I just got back from The Incredible Hulk. It was what I expected it to be, a stupid fun explosion movie, so I wasn't disappointed and I wasn't blown away. It's definitely an improvement over the previous Hulk film. Mostly because it doesn't take itself too seriously. There are some campy jokes directed towards the fans who follow Hulk lore closely, especially the old television series.
The acting is good for the most part, though once again Liv Tyler really doesn't do anything for me. Edward Norton was perfect casting as Bruce Banner, and Tim Roth was a good adversary (if not a tad too slimy, in general). The character development is bare bones, leaving me not entirely interested in any of the characters on a personal level. From what I understand there is about 70 minutes of material that got cut. I guess this is where a lot of the conflict between Norton and the producers came from. But I can't really blame the producers for wanting to keep the action moving, so as not to have another bore-fest on their hands. I'll be interested to see how that footage gets included on the DVD, and if it is indeed a better movie without it or not.
The action scenes are pretty good, though the final showdown is a little lacking in my opinion. The major problem is that it just isn't that interesting to see two giant animated characters duking it out (I'm looking at you, Van Helsing). The Hulk as a character never really looks real. There are some scenes between Hulk and Betty that are supposed to be some key emotional moments, but you never really feel like they actually exist in the same space.
Ultimately the Hulk just isn't the greatest character in my opinion. He really only exists as a sort of time bomb, and doesn't have any real heroic tendencies in this incarnation. Yeah, he manages to be gentle and protective of Betty while in Hulk form, but everything else is smash, smash, smash. It's fairly one dimensional.
But like I said, I went into it expecting just that. And I enjoyed the experience.
Now bring on the Batman!
1 comment:
The Hulk has never been a very interesting character period. I still haven't seen the first movie, but Edward Norton tempted me to see this one. I think I'll just stay home again. The previews showed the whole animated thing, and I can't help but think they would have been better off just hiring some 7 foot tall "professional" wrestlers to stick in costume and have a go.
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