forewarned however, as others will not appreciate some cheesy special effects that the movie has added. Buffs of the particular genre and upbeat type will love the movie and the "Massive Features" second disc.
50 not horrible/ not great.
Two problems: 1)I couldn't understand most of what nick nolte was saying2) the movie was too dark.
P.S.
OK three problems, whatever happened to explaining why nick nolte turned into some kind of electrical giant at the end?
51 THIS MOVIE SUCKS SO BAD!!!!!!!!
I hated this so bad.IT WAS SO DANG CHEESEY.Don't ever ever buy this piece of trash.Because you'll just think it's boring,cheesy,and very stupid.Don't buy it if you do buy and have never seen it before YOU'LL ABSOULOUTLEY JUST HATE IT!!!!!!!!!! Never Never buy this you people out there you'll hate it.TRUST ME!
52 HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!
THIS MOVIE SUCKS!IT`S SO CRAZY,STUPID,BULLCRAP,AND ALL THAT KIND OF BAD STUFF!I DON`T RECCOMEND THIS MOVIE FOR ANYONE!IT DOSENT EVEN MAKE ANY SENCE!
53 Horrible
I saw this movie @ my cousin's and I thought it was gonna be so good. I love comic book movies so I was expecting something excellent. I thought this movie was a waste. It just totally sucked. I wouldn't buy this @ all. If you wanna see it, go out and rent it or borrow it. It's not worth spending your money on actually buying it
54 transhumanism meets the indigenist movement...
I know...a lot of people don't "get" it. This is a story about humanity's desire to tweek nature to transcend the "common" human condition. The hubris of science trying to break free of nature by manipulating nature...big business and the military industrial complex attempting to enlist this Icarus-like program for their own nefarious and very inhuman-human purposes...the HULK...transcending and returning to the very place his creation was an attempt to escape...those few Indians in South America facing genocide at the hands of modern civilization (so called)...snake bites it's own tail tale...
55 Big Beautiful Hulk
"What scares me the most is that when it happens, when it comes over me, when I totally lose control, I like it."
--Eric Bana as Bruce Banner in "HULK"
I was ready to hate this film when I sat down to watch it. After the end credits rolled, the first word out of my mouth was, "Wow". I am now convinced that one of these days, Marvel Comics will fail, its luck will run out and they will make a comic book film that will fall flat on its face. With Spider-Man, X-Men, Daredevil and the X-Men sequel as well as the more visceral Blade series, and now, "Hulk", I don't see that happening anytime soon. And no, the doomed-to-fail-black-sheep-comic-son "The Punisher" doesn't count. I never got that comic anyhow.
Eric Bana plays scientist Bruce Banner who has something under his skin. Something simmers ominously, waiting to bust out of his meager frame. He is hostile towards Talbot (Josh Lucas), a man who threatens to end his project, distant from his old girlfriend Betty (Jennifer Connelly), even though he works with her, and is generally always on edge.
He also has horrible memory-flashes about a strange event in his childhood which includes the fate of his mother and father but much like the puzzle that is his life, he can't seem to put the pieces together well enough to solve things. What makes things worse is that he's being stalked by a strange decrepit old man who claims to be his father (Nick Nolte) who may hold the secret to everything he is.
It isn't until Banner is involved in a potentially dangerous accident in his lab that everything is brought to a head. Banner protects one of his colleagues but throws himself on top of a machine that is highly radioactive...and it throws him into a coma. When he awakens in a hospital and is confirmed by a doctor as completely healthy, things still don't seem to make sense. Any other human being would have been killed by exposure to Gamma radiation, and by that rationale, Banner should be dead but instead, it proves to be the missing piece of Banner's puzzle.
Upon another meeting with his father after his accident, his anger is suddenly unlocked. Banner gets upset...REALLY gets upset. Uncontrollaby, he transforms into a monster with incredible strength and agility and uses it to fight those who really tick him off, and that includes Talbot and Betty's father, General Ross (Sam Elliot), who want to extract his DNA and, true to "secret government" form, use it to build a race of soldiers who are indestructable and can fight forever.
The film is directed by Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), who once said to an interviewer "I don't know how to make a comic book, but I do know how to make a Greek tragedy." He lied to us...or at least he lied about not knowing how to make a comic book movie. Based on a script which includes the writing talent of comic book vets Stan Lee and the much-welcomed "father" of the "Hulk", Jack Kirby, Bruce Banner is portrayed as he should be: a conflicted human being whose fragile psyche has been traumatized left and right and who has been forever cursed with not being able to control his anger and frustrations in the beast that eventually rips things apart, causing people to loathe and fear him.
In this story, we get to examine, first-hand, Banner's fears, worries, hopes, and the destruction of all of the forementioned. Bana is the perfect Banner. Nerdy, but not quite nerdy, contained, but conflicted, he expresses such emotion just by letting us look into his very deep, soulful eyes. Nolte, who plays Banner's father whose concern about solving our genetic flaws outweighs his care for his son, is fantastic. Jennifer Connelly is cast perfectly as Betty Ross who just wants Banner to get past his childhood.
