Film Review: The Hulk
We all still shudder at the very thought of Ang Lee’s Hulk. All the ingredients were in place: a filmmaker like Lee; strikingly talented actors like Eric Bana (the Aussie pronunciation is almost ‘Banner’) and Jennifer Connelly; and the biggest premise of all, that of a gargantuan, bright green monster in one of comicdom’s most pathos-filled sagas.
The film, of course, tanked without a hope as mostly everything went wrong. Which is why, when The Incredible Hulk — a full Marvel Comics reboot of the franchise, wisely ignoring the first film entirely — hits screens this Friday, we’re going to walk in slightly wary of how messy this one could be too.
And there are issues with this baby too, of course. The chick is Liv Tyler, who — while we all love that One Night At McCool’s carwash scene — is now 30, and looks significantly more raggedy than that; the sneak reviews are grudgingly admitting that the humour in the film seems contrived and often falls flat; director Louis Letterier made Transporter 1 & 2; and we now know for sure that, like they refused to call The Hulk by his iconic name in the first one, here Emil Blonsky won’t ever be referred to as Abomination.
Here are 5 reasons to stay excited about the big blob of dark-green anger.
5. The early reviews
The sneak reviews are all over the Internet right now, and while they’re characteristically spoiler-filled and brimming with gushing enthusiasm, it’s usually more I-saw-it-first adrenalin than anything else.
Yet the first few writings are saying the movie holds up very well alongside Iron Man — no mean feat — and most everyone seems agreed on Edward Norton doing a phenomenal job. And on the CGI being goose pimple-good.
4. The Baddies
William Hurt plays General ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross, the tough serviceman obsessed with capturing the Hulk. It’s a role that needs a blinding explosion of fury, and Hurt — one of the finest character actors around — can turn up the heat enough to even scare the Hulk into lime-green.
And then there’s Emil Blonsky, who becomes the Hulk’s nemesis, Abomination. It’s an insane supervillain role, that of an aging soldier who transforms into a gigantic monster, but tackling it is none other than Tim Roth — and Tim Roth always rocks. Always
3. The Real Hulk
Any newly groomed ack-tor boy can try and play Bruce Banner, and give him intensity and internal strife and man-tears, but there’s only one real Hulk, and that man is Lou Ferrigno.
Ferrigno, 56, cameos in the film as a security guard Banner bribes with a slice of pizza but that’s not all.
His cameo went down so well with the filmmakers that Letterier offered Ferrigno the role of voicing The Hulk in the new film. Lou gleefully accepted and we have the Hulk playing himself. Woo-hoo!
2. The First Rule Of Being Bruce Banner
Edward Norton, that consistently powerhouse performer, is known for the discretion with which he chooses his film projects, and a cursory glance at the script for the Hulk made him instantly turn it down. Yet a meeting with Letterier made him feel a convergence of vision, but, dissatisfied with Zak Penn’s script, he rewrote the film.
Norton’s a huge Hulk fan, and has apparently modeled the character on Bill Bixby’s legendary portrayal on the television show as well as his own take on The Hulk, whom he feels is a kind of Prometheus like character.
Interesting, for sure, and Norton’s always been quirky. He’s been harping on about loyalty, and if he can capture the spirit of Banner, we might have something very special.
1. The Other Guy
For those of you who still haven’t realized that a Marvel Comics film always leaves the finest cliffhanger scene for a snippet right after the end credits roll, you must have missed Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark meeting Samuel L Jackson’s Nick Fury in a fan-thrilling scene in Iron Man.
This time, kids, just stick around and sit on those seats till the theatre-guys kick you out. Because this time the Hulk meets Iron Man.