Hulk 2003 Review

(This review is meant to be opinion and not reflective of any expertise in comics apart from my research. I’m a manga otaku, not a comic otaku. Ask Linkara if you want opinions on the Hulk films from a more informed position. I have taken a couple of hours to get information to put these together. Either way, love it, hate it or don’t care, read the disclaimer before you post)

My first exposure to Hulk comics was in 5th grade. I stumbled across a comic that told the origin story and then continued with the Hulk fighting against the military as he is prone to do. Afterwards, I didn’t retain a general interest in the green titan, but when I was 16 and the Hulk movie by Ang Lee was coming out, I was genuinely excited. Although part of the appeal probably came through the trailer; what with Hulk throwing a tank, causing a shockwave that knocked hundreds of cars down the San Francisco hills and otherwise expressing that unbridled rage that he’s best known for. The movie gets a high ranking from me in terms of both a good movie experience and continuity with the comics adapted into film. Stan Lee’s cameo comes in around 12 minutes, and as usual it’s brief, but gives you the feeling that this is one of his favorite projects (along with Fantastic Four and Spiderman), since he doesn’t do this for every Marvel film (At least not to my knowledge in the Punisher films that are Marvel Studio related).

The plot does take more time than some might deem necessary, the movie taking away 2 hours and 15 minutes of your time if you watch it all the way through without pausing like I do when reviewing. Bruce Banner’s father and mother are still involved, but their names have been changed and some details are altered. David Banner (referred to as Banner Sr. from now on if possible), instead of being involved in an accident at his work that altered his DNA that he passed on to Bruce, he experimented on himself to improve the human gene (not a spoiler, btw, it’s early in the film). This experimentation involves jellyfish, starfish, sea cucumbers, lizards and baboons (a wide array of subjects, I know). But the notion that Bruce is the product of altered genetics is still maintained, so there’s little complaint. The incident changing Bruce into his Hulk persona is similar, being exposed to high amounts of gamma radiation, albeit in a more compact situation. I won’t spoil the movie’s version, but the comic has Bruce Banner pushing a teen into a trench to save him from the gamma bomb they’re testing and Bruce is exposed to the gamma rays instead. The important thing to emphasize if one is doing a Hulk film is that it is an accident. If Bruce was forced into this situation and then unexpected results occurred, it wouldn’t feel the same, since it would be the other person’s fault more than Bruce’s. A plot device of the movie is a triangle between Bruce’s father, who serves as the primary antagonist (this is again no secret, since he’s a classic mad scientist), Bruce himself and the military as a secondary antagonist. There’s a theme there that I’ll explain later, but for now I’ll give you the narrative. Bruce is involved with experiments involving nanomeds (that kill a frog btw. PETA’s lack of protest of the animal experiments stuns me) which will enable high speed regeneration. And of course the military (in the form of character Glen Talbot) has an interest in combat applications of this project. Bruce refuses, and later his father starts experimenting with a strand of hair from the lab (since he’s a janitor, again not a big spoiler) and eventually brings in some new enemies, but the primary issue comes about with the army’s desire to turn the Hulk’s DNA into a weapon application. Betty Ross, the love interest of both Bruce and Glen, is the daughter of a high ranking general, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who had past interaction with Banner Senior. The past interaction involves things I won’t spoil, but suffice it to say, they’re not on good terms. The military proceeds to try to suppress the Hulk and Banner Senior tries to unleash the Hulk in an obvious theme of similar but opposed extremes. There is a progression of the Hulk fighting off helicopters, jets and soldiers and we move on, but the main action does always involve the military until the ending scenes. Suffice it to say, the movie’s plot is solid, even if at times you feel they could’ve cut some of the scenes out to progress faster. A long film seems necessary in this case because it’s a Hulk backstory as opposed to a Hulk story after the fact, which is what will occur in The Incredible Hulk (Hulk 2008 that is). You have to explain a lot of things in detail and that’s what the film does. There are some instances of humor, though I dunno if the Hulk getting bitten by a Hulked out dog in the crotch is funny, but the Hulk also punches one of the dogs in the nuts as well, so it balances out. And don’t tell me I spoiled anything there, you see the dogs in the trailer, so that’s why you came to see the movie, genetically mutated dogs fighting a big green giant.
Onto characters, since the script is nothing I can elaborate on that I haven’t done with the plot. Eric Bana presents Bruce Banner quite well, though there are times when it seems he is more distracted or spaced out than usual. The theme of Bruce keeping his emotions in check and the subsequent release of pent up feelings are depicted and acted out convincingly. They change his last name to Krenzler, but it’s more for assimilation back into society. He had been raised on a military base and experienced a trauma that serves as a theme throughout the film for repressed emotions and memories. Betty Ross, portrayed by Jennifer Connelly, is another important character, almost a replacement for the mother figure we see so little of in the film. She says she has a thing for emotionally distant guys, which Bruce fits the bill for perfectly and then she pouts about how he’s not caring enough. Like saying she likes short guys and complaining her midget boyfriend’s not tall enough. Her interactions serve to soften Bruce up and bring him out of his proverbial shell, and her conversations with her father serve to parallel the distance that exists between Bruce and David, estranged as they are from each other. Speaking on Banner Sr., Nick Nolte brings out the mad scientist quite well, his characterization as one driven by the pursuit of power escalating through the film, tempered by an almost bipolar personality that shifts from calm and collected to wild and uncontrolled. But I suppose that’s how we relate him to Bruce and the Hulk by proxy. Sam Elliot as General Thunderbolt is also good, the dichotomy between the family and military devotions fleshed out progressively through the film’s use of flashbacks and dreams. Not to mention his clash with Glen Talbot, Josh Lucas’ character, who is almost too much of a douche to tolerate. The company he works for is connected with the military and yet separate. Not to mention the name Atheon just makes me think it’s a badly covered synonym for atheism (a-theos, theism, theon?), suggesting all atheists are money hungry megalomaniac jerks. But that’s another rant for another time.