"HULK" is a triumph, a tribute to the comic book as a form of storytelling and artistic talent, with heartfelt emotion rarely seen in a genre that, until recently, has been jeered at by critics and average movie-goers who have been scarred by bombs like "Batman and Robin" and the god-awful previews of "Catwoman". It's moving and surprisingly deep. Whereas Lee could have cut to more mindless action and things getting torn apart, we get lengthly discussions about life and unwanted memories and glimpse mental battles between father and son as well as father and daughter. Everyone expresses such genuine heart, you would think that they were all given copies of the recent series of "Hulk" comic books to read before they performed.
The editing is brilliant and accentuates the experience. There are split-screen shots, wipes, and slide-shots that make you feel like you're watching a live-action comic. A great shot that still sticks out in my mind is when the Hulk is racing down a hallway and we see a small screen on the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. It's Talbot and he is trying to get a hold of General Ross to tell him that the Hulk is free and running loose. Ross appears in a small screen in the opposite corner. You see every scene as it happens so you don't miss anything, much like a comic. I haven't seen such inspired and creative editing like that since the first "Creepshow" film.
Let's hope D.C. Comics is taking notes.
***1/2 out of ****
--Matt
56 1 + fart
I kinda liked it so I'm only giving it one thumb down and a fart! *farts semi-loud*
57 Best Movie Ever!!!!
(...). The effects were the best out of every movie out there. This movie should have won the most oscars.
~!~!~!~!~! BEST MOVIE EVER !~!~!~!~!~
58 imagine if you will...
this isn't meant to be anything more than what it is...a movie about a tormented soul whose torment is accentuated or alleviated, depending on how you view catharsis--when bruce banner morphs into the great green beast. that being said, i loved the movie, its too bad that so many people have criticized it as i feel it is more of a distaste for the character than for the movie itself. the characters are captured beautifully, especially sam elliot's portrayal, and the hulk himself as a manifestation of repressed anger mixed with a dose of compassion works to show the same thought out story-line that captured so many imaginations in the comic series. as far as "funny-ing" the movie up--like spiderman for instance, that is not what the hulk was ever about for the most part--it is a different character demanding a different genre--more of a shakespearean tragedy than a "dram-edy". instead, take it in twilight-zone reality--imagine if you will--a place where a seemingly miracle of science (in the healing power that david banner produces) turns rabid--and ultimately unleashes something never meant to be released. it's a good show if you take it for what it was meant to be.
59 Hulk Smash!
Marvel Comics most legendary superhero after Spider-Man. The Incredible Hulk and his alter ego Bruce Banner come raging on the Big Screen. Eric Bana stars as mild mannered scientist Bruce Banner who is accidently hit by gamma rays, which triggers his anger, and he turns into a guargation green skinned monster and superhero known as The Hulk with unstopable powers. I don't care if people didn't like it, this one was made for Marvel comic fans, Spider-Man 1&2 was made for everybody. I'm a Marvel Comic fan. Oscar winner Jennifer Connoly stars as Betty Ross, the only person who knows that the Hulk isn't dangerous. Sam Elliott stars as Betty's dad General "Thunderbolt" Ross, the man who doing anything to stop the innocent beast and Nick Notle as Bruce's insane dad. See this Action-Packed rip roaring monster slam, it will have you raging and after you see it you know what it's like be the green one,. Raaaaarh!
60 Imagination required
I've met peaple that have either loved or hated this movie. I LOVED it! But I am also a fan of the comic and the old 70's TV show. This movie is neither. The closest I could call it is an amalgam of the two with a dash of eastern story-telling. If you saw the previews for it those are only the highlights. This is not a sit you up in your highchair force feed with nothing but action and very little story comic movie. This movie requires emotion and imagination. It is a greek tragedy mixed with comic fantasy. There is a heavy amount of symbolisation that the average man may not get. The script might have needed some tweaking but the acting (yes even Eric Bana whom some of you said was acting stiff but that is actually the Bruce Banner character) did a great job. The effects are mind blowing. I've heard that Hulk CGI was too cartoony....when was the last time you saw a twelve foot tall green guy? In my small and humble opinion (this is the only movie I have ever given a written word about because i feel it needed to be defended) If you are looking for non stop action non emotional comic movie go rent Barb Wire or Batman & Robin or even Blade 2 (loved it) but if you would like to see a Shakespeare style tragedy with alot of HULK SMASH than give this a try. I guess just like always the Hulk will remain mis-understood.
Oh yeah I would love to see a sequel.!
61 Well...
I am still not sure what to think of this movie. Let's look at some aspects.
Acting: no really worth mentioning, except maybe Nick Nolte.
SFXs: The Hulk is of course a fantastic piece of special effects. It's hard to believe it's entirely CGI.
Dialogue: Even Star Wars is better
Believability: Jumping for miles? going into space? no seriously, the old hulk was in some strange way believable.
Not a good movie, think I'm gonna watch Lee's 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon' again. That movie still blows me away. The Hulk certainly did not.
62 BORING
this has to be the stupidest, most boring movie i have ever seen! i tried to fall asleep in the theater but that was kind of impossible through all of the hulks idiotic roaring. half of this movie is just the hulk galloping and bouncing around the desert.
63 All appraisal of appraisement to Ang Lee!
I can't consider it the best of characters that based from comics like a Spiderman , X-Men or others .... & about the music it was very good specially beside the special effects !
this movie should be loves from present generations as loved it the past generations ... who's knows the HULK well on the comics !
at last ... DON'T MISS IT !
