Hulk

I tried not to build up my expectations too much when this film first came out. I mean, it was the Hulk (!), and with Ang Lee directing (double !), therefore it had to be good. Nothing would prepare me for the end result though... it was unlike anything I had see before. An actual comic book on screen, and a genuine attempt to steer it towards a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions rather than presenting it as a standard action piece. As such, it remains unpopular amongst fans, but I will continue to honour it as a deeply flawed but courageous attempt to do something different with the genre.

The story of the Hulk is an essentially tragic one, like a comic book Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and Ang Lee seems intent on stretching out this vein of thought for the film. The film Hulk is tragic in the way that only a comic can be. The human drama builds, piecing together layers of understanding and never quite making it clear to us until the great green one himself appears. Admittedly, the film is a little slow to get to this pivotal point, but it manages to hold our attention through it's kinetic and hyper-visual style of direction. Ang Lee employs comic-book styled cells and other directorial innovations along these lines, using them to brilliant effect alongside a great score reminiscent of the original Hulk television series.

Eric Bana doesn't actually do all that much acting, considering it's the CGI Hulk that gets to be the angry one, but his performance is okay for what it requires. Nick Nolte's mad scientist role was fun to watch, but the motivations behind his character seemed a little too muddled for most of the time. Sam Elliot probably shines the most as the ambivelent military man, Ross. The CGI Hulk itself is awesome (I think I prefer it a lot more to the version seen in the more recent The Incredible Hulk)... whilst it's not 100% realistic it seems perfectly suited to the style of the film, and it's wise to remember that a giant green man with purple pants is never going to seem "100% realistic".

This is a worthy film adaptation of the concept... unlike a lot of other comic-based films, the 'hero' himself is the main story (Bruce Banner and his ulter ego - as characters - sit somewhere between protagonist and antagonist), and Ang Lee's concentration on this is one of the film's greatest strengths. As I mentioned before, it's a little slow to get going action-wise, but once it does it really kicks some arse, and the film must go down as the one of the most ambitiously realised comic-to-film adaptations of the early 2000s. It's probably a mistake that it took so long for Banner to visibly Hulk-out in the movie, perhaps then the film might not be remembered so widely as a failure, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless though.

TRIVIA: Lou Ferrigno (who played the Hulk in the original TV series) and Stan Lee both cameo as security guards.

Bizarrely, Ang Lee was also offered the opportunity to direct the third Terminator film at this point (I say it's bizarre as he isn't exactly a director associated with action films). He chose to do Hulk instead.

Ang Lee himself performed the Hulk-movement sequences for motion-capture.

This film was in development for roughly 12 years.

DIRECTOR: Ang Lee
WRITER/SOURCE: Story by James Schamus, script by John Turman, Michael France and James Schamus, based on the comics and characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
KEY ACTORS: Eric Bana, Nick Nolte, Sam Elliott, Jennifer Connelly, Josh Lucas.

RELATED TEXTS:
- The comic series created in the 1960s by Marvel comics.
- The 1970s television series The Incredible Hulk.
- The Incredible Hulk is a second Hulk film (not a sequel) made only five years later, starring Edward Norton in the lead role.

AWARDS:
Nominated for a handful of special effects awards at specialist awards ceremonies.