In all honesty I wasn't sure what to expect from a new Hulk movie. The Ang Lee movie had an incredibly emotional story which felt a bit too long and a cool comic book panel editing style which felt quite out of place. And when the Hulk did pop up... nyahhh. I didn't hate the movie, I just didn't enjoy it as much as the other superhero movies that were coming out, and there was that overriding feeling that the filmmakers were probably thinking "this is all a bit silly, isn't it?" and trying to give it more meaning.
The meaning of the Hulk is all in the simple premise of the character. The way he's conceived is tragic enough. Dr. Bruce Banner, a mild mannered scientist, fucked up one of his experiments and you shouldn't make him angry. You won't like him when he's angry.
That was the classic tag line from the TV show, a reference point which the last Hulk movie seemed to ignore but had everything that we loved about the character - we felt for him, that theme tune made us want to bawl our eyes out at his misfortune. The dude really had the short end of the stick, moving from one town to another, all the time hoping for a cure so that he can just be another average Joe. We felt for the dude, we wanted him to get just a glimmer of hope and happiness...
...but at the same time, we wanted him to Hulk out. We wanted Banner to blow his fuse because it was something we could all relate to as well - being pushed too fucking far and desperately wanting to just let loose, without having to think of the consequences. The Hulk is that release in all of us, just a 1000 times more powerful.
And green.
That's the main problem with making a Hulk movie, isn't it? The green. Believing in a 12 foot not-so-jolly green giant. Whilst the CGI has advanced, it's still not 100% satisfactory, not in the same way it felt to watch Transformers and go "holy shit, it's Optimus Prime!" (even with the bitchin' flames).
As I watched the movie, there was first that sense of "okay..." with the first appearance of the Hulk. A kind of "he's better, but still..." feeling about the CGI. The main problem is that the Hulk is so human-like, and to believe that a humanoid being is 12 feet tall and green is a pretty tough sell unless it really looks like one. The other problem is that we all have an image of the Hulk in our heads from the TV show, and unlike other comic book adaptations at the time, we could believe the Hulk. Lou Ferrigno (here in a cameo) brought the character to life, even with the dodgy wig. We accepted him and believed him. We had never seen Optimus Prime in real life, so it gives the CGI guys a bit more room. We've seen the Hulk for quite a while, and it's not just believability that's the issue, it's breaking the mold.
But unlike the first Hulk movie, we see him for a good part of the movie and after a while he grows on you and you accept his appearance, the same way we accepted Lou Ferrigno (at least, for the duration of the movie). When Abomination pops up, though, it felt a bit more believable, which I think is because of the whole issue of believability - we've never seen Abomination, so when we're introduced a new CG character it's easier to accept. Of course, by this point we've seen a good chunk of Hulk footage to accept him too, smashing through all and sundry.
And boy, does Hulk smash.
Unlike the first movie, this one doesn't play out the drama too well. I love Edward Norton as an actor, as well as Tim Roth, but the story felt like filler, hitting the right points, pushing the story forward, but it wasn't anything spectacular compared to the brilliant scripting of sequel superhero movies like Spiderman 2 and X-Men 2. But when the Hulk pops up and starts kicking ass, he kicks ass. Most of the trademark moves of the comics are all here, and you see just how powerful a hulking green giant can be. And when he locks arms with Abomination, it's like watching Godzilla vs. Ultraman or something, a real clash of the titans crash boom bang destruction sequence that will have you cheering.
Directed by Louis Leterrier, I felt the same way about this movie as I did with the Transporter movies - I wasn't really interested in the story as much as I was amazed by the action sequences. Crazy, unique and mind-blowing action sequences from the mind of an insane Frenchman.
I wonder what Godard would say?