64 lies and stereotype
In light of the other reviews, there's probably no need to address how bad this movies is. I just want to point out how fixed the stereotypes about the UC researchers, the military and the businesses are in the minds of the producer/director/screenplay writer that they couldn't help to lie about simple truth.
The UC researchers are by no means selfless heroes who invent for the benefit of everyone. As a matter of fact, the UC (especially Berkeley) are among the top patents receivers in the country and by licensing the patents to businesses, the UC receive solid income. And yes, the researchers' names are on the issued patents and they get paid for the new tech. In the movie, they're portrayed as communist idealists whose expertise is sought by greedy big businesses thirsty for contracts from the military. It's not just a twisted reflection of the truth. It's a humiliation of to the scientists themselves.
What's more, since the UC system is considered part of the state government of California, they're legally immune to various wrong-doings, including almost all anti-trust claims. That is, they can monoplize certain fields of scientific research and use the patents to exclude all others from their "territory" and therefore charge high licensing fees.
65 Hulk , One of the WORST movies EVER!
I usually don't like to write a bad review but I didn't want anyone else to waste their money buying this dvd. It was PAINFUL to say the least! My husband had taken our sons to see it at the theatre and had warned me that it was horrible but I wanted to see for myself. There are no words to accurately describe how bad this movie was. I couldn't even make it through the whole thing! My son skiped to the "good" parts which were equally as dreadful! I felt like literally throwing it in the trash afterwards as I was so disgusted that my brother and sister-in-law had spent their hard earned money on buying this for my sons(they had not seen it themselves or they would not have bought it). PLEASE don't waste your time in watching this. I cannot believe that Jennifer Connelly (an Academy-Award-winning actress none-the-less)would agree to star in this movie which was so awful! Shame, shame!!! I can only imagine her disappointed and embarrassment as she watched it for the first time at the screening. Maybe from now on she will take a closer look and be more picky about the roles she takes on. I would give the a grade of F-
66 "Hulk"
It has its moments and it can be flashy fun at times and very serious at others. But the movie is really a set up for hopefully "Hulk 2". I say every comic book movie sould have at least two films. The 1st is the set up and the 2nd is all the fun you can have with the charecters, for example, "X-Men" and "X2", "Spider-Man" and "Spider-Man 2" ect. I hope there will be a "Hulk 2" because people can have more respect for "Hulk". Overall a decent film with amazing effects and some boring parts. Give it a try.
Grade: B-
67 The Incredible Disappointment
The Hollywood formula: 1) option a classic story, 2) use the fame of the classic story to sell worthless crap, 3) repeat steps 1 and 2.
A shortage of quality fare for monster movie fans, which is tragic and ridiculous in the CGI age, combined with anticipation by Hulk fans of a modern feature-length treatment of their beloved big green guy adds up to another painful disappointment which leaves us once again wondering if Hollywood can be trusted to deliver anything worth the precious two hours of our lives which we gamble every time we think they finally have a story with which they can't go wrong. Well, they've screwed this one up, too. What little that is enjoyable about this tragic waste cannot come close to making it worth the cellophane used to wrap the DVD case.
The story is insufferably tedious and the effects are horrible. Lou Ferrigno in green makeup was more believeable than this half-baked computer image. Do CGI geeks spend so much time in front of computer screens that they never witness real life?
The "plot" is one of those weak Hollywood attempts at being psychologically profound or "deep," a characteristic I'm beginning to believe no one on the payroll in tinseltown is capable of. Traditionally, the core essence of the story of The Incredible Hulk is that Bruce Banner is a tragic figure, forever searching for a cure to his crippling affliction. This movie scuttles that concept in favor of a rage-addicted, "I like it" line. Sort of a WWF approach. Psychologically deep, yeah, like Rambo was a profound commentary on the Vietnam War.
Giving this "movie" one star is being overly generous, but we can't give anything less, like zero stars, or a half-star, or a small, gray, gravel-sized piece of asteroid. I rationalize the one star as acknowlegement of accurate script supervision, and because, yes, the tank scene was mildly entertaining, in a WWF/Rambo sort of way.
Incredible Hulk fans steer clear.
I reccomend watching Pete's Dragon instead, as the story and the special effects are far superior.
68 Impressive Yet Incredibly Boring
** The rest of this review is about the movie itself... but I just wanted to say that Ang Lee's commentary on this disk is one of the more insightful/interesting ones i've heard (especialy compared to those boring @rse critic comentaries on movies like Citizen Kane)... Lee joins Robert Rodriguez as one of my favourite directors as far as commentary tracks are concerned**
Purely in its visual artistry, I would have to rate the Ang Lee directed Hulk as one of the most impressively stylized feature films, major studio or not, that I have ever seen. In its design, coloring, and storytelling form it posesses much of the feel of comic books, so, naturally (but why not?), it can't stand up in terms of sheer beauty to something planetary-type huge like Crouching Tiger, but I got a thrill out of just watching for the the editing.
