Jun
11
“The Incredible Hulk” Pre-Release Jitters
Filed Under Blockbusters, Comics, Movies
Ang Lee’s “Hulk” sucked. Some people say it was the best comic book adaptation to date. And some people say we found WMDs in Iraq. People are wrong about a great many things, one of which is the quality of the first “Hulk” film. It’s absolutely not a good movie, and definitely not the smash hit that the first “Spider-Man” was the previous year. Ang Lee’s approach to the character — to the comic book movie genre as a whole — was one of extreme dislike. Lee gutted the character’s origin. In the comics, Dr. Bruce Banner is caught in a nuclear blast, and every time he becomes angry, he turns into a giant, rampaging, green-skinned beastie. How hard is that?
In the movie, Banner becomes the Hulk because his father — David Banner, in a stupid name-dropping and nonsensical nod to the TV series — had experimented on himself with frog and jellyfish DNA before Bruce was born. Then there was a nuclear explosion or something on the military base where Bruce lived as a child. And later the adult Banner is exposed to gamma radiation during a laboratory accident. Hulk’s relatively simple comic book origin is so convoluted in the film, he could become a half-dozen superheroes. Instead, “Hulk” meanders for over 40 minutes before Banner’s first transformation into the title character; he doesn’t become Jellyfish Man once, mind you. You could watch an entire episode of the “Incredible Hulk” TV show in that same forty minutes and see Banner become the Hulk two times, not counting the opening credits!
But it’s the Hulk Dogs that are the greatest insult to the fans. Of all the villains in the Marvel U, Ang Lee selected Hulked-out hounds. Not the Abomination. Not the Leader. Not even MODOK. Worse, the subsequent fight between Hulk and the three Hulk Dogs is so clumsily shot and underlit, it looks like a bootleg of the incomprehensible end battle from Michael Bay’s “Transformers.”
Louis Leterrier’s do-over, “The Incredible Hulk,” opens on Friday. Edward Norton plays Banner this time, and he even took a pass at the script. From the trailers, the film seems more rooted in the television series, but with a recognizable big bad from the comics — Emil Blonsky, aka The Abomination. Robert Downey Jr.’s cameo as Tony Stark has been spoiled in the trailers to suggest the Marvel heroes now populate a shared universe. Best of all, the buzz for the film has begun leaning towards the positive. It’s not as good as “Iron Man,” I’ve read, but it’s a helluva lot better than the first “Hulk.”
I’m cautiously optimistic. I adore the old TV show and have been watching an episode or two of the third season on DVD every night for the past week to build up anticipation for the film. I’ve got my ticket for Friday night at the ArcLight Cinerama Dome. I want this movie to be every bit as good as the original attempt should’ve been. I think the filmmakers get that. There were reports that Norton butted heads with the producers over the final cut, and now he won’t do press for the film. He wanted a more cerebral version of the film. I’m sorry, but I’m with the producers on this one. I want Hulk to smash.
-Brad Lohan
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8 Responses to ““The Incredible Hulk” Pre-Release Jitters”
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All I need to know is this: the character played by Jennifer Connelly in the first movie is played by Liv Tyler in this one. Liv Tyler. Fuck this movie.
To be fair, Liv Tyler and Jennifer Connelly played sisters in “Inventing the Abbotts.” So there’s that.
Which is appropriate, because Liv Tyler, in the greater scheme of things, is essentially Jennifer Connelly’s short-bus-riding little sister. If they were in “The Facts of Life”, Jennifer Connelly would be Blair, and Liv Tyler would be Cousin Geri. Need evidence? Feast your senses: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L_BuzqN8jw
Which is appropriate, because in the grand scheme of things, Liv Tyler is basically Jennifer Connelly’s short-bus-riding little sister. If they were in “Facts of Life”, Jennifer Connelly would be Blair and Liv Tyler would be Cousin Geri. If the Lord of the Rings trilogy wasn’t enough evidence, go to Youtube, search for “Liv Tyler Nintendo DS Commercial” and feast your senses on that.
At least Liv Tyler didn’t go all skeletastic like Jennifer Connelly has seemed to in the past few years. And she has a very nice scream in “The Strangers.”
Liv and let Liv, I say.
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this new Hulk is a lot more fun than the first one with Eric Bana; plus Ed Norton is in his element, doing the “split personality” role