Hulk 2008 Review

After putting in time to watch the 2 hour and 15 minute epic called titled Hulk, I watched The Incredible Hulk (movie, not the show) the next day. It was made 5 years or so after the 2003 film by Ang Lee, this time directed by Louis Leterrier. The more important thing I find with comic book films is the writer and this time it was Zak Penn and Edward Norton (not credited commonly), main star of the film. Penn wrote drafts for both this and the earlier Hulk film as well as a future release featuring the Avengers and Hulk along with them hopefully. This version not only feels more like an action film with drama inserted in to ease the tension, but it feels more like an authentic Hulk comic book experience. The rating will wait until the end, but it is no surprise that more people enjoy this much more than Ang Lee’s version. A primary reason is probably because of the resonance of the backstory with that of the 70s TV series and I’ll explain why later. Stan Lee’s appearance is brief, but more amusing, apparently getting gamma poisoning from a soda that had a bit of Bruce Banner’s blood in it (though I dunno how they missed it, it was a big enough stain on the bottle in the plant)

The plot presents a formula that’s pretty easy to follow. We begin with Bruce in Brazil and some exposition before that of the backstory, which I have a slight complaint to interject about. The accident is more an unexpected one in this version, Bruce experimenting on himself with the gamma radiation treatment of some sort involving a crosshair going over his body it seems. This is in line with how the transformation begins in the TV show starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. Not to mention Bruce is deceived by Betty’s dad about the nature of the project, which only makes the accident less unexpected. It’s still a compelling story to make Bruce admirable and able to be related to as a person. He took a risk and took the results of that risk. He begins to learn to control this power through breathing exercises and Brazilian jujutsu (seriously) and eventually we shift to the other part of the formula, military scenes involving General Ross and Emil Blonsky, the two main antagonists. Then we shift to Bruce and the military together in a synthesis scene where they seek him out. And after the incident, transformation and all, we start the process over with a new Bruce scene, new military scene and then another fusion. This is a good way to keep the flow between Bruce and Betty’s relationship and subsequent quest to cure himself of the Hulk and the military’s crusade to hunt Banner down and get the secrets he holds in his irradiated/mutated DNA. The progression takes less time, but the film is still nearly 2 hours long overall, so both of these movies do require a commitment of more time than shorter films like Daredevil and Elektra (though only by 10-20 minutes admittedly). You don’t get bored so much though and this is due to a more concise method. There’s a simple flow of the plot that progressively reveals secrets and details that one inquires about initially. And it definitely maintains the action genre over the more dramatic and less action oriented film that Ang Lee presented. There’s only one complaint I’d bring up in terms of believable actions. Banner swallows a flash drive with data about his experiments with the gamma radiation on his blood and later (don’t ask me how) regurgitates it. I dunno if it’s like Jigsaw in Saw and he wrapped it in a condom or something or it’s just his Hulk anatomy, but it just made me incredulous. Everything else could be ignored by virtue of comic book context, but not Bruce Banner transforming into the Hulk and not destroying the flash drive with the Hulk’s digestive acids. This is balanced out somewhat by the presence of Lou Ferrigno in a scene as a security guard (which he played in Hulk 2003 but in a scene that was deleted), who played the Hulk persona of Bruce Banner in the 70s TV show. He even gets a free pizza from Bruce, so it’s not a big problem.
There are some good lines that come in the film, ranging from Banner fudging up the line “You’re making me angry...you won’t like me when I’m angry” in Portuguese to the classic “Hulk smash!” line near the conclusion. Not to mention Blonksy’s progression to his monstrous form and the lines leading up to it, including one stating that after receiving another treatment of bio-enhancing serum, he feels “Like a monster”. There is another funny line in the final battle between Hulk and Abomination where General Ross tells the soldier at the helicopter chain gun to “Protect the green one!” making me think it’s a subtle joke about military colors. Moving on to the cast.

