I had no vested interest in the Incredible Hulk movie apart from the fact that I am a comic book fan. Any comic book movie that is well made and does well only serves to help other comic book movies. It may simply be showing that the genre and non-icon characters are a viable film commodity.
Or in the case of Iron Man showing that making a good film first will generally lead to a good comic book movie.
So today, over breakfast it was decided to go see Hulk pretty much on a whim.
Oh wow am I glad we went.
Fun.
Clever.
Fun.
There’s your review. It was just plain good fun with a lot of comic book references and a LOT of Hulk television series nods. ‘You’re the man.’ Banner says to Lou Ferrigno in a great Stan Lee’ish cameo. Lou, in another appreciated nod to the series also does the Hulk’s voice.
Marvel have shown that Iron Man wasn’t a fluke and that the best thing they can do from now on is manage their own properties.
Norton is great as Bruce Banner, he just has the look, he’s small and human. I think too that he must have wanted to be in a film where he could wear a baseball cap all through it. The rest of the cast all put in great performances and of course there’s the Tony Stark scene. Once again Stan Lee makes an appearance, a great appearance, the man is truly a living legend.
Of course I can’t talk about it without mentioning the CGI. There was only one scene that I even registered the fact. I’m not going to say which one it is but I think it was more an issue of location affecting the effect rather than a really bad CGI effect.
People who are hung up on the CGI for Hulk need to unclench and get off their superior high horses. If you’re the type of person who can’t look past the fact that there are puppets on Farscape then you will never be happy with Hulk and if you don’t get Farscape then I can’t help you.
I think ultimately it looks great, there were shots in there framed like they were panels from the best of the comics.
Clothing.
Thank you whoever decided that his clothes had to be addressed. The age old ‘Oh why is it that his pants still fit, that wouldn’t happen‘ conversation can take a back seat. It’s taken care of, and yes, you heard right, the rumour is true, the purple pants do make an appearance.
What I found was that they managed to take a character that I generally don’t care for and make me want to cheer as he uttered the phrase ‘Hulk smash!’
Nuff said.
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21/06/2008 at 9:07 pm Permalink
Glad you enjoyed it too.
Rols last blog post..Librarything
21/06/2008 at 9:27 pm Permalink
Good. I’m glad it was good.
Bettinas last blog post..Meme Fest!
22/06/2008 at 12:00 am Permalink
Damn it…. why’d you have to like it so much? Now I gotta elevate that to a must see. Another $50 out the window.
22/06/2008 at 12:15 am Permalink
Rol - I avoided your review (you were indeed the first at least for me!!) in case I went and saw it and got to go back and read it finally. You were a lot harder on it than I would be, I liked it a LOT more than the previous one.
22/06/2008 at 12:16 am Permalink
Bettina - it was really enjoyable actually.
22/06/2008 at 12:17 am Permalink
Dude that’s what tight arse Tuesdays are for! Do they have them in your area? I think this one is worth stretching the film budget for anyway as it is just good plain fun.
22/06/2008 at 1:37 am Permalink
As far as I know there are no discount days around here… just matinees. And those are not that cheap anymore either. Plus I gotta take off work.
Eh… I’ll figure something out.
Jeffs last blog post..Summer Movie List 2 - Revenge of the Trailer
27/06/2008 at 5:18 am Permalink
I really enjoyed this one. Edward Norton is a very smart actor, and loved Downey Jr.s entry. Didn’t get very excited with the BIG CLIMAX action, was too spiced up for my tastes. May be I am getting old. LOL.
Here’s my review of the Hulk
http://oneknightstands.net/movie-review-the-incredible-hulk/