The movie �Hulk� is surprisingly as incredible as the character it surrounds. The cinematography is astounding and the general structure of the movie breathtakingly extraordinary.
Director Ang Lee in-keeps with the Marvel Comics format by effectively using split-screen techniques when the action and drama are simultaneously fraught with the most tension, and while the movie does slowly drag forth without any action for what seems like an eternity, the spectacularly OTT action scenes once they do arrive are worth their weight in beautiful desert-scapes (before which the bulk of the Hulk�s rages are witnessed), tank-crushing panache and San Francisco disrupting whiplash.
Ang Lee also directed the eccentric flamboyance of cult action-adventure flick �Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon�� and just as that movie seemed totally off the wall in terms of its style and original presentation, �Hulk� confirms the fact that Ang has much worth as a director who never compromises and is all for letting his individuality shine through in a similar way to Baz Luhrmann and his unpredictably dazzling and truly inventive ways behind the camera.
Obviously not all of the credit can go to Ang, as it�s the actors in Eric Bana (as mild-mannered Banner and his alter-ego Hulk), Nick Nolte (who plays his father) and Sam Elliot who force the story to pivot around their performances. Oh, and then there�s the most naturally beautiful woman in Hollywood film in the one and only Jennifer Connelly (yes, the �Labyrinth� girl who hasn�t changed one bit since 1986!) who plays Banner�s bemused scientist girlfriend caught between him, her estranged military father in Elliot and a scheming rogue who�s constantly trying to crack on to her in a bid to get to Banner and the potential big-bucks he could make of the mutant.
Admittedly, most Superhero comic-book characters keep the enveloping stories as simple as possible� and that�s where �Hulk� is different.
Banner becomes the Hulk blah blah blah when he gets mad blah blah blah after his father messed around with his DNA blah blah blah and Banner subsequently got subjected to gamma radiation which would kill any mere mortal. That�s obviously a perfectly convenient excuse for the so-called Hulk to wreck havoc, yet this Hulk and the characters that play off him aren�t your usual run-of-the-mill one-dimensional dimwits. They display genuine emotion borne out of the talented cast who play them, and ensure that this movie has its fair-share of � dare I say it? � affecting and genuinely tender moments. As for the impassioned spit-spats (that come of friction between Nolte and Bana, and Elliot and Connelly), away from the stunning action set pieces, it has to be said that this movie is much more a quality drama than you might expect.
It�s actually intelligent too, promoting humanity and morale and the freedom to be different� and all with minimal doses of sentimentality, I kid you not.
The sight alone of a not-so-jolly green giant rampaging along, above and beyond the finest Midwestern deserts of America with a bagful of chips on his shoulder and one seriously ripped pair of pants around his waist is worth suspending your disbelief for like nothing else - because you�ll have never seen anything like it.
And the ending is a good one too, potentially paving the way for a sequel or three�
5/5 (STEVE RUDD)
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