HULK
Directed by: Ang
Lee
Written
by:
James Schamus, John Turman and Michael France
(based
on the character by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby)
Starring: Eric Bana
(Bruce Banner), The Hulk (Movements of Ang Lee, facial expressions
by Jennifer Connelly, rendered by CGI), Jennifer Connelly (Betty
Ross), Sam Elliot (General Thunderboltt Ross), Josh Lucas (Glenn
Talbott), Nick Nolte (David)
Appearances
by : Stan
Lee (Security Guard), Lou Ferrigno (Security Guard)
Review by : Troy Brownfield
A Tale
of Two Hours
Hour One:
The Hulk
will be the good comic book film that's debated the most hotly.
Why? It reaches further than most, it tries to challenge itself
artistically, and thus is destined to face the chilliest reception
by some of the devoted fans. If you came just because of the
TV show, you'll be a plenty mystified; the film eschews the
TV-take of "The Green Fugitive" and sticks with
the classic Jekyll/Hyde tenets of the character. At the end
of the day, Hulk can't help but be a little bit disappointing.
Even if you love good art films, like I do, you'll be a little
let down that there isn't more "Hulk smash!"
Nevertheless,
there's plenty of smash in the film's second hour. The first
hour is a very deliberate excavation of the Shakespearean
themes that dwell beneath the surface. The source of Bruce's
rage is fully examined, the conflict between Betty and General
Ross is front and center, and the mystery of Banner's father
is explored. As interesting as this can be, none of this gets
you the Hulk until 50 minutes in. If that's the only reason
you're paying, you'll be let down.
HOWEVER,
the acting is compelling and you get a real sense that Ang
Lee actually cares about the themes. The excellent comic films
always put the theme front and center (X-Men, Spider-Man,
the first Batman, etc.), but you can tell that Lee
really, really pondered it. On top of that, Lee goes out of
his way to use literally hundreds of cool camera tricks and
edits to replicate comic style. He uses split screens, dissolves,
weird pans, revolving imagery and dozens of other conceits
to convey motion. You'll either love it or hate it; I had
to admire it for Lee's sheer testicular fortitude. The man
and his cinematographer Fred Elmes (of the immortal Blue
Velvet) know their stuff.
Hour
Two:
This is
the time on Hulk when we smash. If you wanted to see Ole'
Greenskin go nuts and smash shit up, THIS is the hour for
you. While I hate it when fight scenes are rendered murky
by the dark, I absolutely LOVED the sprawling daylight throwdown
between the Hulk and the army. Every single frame of it was
perfection. And yes, the CGI is FINE; it's not as great as
Gollum, but it beats Jar Jar by a damn site, and the facial
expressions are very good.
By this
point in the film, a lot of the character issues are brushed
aside for action's sake, and get revisited toward the climax
as a couple of revelations and another big throw-down surface.
I really wanted more of this; as squarely as I am in the camp
of character development, I have to say I'm a sucker for Hulk
smash. Still, extra points for two distinctly different readings
of "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry".
I may
sound split, but I'm not. I liked Ang Lee's take on the Hulk.
I do realize that it's not for everyone. I suspect that a
sequel would be more full-on action, as many of the basic
ideas were deeply explored. Perhaps an encounter between the
Hulk and his opposite, The Leader, would make for a solid
second film. I noted before that the fault of "Daredevil"
was perhaps hewing too closely to the original, while if Hulk
has a problem, it's that it becomes more concerned with loftier
issues.
Still,
if you don't mind a little challenge with your popcorn, and
you won't let a couple of continuity reshuffles drive you
nuts, you'll dig "Hulk".
Troy's the Editor-in-Chief. Hey, where the hell was Rick Jones?
You can email him here.
|
