The film Text copyright (c) Filmverdict 2006-present. Any film titles and artwork used are copyright of their respective owners.
Hulk is one underrated film. On release it went unloved by many critics and much of the cinemagoing public. It wasn't a resounding flop, but it was nowhere near the success many anticipated. The "it wasn't what people were expecting" excuse is used too often to justify a film's commercial failure, but in this case I can't see any other reason for its poor reception. While the unconventional choices of Bryan Singer for X-Men and Sam Raimi for Spider-Man paid off handsomely, the even more daring decision to hand the reigns of a major franchise to Taiwanese arthouse director - and critics' favourite - Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain) ultimately backfired. What audiences were expecting was a fun-filled, destruction-tastic, larger-than-life comic book tale. What we got, on the other hand, was an angst-ridden, emotionally complex drama in blockbuster clothing.
The key point to make here is that it's a good angst-ridden, emotionally complex drama - and defining it as such doesn't mean that there's no action. When the big green fella goes on the rampage across the desert with the army after him, it's great entertainment. Granted, a couple of the set-pieces are questionable - namely the weird, over-the-top finale and the fight with the mutant poodles - but it's the compelling character-based narrative that holds the film together. The casting is excellent, with the coincidentally-named Eric Bana (the Hulk's human alter-ego is called Bruce Banner) delivering a subtle and nuanced performance. Former Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly for once gives a major blockbuster a plausible female scientist character, evidently possessing brains beyond her obvious beauty.
With the title character being a wholly-CGI creation, the effects are clearly important. While Industrial Light & Magic's claim that their Hulk was a Gollum-beating effort proved to be false, the overall standard is high. Adding considerably to the look of the film is its unique editing style, which frequently divides the screen into separate panels to imitate the style of a comic. Commendably it comes off as more than just a distracting gimmick, making its lack of imitation in other films somewhat surprising. The film's cinematography in general is very aesthetically pleasing, which is not surprising coming from a director with Ang Lee's track record.
As mentioned, the plot frustratingly goes off the rails at the end, but until that point it's very interesting and engrossing, including the 40 minutes or so prior to the Hulk's first appearance. Those who hoped for a lightweight romp must have forgotten that the transformation occurs when Bruce Banner gets angry, therefore necessitating the film going to some dark places (bearing in mind that this isn't a creaky 70s TV show). Unfortunately Ang Lee's film is being all but forgotten with the franchise reboot, titled The Incredible Hulk, due next year. Still, although Eric Bana did a fine job in Hulk, his replacement is no slouch - Edward Norton is certainly not a bad actor to build a blockbuster around.
The extras
This version comes in eyecatching plastic moulded packaging which makes it appear as though the Hulk has just punched through the front. Inside the box are a reprint of the first ever Hulk comic, ten storyboard art cards, and a booklet featuring four different comic artists' take on one scene in the film. Even the standard 2-disc edition (which is included inside the box) comes in a special Hulk-branded green DVD case, though, containing a production notes booklet.
Ang Lee clearly puts a lot of thought into what he says in the commentary, making for an informative but not exactly laugh-a-minute listen. "Hulk Cam: Inside the Rage" is a typical branching feature which I generally find to be of limited interest. The second disc has a range of well-made but short featurettes which add up to about 70 minutes. "The Making of Hulk" focuses on post production such as effects and music. "Evolution of the Hulk" tracks the lifespan of the character from comics to TV shows and finally to this big screen outing. "The Incredible Ang Lee" shows the director's considerable input into the movie, which included performing some of the motion capture for the CGI monster. "The Making of the Dog Fight Scene" goes into detail about the sequence in the middle of the film. The final featurette, and the shortest (5 minutes), looks at the aforementioned editing style. There are six minutes of worthwhile deleted scenes, one involving an extended cameo by TV Hulk Lou Ferrigno. "Superhero Revealed: The Anatomy of the Hulk" is a fairly pointless interactive feature that lets you select different parts of the Hulk's body to discover bits of information about the character, like how fast he can run. The third disc in this limited edition contains "Hulk: The Lowdown", a 43-minute documentary presented by Sam Elliott and Josh Lucas, which is pretty good but a bit too promotional in nature.
The summary
Hulk is an unusual but worthy entry in the Marvel films canon, concentrating on the psychology of the protagonist. I bought the DVD without having seen the film and I was not disappointed. It's a contemplative and surprisingly emotional film that merits repeat viewing.