This is fortunate because Hulk is a drag in nearly every aspect but visuals and perhaps the acting (which is very professional, if not moving, though nick nolte and eric bana have a nice dynamic some of the time, and the general-dude does a great hardarse routine... Jennifer Connelly, as many people have noted, is hot, and is essentially reprising her role, albiet in a different tone, from a Beautiful Mind - good actress, bad unfortunate role). Er... the visuals notwithstanding the CGI for the green dude himself (hisself?), which has an oddly comic-feel but really didn't blend in well with the rest of the movie (that I've heard this film was completed in a month or two for such a major production, it doesn't suprise me since the cgi appears to be either a rush job, or the models were pre-prepared before they had even signed on Lee, much less seen the color scheme). In addition to this insignificantly major fault, the pace, although the story is largely told as a series of short vignettes and flashbacks (not much of yer typical follow-the-protagonist action movie), seems to be more geological than featherweight, which is probably the most damaging feature of this film.
So, like, Ang Lee partly delivers to us that intellectual (non-clowes/crumb/pekar-based) comic book movie we've been begging for, but fails to take it into that happy medium between action, style, and intelligence. This is sad, because the Hulk is one of the most interesting of the well-known superheroes (wherefore art thou oh Cerebus), and Ang Lee definately knows the character's potential. However, it seems that Ang Lee's person is bent towards "mellow melodrama" and other arty-director habits (like Chow Yun Fat doing ballet). These tendencies melded perfectly with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but I think that with Hulk, he was either playing more at the studio's game than his own, or his own instincts muddled the story he was trying to photograph. At any rate, I think it's worth seeing for the jellyfish over the desert images and kewl editing alone (maybe the editors deserve more credit than Lee?), but deeply regret that it was not made into something greater.
69 Biggest Load Of Crap Ever Put On Film!!!!!!!
This movie is so bad, it made me wish I was deaf and blind!
70 Too smart and serious for most folks
Few superhero films are done seriously, Unbreakable was, parts
(the better parts) of the first X Men film was. But mostly we are served up garbage like Spiderman and Daredevil (shudders). The Hulk of course is a full blown classic comic book hero, done very seriously in a real world setting (like they tried to do with X Men with mixed results). It really works here too. Of cuorse its quite a slow movie but I dont have A.D.D so I can sit through and enjoy the beautiful cinematography as the story slowly unfolds. Needless to say there is a huge payoff at the end with the most amazing CG character I have seen since the first Jurassic Park (and I hate CGI usually) battling it out with the United States Army. I was however a little dissapointed with Eric Bana who has been great in some other movies, but I felt he was a little wooden in this film. Also the final confrontation between Bana and Nolte turned intoa SFX nightmare. The rest of the films look, music and atmosphere were amazing.
71 A Let Down ...
The movie was good, although I was let down; it was not as good, as I thought it would be from all the previews that we were bombarded with before the release.
Eric Bana, is a good {Aussie} actor, and definitely a new face in town, so to speak.
72 Crouching Hulk, Hidden Hulk
This movie will divide fans. In the comicbooks, the Hulk is considered a superhero (after 40 years of comicbook stories and countless writers, artists, and editors taking their spin on the character). In this movie, for purposes of establishing his/its origin, the Hulk is a misunderstood monster on the lamb from the U.S military who want to destroy him (a very tired plot device in tv and movie sci-fi/adventure these days). Director Ang Lee puts his spin on it as the Hulk's origin is tweaked a little. Part of the Hulk's transformation is due to repressed anger of Dr. Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) from of an abusive father, Dr. David Banner (Nick Nolte). Part of the Hulk's originally written origin (by Stan Lee) is kept intact (exposure to gamma ray radiation from a self-inflicted experiment), but the added "abuse" subject matter seems trite and unnecessary. When Dr.Bruce Banner is the Hulk, the film picks up and the cgi effects are seamless. The best sequences are those when the Hulk is running away from the military in the desert, jumping over canyons and cliffs that are miles apart. Otherwise, the rest of the film is not fun or very interesting. It is downbeat and the characters are not very memorable. Many reviews state that Jennifer Connelly (as Betty Ross--Bruce's/Hulk's love interest)was playing the same character she did in A BEAUTIFUL MIND (Why not? It won her an Oscar!).Glenn Talbot (Josh Lucas) was a generic slimeball, as was Sam Elliott's "obsessed with destroying the Hulk" General Ross. Lastly, The love angle between Bruce and Betty wasn't interesting either. There isn't anything new here (except for the abusive father thing). The old tv show with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno (who makes a cameo in the film) did keep the "monster-on-the-lamb" concept through the course of the series. It's main theme was like the tv show "The Fugitive". Dr. Banner is on the road, going from town to town, city to city. He presumed a different identity every week trying to find a cure for his "condition". There was pathos hovering over each of plot storylines. Somehow, it worked for the purposes of the television series and it made for a pretty decent dramatic series. However, it didn't work in this film.
73 WHAT A WASTE OF TIME
From the moment I first saw the trailer to this movie, i thought the CGI looked extremly bad. And as soon as I saw it, i knew there would be a long drawn out boring interveiw with someone at I.L.M bragging about how there latest computer desighn was the best they have ever done: and I was right! Not more then 2 days later there was a thing on TV about the making of this movie, and sure enough, theres the guy raving on about how realistic this charactor of the Hulk looks. How wrong they are.
