 |
Title: The Incredible Hulk
|
Yes, there’s more action in this movie. For some that may be all the recommendation they’ll need for “The Incredible Hulk,” the sequel/franchise reboot to Oscar winner Ang Lee’s film that underperformed at the box office a few years ago. That film was denounced by uneducated film viewers (AKA: teenagers) as being a slow, action-less film that could have used more Hulk in it. Well, this new film does contain more Hulk. More Hulk, more CGI, and more action. Midway through the film you’ll feel as though you were watching a video game that you could no longer control. But let’s start at the beginning. In keeping with their promise to rebuild the franchise into something that has a better box office life-span, the director opens the movie with the origin of the Hulk.
The origin is rushed and oversimplified to a great extent, but then the film makers have lots of action sequences they want to get to. So the movie opens with Bruce Banner (Edward Norton, who replaces Eric Bana) living in Brazil (even though the last we saw Hulk was in Africa), working in a soda factory and trying to cure himself of the Hulk blood that runs through his veins. So paranoid is Bruce that he takes up self-meditation and wears a heartbeat tracker, which leads to an awkwardly funny moment later on in the film when there is the potential for sex on the horizon. Since the movie is more about action then it is about story though, we all know Bruce can’t stay safe in the haven he’s created. Not long after that General Ross (William Hurt replacing the wonderful Sam Elliot) finds out where Bruce is and orders an attack on the guy.
So the military tries getting him in Brazil. Then at a college university. Then in the middle of the city. As this went on I was wondering whether or not the general had some superiors of his own to answer to. Surely the government does not approve of hostile military force on home and foreign soil, all blowing things up relentlessly without any foreseeable results? Well, results or not, none of this registered with me because I’ve spent most of my life watching movies where cities get destroyed, that to simply destroy things without an ounce of style or wit seems like a futile effort. Watching a clown make balloon animals would be more interesting at this point. But alas, the movie is not content to let Hulk fight the army itself, and so the army reveals that they want the Hulk’s DNA to create their own line of super human soldiers (foreshadowing for the Captain America movie maybe?).
The result is that the Army ends up creating the Abomination, an ugly...something or other that’s just as big, just as mean, and just as fake looking as the Hulk. So, of course, the two have to fight each other creating what will likely be the fakest looking climax of the summer. The ending to the last Harry Potter film looked more realistic then this, and that had wizards, lizards, and sprites in it. Okay, so the creators obviously wanted to steer the franchise away from Ang Lee’s somber affair and sell this as an action movie. I can understand that. Lee’s “Hulk” was certainly a more sophisticated effort, one that required more patience then the average superhero movie, and I knew it would be a tough sell once word-of-mouth got out on how little action there really was in the film.
But geez, did they have to simplify the film THIS MUCH!?! “Hulk” may not have been a very loved film, but at least it was about something. Bruce Banner was an interesting character who struggled with his curse, and even admitted he fears it because he likes it so much (a metaphor used by alcoholics). This Bruce describes his experience with the words a hippie might use to describe being high. Lee’s “comic book” style of film, where boxes and lines made the movie look like a living comic book, has been excused for a more straightforward approach to filming. Therefor the look of the film is typical and average.
Getting rid of Jennifer Connely as Betty Ross was a big mistake, as Liv Taylor does nothing interesting with the role. The same goes with replacing Sam Elliot with William Hurt as the General. Hurt should have been good in this role, but he looks like he’s making a kids movie or something (then again, maybe he is). Does any of this really matter? I have to be honest: I have no idea. Yeah, this smells like box office success, but I just get the feeling that it’s going to be a small victory. As time has gone by, Ang Lee’s “Hulk” was starting to develop a cult following of people who were growing up, and now appreciating the complexity of the story. “The Incredible Hulk” on the other hand feels like the B movie of the week: lots of actions, instant gratification, and something you won’t even remember by the time the next special effects powerhouse comes out.
- -Review By Kevin T. Rodriguez- -