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The Hulk, movie review without spoilers
Jun. 13th, 2008 11:37 pmSo, Adkins took me to see The Hulk this evening. We caught it at the 5:05 matinee, which is good for our budgets. From the previews, it looked as though it might be picking up where Ang Lee's version in '03 left off, but it doesn't. The movie does, however, pay homage to both the original comic and the TV series. Lots of little easter eggs bits with that. Stan Lee's cameo was wonderful because instead of making him just a background character, this time he becomes a part of the story. As with Ang Lee's version, we do get to see Lou Ferrigno again, but again, he becomes a bit more a part of the story. Unlike Lee's version, we get a few more easter eggs pointing to the TV show and Stan Lee, some subtle, some not so subtle.
I read some articles on the movie this afternoon and they seemed somewhat mixed on their reviews. In an interview with the director, he stated that he'd pulled out images from the comics and plastered them around his office and wanted to put many of those images into the new film. According to the article, they got about 90% of them. I recognized some of them, but not others as I grew up watching the TV show and the Saturday morning cartoon rather than reading the comic. According to an interview with Ed Norton that Adkins read, Norton was apparently disappointed with the final cut of the movie because he wanted it to deal more with the psychological side, more drama and less Hulk Smash. My personal opinion, I thought they did a good job of balancing the two. You get a bit of the psychology, but you also get some good Hulk Smash.
Problems I did have with the movie were few. One article I read criticized Liv Tyler's performance as Betty Ross as flat. I've seen Liv in several movies and have to admit that I've found her flat in all of them. She probably reaches more depth in this one than in the others I've seen, but still, it wasn't anything to write home about. Now, let's talk about CGI. Ironman showed us that it could be done and look seamless in live action shots. I wish they'd done a better job of it in this movie. While it wasn't so bad that I couldn't enjoy the movie, it was distracting because it was obvious it was CGI. One thing I liked from Ang Lee's version that this one lacked was putting blocks on the screen of different shots happening simultaneously, giving that feel that you were reading a comic. This version didn't have it and I kinda missed it. Oh, and for those of you who are reading this and not seen the movie yet, don't bother hanging around until after the credits. All cameos in this one take place during the movie.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. I was even impressed with the preview for Frank Miller's The Spirit and the new Hellboy which aired before the movie. Definitely looking forward to those two :)
Now, for those who might like to know some of the easter eggs to keep an eye and an ear out for, take a look under ( here, possible spoiler warning... )
I read some articles on the movie this afternoon and they seemed somewhat mixed on their reviews. In an interview with the director, he stated that he'd pulled out images from the comics and plastered them around his office and wanted to put many of those images into the new film. According to the article, they got about 90% of them. I recognized some of them, but not others as I grew up watching the TV show and the Saturday morning cartoon rather than reading the comic. According to an interview with Ed Norton that Adkins read, Norton was apparently disappointed with the final cut of the movie because he wanted it to deal more with the psychological side, more drama and less Hulk Smash. My personal opinion, I thought they did a good job of balancing the two. You get a bit of the psychology, but you also get some good Hulk Smash.
Problems I did have with the movie were few. One article I read criticized Liv Tyler's performance as Betty Ross as flat. I've seen Liv in several movies and have to admit that I've found her flat in all of them. She probably reaches more depth in this one than in the others I've seen, but still, it wasn't anything to write home about. Now, let's talk about CGI. Ironman showed us that it could be done and look seamless in live action shots. I wish they'd done a better job of it in this movie. While it wasn't so bad that I couldn't enjoy the movie, it was distracting because it was obvious it was CGI. One thing I liked from Ang Lee's version that this one lacked was putting blocks on the screen of different shots happening simultaneously, giving that feel that you were reading a comic. This version didn't have it and I kinda missed it. Oh, and for those of you who are reading this and not seen the movie yet, don't bother hanging around until after the credits. All cameos in this one take place during the movie.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. I was even impressed with the preview for Frank Miller's The Spirit and the new Hellboy which aired before the movie. Definitely looking forward to those two :)
Now, for those who might like to know some of the easter eggs to keep an eye and an ear out for, take a look under ( here, possible spoiler warning... )