If it wasnt for my old man buying it ex-rental after I told him 100 times not to buy it, he bought it, and I suffered through watching it, just incase I was wrong and it was an ok movie? But my hunch was right, i should not have watched it... If your a fan, or remember the original TV series of the Hulk, then dont expect this movie to have anything to do with that, it's like how they took Godzilla and changed that in the latest one they made. The Hulk stars Aussie EX-comedian Eric Bana, who at one point was one of the funniest people on Australian T.V with his performances in stand up and sketch comedy which are the way I wish to remember him. This movie, however, was completly boring, had plots just going no-where, the most boring dialog, and as i said, the worst CGI effects of the year!
Dont just take my word for it, just look at how many second hand copys there are currently selling right now? and how much for?!
I wouldnt recomend you even watch this movie for free. It's not even worth renting! And above all, I cant beleive there going to make a seaqull to this god awfull, terrible movie!
If there going to make all the old super hero's make a come back? then why not go for somthign with them all in it? like that cartoon Justice League? Make that a movie, that would be somthing intresting, instead, here is your classic exsample of Hollyweed completly dry out of ideas, and recycling old ideas, old shows, old movies, and putting CGI to them expecting it to be a hit.... well, it didnt work for me, they need to learn to stop worrying so much about CGI effects and think about how to give a storyline a great plot.
I'd tell you about the extra features, and if there's any egg's...but I hated the movie so much, i didnt even bother to stick the second disc in to look at it!
74 "Hulk destroy The Incredible Hulk"
This movie is so much better than the series IMHO. That's all I'm gonna say.
Just watch it...make your own mind.
75 It's a good movie- don't over analyze!
I'm giving this movie five stars because of Eric Bana and the dark approach that Ang Lee took in interpreting this comic book character. I am not a comic book fan and never read "Hulk" comics, I did watch a lot of the tv series in junior high and remember being sad about how Banner has to always leave and has to always keep moving on because of his dark, green secret. That's probably why I appreciated the darker tone of this movie. Now back to Eric Bana, I think this movie works because of him. He has such a handsome, booding screen presence that is hard to ignore specially with those icy dark eyes. It is easy to miss all these quality because at first he seem terribly average, but as the movie progresses, you can really see what a crafted actor he is. Ang Lee made a good choice. I know a lot of reviewers are complaining that this movie is too dark and misses the point of cartoons being fun and goofy. But Lee's choice of having a darker almost horror movie like atmosphere bodes well with a lot of people who aren't into comic books, like myself. I think the movie is well crafted and obviously well thought of, with Ang Lee wearing the electronic suit to see how to better direct the actors. The DVD itself is chock full of extras and that's always well appreciated. I highly recommend this movie from an action thriller, drama, Eric Bana fan prespective.
76 Big green turkey.
It's ironic that the star of this "movie" is a strong, enormous, solid, smart superhero. The film itself is the complete opposite. It is weak, tiresome, stretched-out, and hopelessly inane.
I rarely give one-star reviews, because I truly understand that it is hard to make a good movie these days, and it takes great effort from all involved. I even gave two stars to SHOWGIRLS because it at least tried to be entertaining despite of its ineptitude. But I haven't an ounce of sympathy for this turgid waste of time.
The problem with the story is that there really is no story. Right from the get-go, each scene of this 140-minute monstrosity is like a cesspool, stinking to high heavens with monotone dialogue that no real human-being would ever speak in. Every single scene seems like part of an extended trailer for a bigger, better movie.
The first hour or so of the film is slow-moving. This would be fine if this time were used for exposition or character development. After all, who wants to see an action movie where you don't care about any of the stars? Well, in this first hour, we basically watch actors read lines. Bad lines. What's more, there is gratuitous use of split-screens and other comic book conventions throughout. This can be a cool effect to set the tone for a film (e.g. CREEPSHOW, NARC), but here it just comes off annoying.
We're introduced to Dr. Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) and his "love interest" Betty (Jennifer Connely), using the term loosely because there is no chemistry between them at all. Don't blame the actors, because with a screenplay this moronic, I don't think any actor, living or dead, at the top of their game, could have given a believable performance. Sam Elliot, usually an excellent character actor, is just a cardboard cutout in a military outfit in HULK. Meanwhile, Nick Nolte is left with some lines he can scream in anger. Whoa, their Nick! Save some of that for your agent for putting you in this flop!
But once the "action" scenes roll along, they make you wish these idiots would start talking again. All the unconvincing CGI effects that fill the screen begin to mold together after a while, and you can't tell what's going on anymore. When an action scene seems like it's going to be nifty, such as the much bally-hooed "tank-throwing" sequence, it ends up going on for waaay too long until you're just praying one of those dumb smart missiles will hit the green beast and put us out of our misery.
However, in this abyss of retarded pretentiousness, nothing can possibly outstink the utter foulness of the climax. After 140 minutes of corny dialogue and Z-grade special effects, we come to find out there is NO ENDING! Did that guy die? Why did that lake freeze? What are we looking at? Is that a giant hand coming out of the sky? In the end, it just doesn't really matter.
Trust me. Save your money. If you really must see it, steal it. Don't pay money to rent it. Seeing this movie for free is still a rip-off. This is 140 minutes of your life you can never get back.
