Rating: 7/10
Review date: June 22, 2003
Eric Bana stars as Bruce Banner, a scientist who had always believe that his parents died when he was young had to constantly struggle with his inner demons caused by his childhood experience in the form of periodical nightmares in his sleep. When he was exposed to gamma radiation during an experiment gone awry, �something� that has been lying dormant inside him is awakened which causes Bruce to turn into The Hulk (a very powerful and self regenerative green monster).
Banner�s life took a wide turn when General Ross (Sam Elliott) assembled his army to neutralize the threat that The Hulk posed to humanity by locking him away. This was made worse by the fact that Bruce�s lab partner, Betty Ross (Jennifer Connelly), is none other than the daughter of the general. Not only that, Banner also has to struggle to survive while searching for the answer to his shadowy past�
Let�s start by giving lots of kudos to Taiwanese director Ang Lee (of the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fame) for injecting a fresh experience to movie audience by using split screens (jamming three to four images at any one time) in showing different frames of an event thus giving the movie a rather comical look (which is good since Hulk is adapted from comic book).
Credits also have to be given for Ang Lee to choose to make The Hulk into a very balanced movie that is suitable for both adults and kids. The first half of the movie is admittedly a bit too slow although it is necessary to setup the background of The Hulk, introduce the characters as well as dropping hints on Bruce�s transformation into the big, green monster. The pace began to pick up during the second half when the action elements were introduced where The Hulk has to deal with General Ross and a certain character which I won�t reveal here.
Younger audiences might find the first half a bit boring not only because of the pace but also due to the fact that it has a rather dark and mature feel to it as we see Banner struggles psychologically.
This brings me to the superb performance by the casts where we see Eric Bana putting in a lot of efforts into his face expression to show the pain that is going through. Jennifer Connelly doesn�t fail to impress me here (as she did in A Beautiful Mind where she won the Best Supporting Actress award in 2001) as Banner�s love interest who is torn between her father and the man that she love.
Nick Nolte as David Banner was very convincing as well although I feel that there is a particular scene nearing the end of the movie where his acting is a bit too exaggerated somehow. Sam Elliott as General Ross somehow doesn�t strike me as being well acted (perhaps because his role doesn�t require him to show much expression) although I do like his moustache.
As we all know from the trailer, it is obvious that The Hulk is a CGI creation. However I want to emphasize that I was drawn to believe that The Hulk is actually staring at me in person because in some scenes the CGI seems very convincing while not in the others which kind of made for a rather uneven performance. Sadly to say, the animation doesn�t look as good as Gollum in LOTR: The Two Towers although this doesn�t detract much from the overall viewing experience. Just remember not to hope for too much and you will enjoy it as much as I do.
The Hulk does leave a lasting impression in me although it is certainly not as spectacular as Spider-man. However, it is still a very enjoyable experience which is supported by great acting from the casts as well solid directing from Ang Lee although I believe that the movie is running a bit too long at approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes.
The �final battle� was also quite lame in my opinion and bit too abrupt as well, I was expecting something more extravagant but it turns out to feel anti-climatic somehow. As for the rather disappointing ending, it is understandable that the movie producers intends to churn out a sequel although I believe that they could have come out with a better script for the final scene (you have to see it yourself to understand what I mean).
Regardless of its negative points, The Hulk will remain as a good superhero movie which not only manages to transfer it comical roots to the movie but also involves a good amount of psychological drama which is rarely present in this type of movie. Ultimately, I believe that the movie is trying to show one�s excessive obsession with science and the disastrous result that might happen as well as one man�s struggle to cope with it.
*Trivia*
Ang Lee turned down Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) to direct this film. He also performs the Hulk himself using motion capture technology.
This movie holds the record for largest second weekend box office drop for a film that opened at #1, with a -69.7% drop.
Memorable quote: �I don't think you're gonna like me when I'm angry.�
-Eric Bana as Bruce Banner-
(c) Martin Taidy 2003