There are four main characters, with two supporting characters I’ll bring in when they’re relevant. Bruce Banner, portrayed by Edward Norton, is similar to Eric Bana’s version in the other version. There is a sense this time around that he has had experience and is not new to the idea of the Hulk. This is written 5 years after the fact of what might be the original backstory of the Hulk that Ang Lee attempted to put together in the last film. But all things considered, Bruce Banner is distinguished from other Marvel characters presented in film that are of a similar ilk. Peter Parker, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner are all men with female issues and general complexes about their powers. Banner is distinguished from Tony Stark in that he is a professional scientist and from Peter Parker in that he is more experienced and less immature. His romantic relationship with Betty Ross is still present in this film, subdued in some ways and complicated by the involvement of Doc Samson, though you’d almost never realize he was the same character from the comics. Betty Ross, portrayed by Liv Tyler, is Jennifer Connelly’s equal in her attachment to Bruce and her desire to aid him. Her relationship with Bruce and her father serves as a distinct triangle, not complicated by a secondary love interest so much, as Doc Samson seems quite willing to let Bruce and Betty get back together. General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross is portrayed by William Hurt this time around and does an equally superb job as the hot blooded patriot. I would complain in some effect that he is presented as a less sympathetic character than in the Ang Lee version, though in that plot he was less interested in the weapon applications the Hulk offered and more in protecting the U.S.A. from danger, so he was almost flatter. As I already explained he deceived Bruce about the gamma radiation experiments’ application and hid the truth from his own daughter as well. But frankly he is only so unlikeable compared to the main villain. The main antagonist is the Hulk’s first real enemy portrayed in a film so far as their true identity (unlike Absorbing Man and Zzzax in Hulk 2003). Emil Blonsky, a combination Russian/British special ops type agent is introduced early on and progressively becomes the Abomination as he is tentatively referred to as. Initially he is an ambitious soldier wanting to keep fighting on, despite being nearly 40. In a deal with General Ross, he gets involved in an enhancement project that is interconnected to the accident that gave Bruce his condition of changing into the Hulk. Though it’s unclear as to whether Banner and Blonsky are involved with the same serum or just interconnected by Bruce’s idea to create resistance to gamma radiation. It’s likely that it’s the latter since there’s not an indication that Bruce injected himself with anything. Blonsky can be characterized as especially ambitious and daring, taking the shots of the super soldier serum (Captain America’s serum?) into his muscles and his bone marrow. Not to mention he later gets the hell beaten out of him and regenerates almost overnight. His progression eventually comes to getting an infusion of Bruce’s blood and his transformation into what I’d definitely say is a better look than the original version, which was like the Creature from the Black Lagoon on steroids. I won’t spoil details, but suffice it to say, he serves as a good replacement for David Banner in the other film and also serves as a parallel of sorts to General Ross, though even more ambitious, and not as patriotic. The other minor character I found to be relevant, more in the upcoming Avengers film, is Dr. Samuel Sterns, otherwise called Leader in comic canon (though he wasn’t a doctor in the comics). His involvement is earlier than we think and his later appearance closes with an exposure to Bruce Banner’s irradiated and mutated blood as well, demonstrating some effects that already give us a taste of what will be in the future film. He serves as a definite contrast and comparison to Bruce as well. They’re both scientists, but Bruce seems to have his head on straight and realizes the risks involved, while Sterns seems to care little for the consequences or dangers that may occur with unleashing the Hulk in his laboratory and possibly getting crushed by either him or the Abomination later on. Makes you wonder where Doc Samson’s gamma hair and such will come in with the possible Hulk trilogy.

The Hulk effects are the primary concern with any fan and in this case it’s what was best with the 2003 version and taking away the brighter green. This shade is darker and the details with the Hulk’s body are raw and almost grotesque with veins bulging from his chest and muscles. Though this compares nothing to the Abomination’s state which I’ll say is definitely connected to the injections in his bones in particular. They have odd sound wave guns to disable the Hulk and the effects of their warping the air are well done. The transformations are probably intentionally kept hidden or at least obscured by smoke, shadow or a camera angle. Banner transforms 4 times, once that’s short lived and 3 times that are obscured by one or more environmental conditions. Which only makes you appreciate seeing the one change with some detail of the metamorphosis into the green behemoth on Bruce all the more. At least the effects don’t confuse us as to the size of the Hulk. He keeps a consistent 7 or 8 feet, which is one of three sizes he had in the other film, the tallest at 15 feet officially. And Abomination by going through more treatment and just being the bad guy is necessarily a larger and more imposing figure to fight the Hulk. But he talks much more than the Hulk, which offers more contrast between the two mutates, since Hulk speaks maybe 3-4 times in the whole film. Can’t say there’s much else that comes to mind for effects besides the warping on Dr. Stern’s head after being affected by Banner’s blood on a wound on his forehead. Very squirmy and creepy to boot.

In concluding this series, I hate to say I’m divided and ambivalent on the two movies, but I guess I try to think from the director’s point of view or a general audience. If you reduce any comic book series to certain parts and say the whole movie falls apart because the story isn’t 100% how you want it or characters are changed in some way (usually minor) then you’re setting the standards too high and should probably continue to appreciate the comics for what they are. Either that or work your way into show business and see if you can direct a superior comic book film to your liking and make a profit. But that tends to be the difficult thing to do if pandering to a crowd beyond the comic book fans. With Ang Lee we see more drama and more investigation of the Hulk in the start, an earlier Bruce Banner and his confrontation of the monster within. With Zak Penn and Edward Norton’s script we get something quite similar to Punisher Warzone, depicting the Hulk years after the fact and yet still dealing with his past. With this in mind, I give the film a solid 5, though again not 100%, but that’s virtually impossible to attain by movie standards (No Citizen Kane or The Godfather?). This is only to say that Hulk 2008 puts the Hulk’s figure in a movie that uses all the talents he has in the right genre. Ang Lee may have tried too hard to make a film that humanized the Hulk and failed the comic fans’ expectations. But this one is hardly consistent either, considering that there are unanswered questions regarding the serum and pulling people from the comics and attempting to almost haphazardly inject them into the plot. In the interest of a retcon, however, this film does well and reorients the series in a new generation of fans, not unlike what was attempted with Ultimate Marvel. I can only hope the Avengers film or possible Hulk trilogy continuation will be as great. So until next time, Namaste and aloha.

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.