Themes in the film are what would comprise a bulk of a more detailed review, but I’ll cover the most important ones. There is of course the comparison to be made between Bruce and David Banner, since they are both scientists, in the same field of genetics (the original Banner Sr. in the comics was a physicist though, but who’s counting?) and both involved in a similar pursuit. The differences become stark as we see Bruce wanting to benefit the world population and David wanting to advance the human race as a whole through their combined genetic superiority, almost in a eugenics sort of way. There’s a clash between “older” and “newer” science one might say. Bruce is said to be both David’s physical son and the child of his mind, noting that Banner Sr’s ambitions are what made him perform the experiments on himself and ignore that he’d affect his son. The emphasis of the internal power of Bruce is prominent and exacerbated by his father’s involvement. Not to mention he has trippy dreams involving jellyfish in the forest, moss growing on rocks and other odd stuff. But that’s more an effects comment, isn’t it? There is a parallel between General Ross and Banner Sr. of protecting their children, though Thunderbolt wants to hide Betty away and David wants to reveal Bruce’s power to the world. This just emphasizes the other theme of the military and Banner Sr.’s relation to the Hulk. The military wants to suppress and control the Hulk, keeping him away from society and the danger he poses to it. But Daddy Banner wants to release the power within his son’s genes and liberate him, turning him into a conqueror of sorts. I dunno why David can’t try it himself, but he does explain why in the last 15 minutes of the film. The most important theme that makes the movie appealing is the depiction of the Hulk as not simply a raging giant. We see Bruce’s personality more manifest through the film as the Hulk and this is what makes the Hulk series appealing to people. Bruce is almost a mirror of ourselves and what we want to change. And he gives us that hope that we can change ourselves over time. It’s what makes Ang Lee’s version less about extreme comic book action and more like a human drama that has comic book action.
The special effects are worthy of a paragraph before I conclude. The Hulk’s appearance is cartoony, but at the same time gives you the idea that he is still human somewhere. There was a lot of work put into the computer animation to make it as lifelike as possible and I think it worked out quite well. It’s very green, brighter than the 2008 Hulk, but not so bright that it’s absurd. One should be thankful he’s not grey like the original Hulk was, but green allows for lines involving stuffed dinosaurs and stuff. There are trippy effects in the dream sequences we see, flashbacks, vibration, even some effects involving Banner Sr., though I’ll only say that it is an indirect reference to Absorbing Man and Zzzax (yes, that’s its name. Lovely isn’t it?). One might have difficulty believing it to be real, but this is a comic book movie with ideas about radiation making people into superhumans, so how is this any different from Fantastic Four? The only complaint I’d have and probably along with others is the split screen being used a bit too liberally. We’re talking a good third of the movie having divisions that do more to distract you than actually give you the feeling of shared space of the screen. Not to mention a less common tendency to mirror the shots a split second after the original shot, though this is very rare in the film. The fight scenes keep the effects with guns and explosions balanced with the more scifi effects used with the gamma irradiated individuals. (Yes there are more people infected, though we’re not talking the Leader or Doc Samson; that’s for next time, hopefully).

While the movie gets a good grade overall, I can’t give it more than a 4, since there isn’t really anything used for a sequel besides a concluding scene with Bruce in the rainforest. David Banner isn’t kept around it seems and frankly the film does turn off comic book fans because of the things I’ve noted already. Not to mention the fight scenes are lacking until the later third or so of the film and you get so much exposition you’re happy to see any amount of action in the later parts. If you wanted to adapt the Hulk into a film that’s accessible to more people, this is how you’d do it. But the 2008 version is the Punisher Warzone to Hulk 2003’s parallel issues to The Punisher with Thomas Jane. But in many cases that’s a matter of details over general experience, reducing the film to parts as opposed to taking it in as a whole, regardless of discrepancies with canon. But even Hulk 2008 may not meet all the requirements; we’ll have to see. Until next time, Namaste and aloha.