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Dan Owen reviews
- Cert:
- Running time: 137 minutes
- Year: 2003
- Released: 18th July 2003
- Widescreen Ratio: 1.85:1
Director: Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon)
Screenplay: John Turman, Michael France & James Schamus (based on characters created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby)
Executive Producers: Avi Arad, Kevin Feige, Larry J. Franco, Gale Anne Hurd, Stan Lee, James Schamus, Cheryl A. Tkach & David Womark
Music: Danny Elfman (Batman, Spider-Man, Beetlejuice)
Cast:
- Bruce Banner: Eric Bana
Betty Ross: Jennifer Connelly
David Banner: Nick Nolte
Colonel Ross: Sam Eliott
Talbot: Josh Lucas
Hot on the heelsof last year’sSpider-Man,is another Marvel franchiseto be given a 21st-Century revamp, courtesy of Ang Lee – director of thephenomenalCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
The Hulk is one of Marvel’s most successful comic-book properties,although its impact on the global (i.e, non-US) consciousness is mainlydown to the melodramatic TV series starring Bill Bixby as Dr BruceBanner; a man contaminated by Gamma radiation who finds himself able totransform into bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno whenever he gets angry.
Ang Lee’s Hulk swaps melodrama for psychodrama, but remains essentiallythe same animal. However, Lee’s insistence to film a Greek Tragedy, andnot a vapid “comic-book movie” sees some major changes to the Hulk’smythology.
In this 2003 update, Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) is an orphan with no memory ofhis early family life at a military base, where his father David Banner(Nick Nolte) tested regenerative techniques on his own cell structure. To gofurther would risk two things: confusing you, and robbing the movie ofits only source of narrative originality.
The decision to alter the source material’s mythology was brave and,ultimately, a wise decision. The comic-book’s origins would neversustain a movie, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that the plot isriddled with holes, relies on coincidences, and should proveindecipherable to the under-12s (who no doubt will be snoring their waythrough the movie until the green-meanie appears).
Eric Bana is competent enough as the emotionally distant Bruce, butfails to make us engage with her rather aloof character. Instead,Bruce’s lack of emotion renders his character fairly inert and hebecomes a frustrating void until the CGI Hulk bursts out of his purpleshorts.
Jennifer Connelly, as Bruce’s scientist girlfriend Betty Ross, gives thebest performance of the movie with her mannered and affecting show ofapathy to Bruce’s plight.
An extremely scruffy Nick Nolte completes the trio as David Banner, thementally fragile father of Bruce whose allegiance is never quite madeclear. Nolte is good value, but the weightiness of his performance oftenprompts the question that he’s not entirely aware he’s in a comic-bookadaptation.
The rest of the cast enjoy their paper-thin stereotyped roles;particularly Sam Eliott‘s gruff Colonel Ross and Josh Lucas‘insufferable twerp Talbot.
But it’s The Hulk himself audiences are paying to see. So, haveIndustrial Light & Magic done Ang Lee proud? Well, yes and no. Earlyscenes of The Hulk are worryingly edited and shrouded in darkness,meaning you can never quite determine the success of ILM’s labours. Thesense of power and energy is never in doubt, but quite a few momentsring false.
A satisfying sequence with an attack from “Hulk Dogs” in a forest (indarkness, mind you) is more enjoyable, yet still underwhelming becausethe Hulk remains shadowed and blurred by speed and movement. At thisstage, you begin to wonder if the effects failed in their mission andAng Lee was forced to hide his creation in semi-darkness!
But, once The Hulk’s desert scenes arrive (frustratingly late in themovie) all worries should vanish. It’s here where the movie comes alive;with The Hulk running at 500 mph, leaping hundreds of miles (no,really!), squatting Apache helicopters, hammer-throwing tanks, bitingthe ends of missiles, burying underground, and all manner of othermayhem. In full daylight! And what a true joy it is to behold.
Ang Lee wanted to make a serious comic-book movie. He succeeded. But, indoing so, he also stripped the movie of what people really wanted.There’s nothing wrong with treating the source material (no matter howridiculous) with respect, but Lee’s psychodrama is often quite laboriousand confusingly plotted.
Nobody wanted The Hulk to be just another feast of special-effects, butLee’s movie fails to even show a solid comedic side. There is just onefunny line (about a “mutant French poodle”) and one sight-gag (when theHulk bends a tank’s gun to point at its occupant). And that’s it. Unlessyou count creator Stan Lee and ex-Hulk actor Lou Ferrigno’s cameoroles…
Sadly, unlike last year’s Spider-Man, the sense of humour is missingfrom The Hulk, and only replaced with intermittent spectacle. Audiencesare expected to engage with a trio of quite unappealing charactersemoting through a contrived plot of flashbacks and dream sequences. Andit proves quite difficult to care.
The believability of the drama is often weakened by intrusive”panelling” (indulgent split-screens to mimic the panels of acomic-book), that serve to undermine the importance Lee obviously wantedto place on the characters. If the movie was faster paced and, well,more fun, the panelling wouldn’t seem so inappropriate. Tellingly, it’sonly when the movie simply has no option but to be entertaining that themovie comes alive (i.e., whenever the Hulk is smashing things up).
It’s a shame Lee didn’t manage this very difficult balancing act of”arthouse meets blockbuster”. But, by overcooking the plot, placing toomuch emphasis on father-sibling relationships, and forgetting somelevity, The Hulk devolves into just a mildly engaging drama with a fewadmittedly astonishing action set-pieces.
A somewhat disappointing blockbuster, but with some phenomenal momentsand at least desire to do something different with the comic-bookadaptations typified byX-Menand Spider-Man.
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Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.