-Sean Lynch
5-29-04
77 not as good as the old tv show
As a long time comic reader i saw this movie in the cinema on release and enjoyed parts of it. since i am not a kid anymore i appreciated a dramatic cerebral approach to the comic character. i feel that ang lee just failed in what he was trying to do. many of the deviations from the original comic origin were unneccesary and arbitrary. i know an exact reproduction of a comic from the 60s wouldn't stand up in the early 21st century, but to completely rewrite the story is unforgivable. the hour long wait for the first appearance of the hulk was too much. i was bored by the talking heads. i thought the cgi was effective enough and the action scenes were well done. did anyone else have trouble seeing the fight with the dogs on the dvd? it is so dark i can barely make out what is going on. that wasn't a problem in the theater. i enjoyed the bonus features especially the history of the comic. i'm not sure if there is a sequel in the works, but i don't think they have a franchise with this kind of interpretation.
78 Despite The Many Bad Reviews....
I liked it.
I must note that it does not rank on par with some of the truly great superhero movies that have been filmed in recent years. It is certainly not on par with Sam Raimi's "Spiderman" or Tim Burton's "Batman", but then, the Hulk has never had the following or commercial popularity of these other characters.
Much credit should be given to Ang Lee, whose vision of this well-known, (if never fully conceived) character remains truly to his own directoral style. Bruce Banner (Eric Bana), son of David Banner (one of many "tips of the hat" to the original television series), grows up without his real parents, raised instead in a foster home. Ambitious and bright, he pursues a career in advanced science, attempting to develop a new "nano-technology" that will enable people to rapidly heal. Aided by Betty Ross (Jennifer Connelly), all seems to be going along fine until a mechanical malfunction results in Bruce's exposure to gama radiation. This exposure unleashes the Hulk, whose presence in his body has been there since before his birth, when his father (Nick Nolte) performed an experiment on himself and inadvertantly passed his genetically enhanced and altered DNA onto his son. Now unleashed, Bruce Banner becomes consumed by the anger and rage of the parents that abandoned himand thegovernment that would use him as a weapon.
And, as Bruce admonishes, "Don't make me angry...you wouldn't like me when I'm angry..."
For it is through his anger that he is transformed. Ang Lee's monster, far more massive even than Lou Ferrigno's Hulk of the T.V. series, was created using some of the most advanced CGI to date. The transformations between Bana and CGI are seemless, and, unlike so many CGI characters, the Hulk is convincingly real, with a degree of authenticity that really goes beyond most of what has been seen on the screen so far.
There are, of course, weaknesses in this story. Some can be forgiven, though personally, it felt as though Ang Lee spent too much time on exposition and character development, and not enough time on the culmination of his characters and their conflict. (NOTE: SPOLIER AHEAD) In the final showdown in the film, David Banner has transformed himself into a monster by exposing himself to the same gama radiation as his son. His metamorphosis enables him to capture the energy and strength of whatever he touches, transforming himself into whatever he is in contact with. As he confronts his son, the battle between the two rages, and suddenly, and with no obvious or appearant reason, his father is defeated. An explination is given (won't ruin this for viewers), but it left me going, "huh?"
In many ways, Lee's depiction of Bruce Banner is a Jekyll/Hyde character, and audiences would feel sympathetic to his plight, were it not for the very dry and unemotional portrayal of this character by Eric Bana. I am not familiar with any of his other films, but in this particular offering, his performance is dry, without emotion. Jennifer Connelly, on the other hand, is immensely believable as Betty, whose loyalty and tormented love of Bruce is balanced against her contempt for her father, a high ranking officer chiefly responsible for the torment of both David and Bruce Banner.
Perhaps most dis-satisfying about the film was Lee's way of using small windows in the screen to tell portray the film as a series of vignettes placed together to resemble the layout of a comic book. The idea is clever, and at moments, really works in this film, but for most of it, it is more distracting than anything, making it ever so much more difficult to follow the film.
Those criticisms aside, this is still a well developed movie, and far better than some of the other recent superhero fare (Daredevil as one such example). Rated PG-13 for moments of action style violence and some unsettling images, this is a film that is best suited for slightly older audiences, both for the forementioned reasons, and the level of complexity built into the story.
For avid fans of the comic book or the television series, look for both Stan Lee and Lou Ferrigno at the beginning of the film in a brief cameo.
DVD extras are okay, designed more for the comic book fan than any serious film junkies.
-Scott Kolecki
79 A good movie.
No this is nothing like the TV series. But this is a very good movie.
It did take too long to get to see the Hulk, but once you did, it was pretty incredible. I didn't like the jumping thing the Hulk did throughout the movie, but aside from that, I thought it captured the comic book side pretty good (though he doesn't speak excpet for one little line).
The extra DVD has some pretty incredible stuff and even gives you the dimensions of the Hulk based on his anger level.
Overall, this was a pretty good movie and once the movie got rolling, it didn't really slow down (the dog fight scene was very cool).
80 It tends to be a slow flick.
But better than Daredevil by a mile.
What they need to do is make a motion Picture with Daredevil, Spider-man, the Hulk, and the X-men! That would be the bomb!
They could battle Superman, Batman. Hellboy, and the JLA.
Now we are talkin' a frakin' movie!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh yeah, you should see this flick, it is much drama, but it also has good action.
