SummaryAcclaimed Oscar-winning filmmaker Ang Lee turns his masterful eye to adapting the classic Marvel Comics character for the big screen. (Universal Pictures)
SummaryAcclaimed Oscar-winning filmmaker Ang Lee turns his masterful eye to adapting the classic Marvel Comics character for the big screen. (Universal Pictures)
Hulk represents the most involving superhero motion picture since "Superman" soared skywards in 1978. By taking its time to develop characters and situations, Hulk does what so many action/adventure movies fail to do -- allow us to really feel for the protagonists.
I loved this movie and I still do. I love the style they used and I love the acting. There were so many parts of the movie that kept my attention and though it is very long I find every minute to be worth it.
Some Marvel fans and die-hard devotees of Lou Ferrigno, the bodybuilder who played The Hulk on television (and who does a brief walk-on here), may find Ang Lee's whole enterprise grandiose and, given its not-always-successful attempt to fuse brains and brawn, a little bit silly.
Lee must have thought he could work a similar magic on this clunking, clanking machine. But despite a few witty wipes and split-screen tricks, he fails. Hulk is no better than hulking.
Eric Bana was the best Hulk, this was the best Hulk movie and I really think in time, appreciation for this beautiful movie will grow. Also, Jennifer Connelly is in peak form here.
Not the best MARVEL movie. Half the people I was watching it with were asleep by the end of the film. The plot wasn’t terrible, with unexpected twists and turns. On the other hand, the Hulk didn’t appear enough in the picture to be “green-worthy”. What’s more, the special affects were by MARVEL standards, awful. Still, Hulk was entertaining, even though it didn’t blow me away. Not a must-see, but not absolutely terrible either.
I did not enjoy this movie. I am watching every marvel cinematic universe movie in order, and accidentally watched this instead of the incredible hulk. I didn't think the writing was very good, no-one was really great at acting in the movie. It has been only like 3 days since i watched it and it was so forgettable that i have already completely forgotten what the whole movie was about, what the ending was and who / what the movie's big bad was.
Without a good plot, and without a main character capable of making us care about her.
There are characters from comic books who seem to be almost incapable of causing sympathy. Hulk is clearly one of them. Despite all the melodrama surrounding the character's life story, at least in this film (I'm not a comic fan to the point of knowing if the character's story is what the film tells us), this character is very chalk and little worked, unable to mess with my emotional side.
Basically, Hulk is the monstrous alter-ego of Bruce Banner, the son of a military scientist who made the mistake of doing genetic experiments on himself. It is an adaptation of the old story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, or at least it has immense similarities. Ang Lee, who assures the direction, did a decent job but lacked brightness and was never able to transform Bruce / Hulk into a character we can care about. The story seemed to me not very credible, not very interesting, very focused on the action scenes (as if the whole plot was just a pretext to see a green thug howling while crushing everything he finds) and with a very questionable ending.
As for the cast, I believe that Eric Bana did what he could with the material that was given to him but there was no way to shine. Sam Elliott is satisfactory, but unable to go beyond the cliché of the cold general who wants to use the tormented superhero as a weapon of war. Jennifer Connelly is perhaps even worse, as she is quite cold in her romantic feelings and the chemistry with Bana, quite simply, does not happen. Nick Nolte makes a good appearance, but in a character very accessory to the plot and absolutely hateful.
Technically, the film seems well done to me. It has a considerable budget and the money was clearly spent on carefully done action scenes, loaded with special effects and good quality CGI. Made to impress, they are the strongest part of the film. The point is that they need a good and firm story to give them the support they need. The photography was very well done, with a good job of filming, editing and post-production. The soundtrack, signed by Danny Elfman, does his job beautifully.
As with many other films based on comic books, this film was very well done and well thought out in the technical details but does not have a good story to tell. Without that, there is no film that can resist.