2003-06-23 - 12:17 a.m.

The Incredible Hulk

I saw The Hulk today.  Another film based on the comic books of my childhood.  I was worried about this one because most of the previews looked pretty bad.  The first teaser I saw last year was good, but after that they were no good.  I was worried that the CGI Hulk would look like Schreck.  And I started to hear a lot of criticisms of the film from people who were not comic book readers from years back.

The film was directed by Ang Lee, which I thought would be a good thing.  He makes beautiful films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  I thought it likely that, at the very least, it would not look like an ordinary Hollywood film.  It did and it didn't.  If you know what I mean.

Back in 1963 a comic book called The Incredible Hulk hit the stands.  It was the brainchild of Stan Lee, the same man who created Spider-man, The Fantastic Four and many others.  It was about a scientist who created a new atomic bomb powered by mysterious gamma radiation.  The scientist, Dr Bruce Banner, was caught in the blast while trying to save a teen who had wandered onto the blast site.  Dr Banner would turn into a giant gray hulking creature with incredible strength.  The Hulk would go on a rampage destroying everything in his path all the while blaming the puny humans who got in his way.   A short time later he turned from gray to green and, once they referred to him as Robert Banner because they forgot his name while writing the comic book.

I don't know why I liked it.  I just did.  The Hulk was part of the Marvel universe.  He beat up bad guys and good guys.   He was just a huge, bulky misunderstood monster who was unable to control the rage which emanated from no specific place within.  It appealed to disenfranchised prepubescent males like me.

Even the cheesy 1970's tv show held some interest for me.  It was awful in so many ways, but I watched it nonetheless.

The film I saw today was so much more than the colorful comic books of my youth.  There were a lot of close ups that were extremely close.  It moved slowly and established a story line.  And it created a depth to this simple Jekyll and Hyde story.  Now the plot is linked to the origin of rage.  A father's self indulgence and self-importance is handed down to the son.  The son is haunted by faint memories and nightmares.

What a moving analogy.   All of the imagery in this film was so perfect.   The Asian type houses, the wood, the water, and the technology were all so well placed.  The camera got right into the faces of the characters and stayed there.  And all the faces were interesting.

And then there was the Hulk.  It is true that he was not real, and he did not really look real, but I forgot about that as I watched.  He was the right color green.  His face looked right.  His body looked real, if not phallic.  And the way he bounded across the landscape in leaps was exactly like the comic book.  They made it real and I loved it.

There were a few scenes that made me want to laugh, mostly involving a poodle.  But I did like this film.  I was happy that the same points that people criticized were the ones I liked.  The film moved slowly.  The characters did not emote except the CGI Hulk who emoted all over the place.  It was other worldly and very familiar.

I felt bad for all the people who packed into the theater with their very small children.  I guess they thought they were going to see some sort of cartoon.  So there was a lot of shifting in seats and a LOT of getting up and walking around.  There were several cranky kids in the theater whose mammas had to get up and take them outside.

Will it hold up?  Will I care about this movie five years from now?  I don't know.  It doesn't matter.  Today I consumed it.  I contributed to the millions of dollars the film brought in.  It made more money in its opening weekend than any other film that opened in June.

In your face film industry!  Just keep them coming.  I want more Spider-man, more Hulk, more X-Men, and I want The Avengers, The Mighty Thor, Iron Man, Dr Strange, The Fantastic Four, Captain America, Namor, The Silver Surfer, Luke Cage, Nova, and more, more, more!

Jimmy
 

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