81 Surprisingly Interesting
I'll have to start with a disclaimer: I could care less about graphic novels and I really really really hate megabudget movies that permeate our theatres.
Maybe that's why I was able to enjoy this movie. Because whatever it is supposed to be isn't contrary to any expectations I had going in. In fact, I was taking my younger brother to the movie, expecting to spend 2 hours yawning and anxiously waiting to leave.
Yet for some reason, I sat down to this movie and really enjoyed myself. The special effects were not very realistic, and the sets weren't either, but i think that was the point. This is based on a comic book. I think Ang Lee has succeeded in taking a graphic novel and all the artistic possibilities and made a movie that can be enjoyed if watched with a light heart and a sense of adventure. The so-called "slow" parts are what made this movie interesting to me. I thought that finding about Bruce Banner's life was pretty interesting, and then we got to see him turn green and run away from government machines.
What more could you ask for in a movie?
82 I think the people who made this were insane
This thing is quite an accomplishment - it manages to be so incredibly stupid and yet at the same time, so incredibly boring. One would think that the stupidity alone would be enough to keep a person laughing through the whole thing, but no, edit in a few hours of people acting morose and you can suck the life out of anything. David Banner seems to be in a permanent state of semi-consciousness, wandering through scenes as if in a confused stupor. His girlfriend repeats "someone must help him" over and over, to whomever she's in a scene with. Cut, fade, crossfade, edit to the next scene - Humvees drive around - they're pictured from the left in the upper right frame, from the right in the lower left frame, helicopters fly in the other two frames. Nick Nolte unwinds some psycho spiel about god knows what. Then the CGI Hulk appears and is funnier than the CGI snake in Anaconda. I mean, laugh-out-loud hilarious. Cut, fade, crossfade, helicopters fly in multiple frames, people act morose, cut fade, Humvees drive through the desert, cut, fade, now it's too dark to see anything. Oh wait, here are some people acting morose again. Cut fade crossfade...
83 Would have been 4 if not for Nolte's HACK ACTING
Ok, I'll admit it, I'm probably going to be crucified for this review because I've talked to people who are AMAZINGLY against this movie, but then again, there were people who agreed with my point of view about it.
THAT BEING SAID, I HATED this movie the first time I watched it, because it was a little slow for my taste, the Origin wasn't the same as the ORIGINAL Hulk origin, and there was just a whole lot of OVERACTING by Nick Nolte.
Then I watched it again. The Origin aspect... It still gnawed at me a bit, but I thought about how he "originally" turned into the hulk, and it really doesn't make sense. He would have been disintigrated by the Gamma Bomb, and that's not going to help make a somewhat believable movie. So the origin change seemed at least... FEASIBLE. I talked to someone else who said it should have been some "new bomb" but... I think that still causes some issues...
The SLOW factor. Well, yes, it's slow. But if you think back on most of the Comic based movies, they're kind of slow because they take time to show the true origin of the character, give you an idea of who they are, and what they do. The Hulk is supposed to be a "brainless wrecking ball" and it's kind of hard to devise a 2 hour plot around him smashing stuff (or you'd have Fast and the Furious 3 mixed with a giant green monster). You have to have some understanding of who Bruce Banner is, and why he became what he became. So I understand the need for the pace being the way it was. I'm expecting that they'll have a much faster paced sequel (if rumor turns out to be true) because you don't have to worry as much about character introduction, and can get into the "hulk smash" more without explaining how the Hulk happened.
Then the final complaint. The Nick Nolte factor. Round two of watching this movie didn't help this issue at all. In fact, it made it worse. Every scene that Nolte was in was literally painful to watch because he overacted so much it seemed like he was TRYING to overact that badly. It seemed like he was trying to make soap opera acting look good, or possibly he was just trying to make sure that no one ever takes him seriously again. Either way, I had trouble watching his scenes, and seriously wish they would have re-considered casting someone or anyone else in the part.
In conclusion, the general story wasn't bad, the thought process of the director seemed to be in the right place, and my only other little complaint may be that the Hulk as a character, seemed a bit too intelligent for my thinking, though, the comic book Hulk has gone through many different levels of intelligence and or mental capabilities and this is comparably a moot issue if comparing it to how poorly Nolte's performance was.
Check it out if you haven't seen it, it's not bad, but don't expect it to be the comic book you remembered from the 60's exactly. It makes a little more sense than the original origin, so THUMBS UP for that...
84 overlong and way too serious
The Hulk is a bad movie. It has all the necessary elements to be good, but instead it goes awry in a number of ways. The special effects are good, but overused, the cast is effective, but campy. The story follows the original in a way, but doesn't realize that the material needs to be lighter in nature. In short, this is a misfire that results from everything being just a little off.
David Banner (Nick Nolte) has a son, Bruce whom he injects with a chemical he is working on that is supposed to allow him to fix himself when hurt or regenerate limbs he loses. Later, he is fired from his job in the military, and sets off a nuclear explosion. His son is home and survives the blast. Later he is exposed to a large amount of gamma radiation and develops the ability to turn into the hulk when provoked to great anger.
