Hulk
Year: 2003
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott & Nick Nolte
Runtime: 138 mins
BBFC: 12
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott & Nick Nolte
Runtime: 138 mins
BBFC: 12
Hulk smash! The very well-known phrase that the titular character of the Hulk comic books is famous for. The mean, green, monster has thrived in the comic book medium thanks to the explosive over the top action put to page. It’s all punching and explosions all of the time, and there’s a certain appeal to that. Sure, the character of Bruce banner and his dynamic with love interest Betty Ross, and her father Lieutenant Ross who seeks to either destroy or capture the Hulk depending on his mood adds an extra dimension, but it’s the smashing that Hulk fans are drawn in for. So, when the prospect of a Hulk film emerged in the early 2000’s with the sudden boom in superhero films, Hulk fans were excited to see how modern CGI could bring to life the epic scale of destruction that Hulk is known for. It seems though that director Ang Lee had other plans.
Having been experimented on by his father at a young age, Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) has some serious DNA alterations which he has been unaware of for his entire life. But when he accidentally absorbs a lethal dose of gamma radiation, Bruce’s genetic enhancements ensure that he becomes stronger and healthier than ever. However, one nasty side-effect is that whenever Bruce gets too angry, it manifests physically transforming him into the giant green Hulk. Concerned for his daughter and Bruce’s lab partner, Betty (Jennifer Connelly), Lieutenant Thaddeus Ross (Sam Elliott) assembles the U.S. Army to destroy the Hulk. Meanwhile, Bruce’s estranged father, David (Nick Nolte), sees this as an opportunity to continue his research and kickstart the next step of human evolution.
Having been experimented on by his father at a young age, Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) has some serious DNA alterations which he has been unaware of for his entire life. But when he accidentally absorbs a lethal dose of gamma radiation, Bruce’s genetic enhancements ensure that he becomes stronger and healthier than ever. However, one nasty side-effect is that whenever Bruce gets too angry, it manifests physically transforming him into the giant green Hulk. Concerned for his daughter and Bruce’s lab partner, Betty (Jennifer Connelly), Lieutenant Thaddeus Ross (Sam Elliott) assembles the U.S. Army to destroy the Hulk. Meanwhile, Bruce’s estranged father, David (Nick Nolte), sees this as an opportunity to continue his research and kickstart the next step of human evolution.
There are few superhero films quite as boring as Hulk. It spends so much time bogging itself down with the science, and about Bruce’s childhood trauma (whilst also withholding what this trauma actually is for most of the film), and it means that we only get short glimpses of the Hulk actually in action, and even then, he’s usually only fighting a handful of soldiers. The story is really going for the family angle with Bruce and his father acting as a parallel to Betty and her father, both of whom are the villains of the story, and the film can never decide which one it wants to be the main villain so they kind of both are in a really clunky way. But for a film that’s two hours and twenty minutes it spends so much time going over the same story beats again and again, or just not doing anything particularly interesting.
As I said in the introduction, the appeal of Hulk is the massive action, and this film doesn’t even have much in the way of small-scale action. It’s fleeting and far between, usually boiling down to Hulk punching a couple of guys and destroying a tank before running away. It couldn’t be less Hulk unless it didn’t have the character in it. It’s a huge waste of potential.
None of the performances are particularly good either. Sam Elliott probably gives the best performance but that’s just because Sam Elliott is cool in everything. Bana comes across as confused and like he’s just trying to whisper really loudly all of the time. Connelly is just straight up forgettable; and Nolte feels like he belongs in a different, more fun film.
I did like the visual style though. Drawing heavily from the comic books that inspired it, Hulk often splits the screen up into multiple panels showing what’s going on for different characters at the same time. It’s frenetic and has energy to it, which feels weird because the film is pretty stagnant in its story. The CGI isn’t particularly good, even by 2003 standards, but I still kind of liked it. I think in combination with the heavily stylised edit it fits quite well.
It’s easy to see why Hulk never got a sequel, and why the sequel that had been planned very quickly got turned into a reboot to fit within the fledgling MCU framework. It has almost nothing about the Hulk comic book DNA to make the film fun or engaging to watch. The editing and style are certainly commendable, trying to desperately inject some personality into this film that’s just as appetising as a dry Weetabix. I just don’t know who this film was for, because it certainly wasn’t for Hulk fans, and I mean who else would bother watching it? Just do yourself a favour and forget it exists.
As I said in the introduction, the appeal of Hulk is the massive action, and this film doesn’t even have much in the way of small-scale action. It’s fleeting and far between, usually boiling down to Hulk punching a couple of guys and destroying a tank before running away. It couldn’t be less Hulk unless it didn’t have the character in it. It’s a huge waste of potential.
None of the performances are particularly good either. Sam Elliott probably gives the best performance but that’s just because Sam Elliott is cool in everything. Bana comes across as confused and like he’s just trying to whisper really loudly all of the time. Connelly is just straight up forgettable; and Nolte feels like he belongs in a different, more fun film.
I did like the visual style though. Drawing heavily from the comic books that inspired it, Hulk often splits the screen up into multiple panels showing what’s going on for different characters at the same time. It’s frenetic and has energy to it, which feels weird because the film is pretty stagnant in its story. The CGI isn’t particularly good, even by 2003 standards, but I still kind of liked it. I think in combination with the heavily stylised edit it fits quite well.
It’s easy to see why Hulk never got a sequel, and why the sequel that had been planned very quickly got turned into a reboot to fit within the fledgling MCU framework. It has almost nothing about the Hulk comic book DNA to make the film fun or engaging to watch. The editing and style are certainly commendable, trying to desperately inject some personality into this film that’s just as appetising as a dry Weetabix. I just don’t know who this film was for, because it certainly wasn’t for Hulk fans, and I mean who else would bother watching it? Just do yourself a favour and forget it exists.