There's much to get upset about. His ex girlfriend (Jennifer Connoley) still works with him in the lab (he does the same thing his father used to do) Her father (Sam Elliott) was the man who fired David all those years ago. Now he wants to use the Hulk as a military weapon. Throw in Josh Lucas as a two fold jerk. He not only wants to date Connoley, but he wants to use the DNA of the Hulk to develop his own creature for his company.
The CGI version of the Hulk is almost humorously campy. He leaps all over the place and destroys buildings like they're not even there. This would not be so bad if it were not so obvious that it is fake. I will give the creature this. It looks more like a mutant than the original series, which simply featured Lou Ferrigno with green paint. The problem comes from the fake look of the action. Also, director Ang Lee looks at this material all wrong. Instead of it being a fun, entertaining look at a fantasy hero, this film is sullen and serious. Nick Nolte's speech at the end is so over the top it's amazing. Lee's previous "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" could have been more serious, but ended up being light and amusing. This is awful. Compare it to SpiderMan and you'll see what I mean.
Finally, the movie is way too long. This should have been 100 minutes tops, not 140. It takes us 45 minutes to meet the Hulk. Why show us a helicopter flying Bruce to the lab for 3-4 minutes? I'm serious. The helicopter just flies along. Why? At 100 minutes this would have been tight and watchable. As it is, you'll barely make it to the finish. The Hulk could have been really good. Hopefully the sequel (I'm sure there will be one) will understand the shortcomings of the original and get it right.
85 Incredible
I'm not a fan of Hulk, the tv show was my worst childhood nightmare, specially the scream of Lou Ferrigno, but when I knew a few years ago about Ang Lee directing and Nick Nolte taking a role, couldn't resist to face the old monster and I found one of the best movie I seen in my life.
Beyond the superhero movie, this is a very dark drama, about how the pain of the past became in the inner monster who is killing us.The story is wonderfull, Eric Banna make great work as the Dr Banner, a deeply disturbed man who lives a real inner war to keep all his pain without killing himself or hurt anyone. It's not an easy to watch movie, need patience to pick up every symbol of Ang Lee, but it makes better every moment.
The only thing bad is the soundtrack, is very weak for a strong drama like this, it could be better but is so predictable.
86 A massive clunker.
Pirates of the Caribbean was the most disappointing film of summer 2003 because it promised more fun than it actually delivered. The Hulk comes in a close second because its pedigree (from the cast to director Ang Lee) would seemingly indicate we'd get a film that's far superior to the final cut of this horribly overlong clunker.
Maybe the Hulk was never suited for big screen material, but it's more likely Ang Lee just mucked up the execution. He clearly wants to inject his films with the deeper meaning, to question and explore the very psyche of the film's protagonist, Bruce Banner (Eric Bana). Truth be told, I'm not partial to this approach, but I could grudgingly accept it if delivered and executed competently. It's not.
From the dull performances to the pretentious tone, Hulk consistently does little more than make the viewer every bit as angry as the green beast himself, only because one was foolish enough to actually fork over some hard-earned cash to see the film.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the fact that Lee wants to put characters over action, an approach that has constantly appealed to me, but there's a catch here; not one single character is likeable and/or sympathetic. Bana is a decent actor, but he radiates zero screen presence or charisma as Banner, I neither felt nor cared for his supposed mental and physical anguish.
As his ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Connelly is even less convincing, resorting to little more than shedding tears when the situation goes awry. Connelly is one of those actresses whose marked improvements over the years (she was an awful actress from the mid-80's to early 90's) has impressed me, but this is her worst performance in years. In other supporting roles, Josh Lucas is okay but perfunctorily one-dimensional as the villain, and Sam Elliot does his gruff thing yet again, and it's not nearly as amusing here as it was in We Were Soldiers (where much of it was played for laughs; he's deadly serious here). Nick Nolte is hilariously over-the-top as mad scientist Bruce Banner, it'd be amusing if it wasn't so earnest.
The movie as a whole is about anger, that seething, boiling rage lurking under the surface just waiting for the catalyst that'll unleash its ugly face. There is, unfortunately, only so much a film of this sort can do to deal with such a topic, and it doesn't even maximize such potential during the action sequences.
The Hulk (the big man himself) is a passable special effect, better than you'd expect, but not as good as you'd hope for, and while the green lug does get in a few pretty cool moments (leaping around the desert, for instance), he's utterly wasted in this movie's few paltry action sequences. There's a general rule of thumb of mine that any superhero action movie should pit our hero against stronger villains (a rule the recent X2 also broke). Not the case here, where most of Hulk's fighting is against the U.S. military. This is without mentioning that the Hulk not only has super strength and super agility, he's also practically invulnerable to harm because of a quick healing factor; a hero who virtually can't die? Bye-bye, suspense.
The one scene where the Hulk does fight someone with superior powers to his own is set in the dark, and I could barely make anything out during this battle, which hardly lasts past a minute and is wholly anti-climactic compared to the slightly more engaging Hulk vs. the military confrontation.
Danny Elfman's horrible score rounds out the rest of this lackluster picture. It's a rip-off of his own work in Spider-Man, which itself was a rip-off of his superior work in Batman. Lesson to Elfman: a score of this style won't work for every superhero.
Ang Lee crafts the film with a "wink-wink"-style camerawork, splicing in lots of comic-book style scene transitions, reminding viewers they are indeed watching an adaptation of a popular comic book. Not
