The Incredible Hulk [and it doesn't suck!]

[dark77778]

Sure, it's not Iron Man, and yeah, the last Hulk movie was outright bogus from what I heard, but man did they hit everything right with this one or what? Where Iron Man had itself a nice balance of depth, comedy and some action flavor with limited threats, in this film you really feel the shift from the different superheroes. Stark's a buisnessman who can do whatever the heck he wants, where Banner's a weak grad student on the run from the military in "New York" aka Toronto. If you live in the city, go out and see this film and it'll make you feel proud. Really great stuff. I can't remember all of it 'cause I've been away for two days after seeing it but let's see if I can recap some of the strong and weak moments.

Strong:
-Use of camera: Man the shots are so deliberate in terms of framing you have no idea. I could swear that at one point when there was a fireball on screen, I felt the heat. I know it's impossible but I swear it.
-Acting and casting: Yeah, it's not Iron Man, but it fits perfectly.
-Action: It's the HULK! Big green monster with gamma infused cells. Banner=Acting and trying to find a cure while dodging bullets.
Hulk=Smash! Smash! Smash!...trust me, you'll find yourself cheering for the green guy during the final fight.
-Balanced
-Falcon Kick: There's two of them!

Weak:
-Beauty and the Beast moments are corny as all get out, but they're not overplayed.
-Pacing: Just because it's balanced, doesn't mean it's paced well. Some things make you go 'huh?' and then quickly dismiss it as the action picks up.

Different from Iron Man:
-Humor: Not as much, but still quality. Different type of humor too.
-Stark: Won't spoil it.
-End Credits: Nothing, don't waste your time, there's nothing at the end.

So yeah, there really isn't much to criticize with this one. It's a lot of fun, and if you look deeply into it, you're looking too deep into it, and if you're just looking at it for the action, you're not looking at it at all. Like I said, it's balanced, it's fun, it's good. Go see it. Zanzibar!

[Also I finally saw Speed Racer, but my comments on that to come in the Speed Racer forum.]

[[adam]]

Ya now, it's nice to see someone finally say that this movie hit pretty spot on. If you look at half the "hardcore Marvel" blogs, it seems to be catching nothing but heat and bad reviews. I for one share your points of view on this almost exactly. It was pretty spot on, GREAT use of camera, definitely a different flavor then Iron Man, but not in a bad way. I would also agree with pacing, though that's been relatively consistent quality since the new Marvel studios started. They'll get it yet.

[mr cow]

as a pretty self-proclaimed marvel zombie- i really liked this film. many a geek moment, and the action was fun. i only wish there was more banner.

it's not perfect- but who cares. hulk smash!

[dark77778]

it's not perfect- but who cares. hulk smash!

I actually raised my arms and did the motions and whispered "Hulk Smash" at that point in the film. It was perfectly placed.

[SonOfaRich]

This film was all about Cutting 'to the chase'. Like his other films, The Transporter series, it doesn't want to bother you with facts and logic. I would compare this to something more like The Fantastic Four 2. I feel as though they did not utilize the actor's talents enough and I did come out with a splitting headache. After watching this, I kinda miss the old Hulk.

[Ganter]

I'm kind of with Sonofarich on this one... except maybe more unsatisfied.

I thought the film was tedious and gross, I really did not like the wormy skin on the hulk. He looked disgusting, and every time he was on screen it really put me off. That final battle sequence was so gross, I had to look away. All those quivering veins and rubbery muscles... It was like looking at two giant pigs slapping against each other. Gross! Plus, Liv Tyler's character was really meaningless, she was only there to look weepy and say "no, stop!" and "it's okay...". I'm kind of tired of stories where someone gets strapped onto a table and gets injected with some kind of substance by a "scientist".

I'm probably the only one who felt this way, so I admit my impression is very particular. Sigh... I guess this movie just wasn't for me.

[Kazu]

I thought it was okay. Pretty much what I expected, except the length. I was expecting this film to feel light on its feet, but it felt really long.

Both of the recent Marvel films seem to be following a similar pattern. Iron Man opens with an amazing first act, followed by a strong second act, and finishes with an average third act. The Incredible Hulk begins with a pretty good first act (really enjoyed the Brazil scenes), followed by an average second act, and finishes with a weak third act.

spoilers...kinda...

The scene where Banner decides to fight the Abomination really hurts the film. If only they had the Abomination kidnap Betty- and Bruce would then have to go after her- at least the characters would have remained consistent. As it is, I was pulled out of the film by Bruce's immediate insistence on becoming a weapon to fight the Abomination even if it means separating himself once again (or perhaps forever) from the woman he loves and becoming the very thing he's been working so hard to fight against. I mean, at least give the guy some time to ponder the decision! It goes against everything the film had been building up for the characters at that point and abandoned them in light of a cool fight scene. The fight scene is indeed pretty neat (and expensive-looking), but it could have at least meant something. This is similar to the problem I had with the final battle sequence in Iron Man. For all the history built up between Tony Stark and Obadiah Stane, that final fight seemed to mean little more than two half-powered robots duking it out. Anyway, The Incredible Hulk has a few cool things going for it (like the first Hulk scene), but the story's failure to find grounding and purpose is a disservice to the action, which was actually pretty fun to watch.

[dark77778]

Yeah, that decision-thing caught me for a second too Kazu, but I dismissed it because I couldn't quite put my finger on what was wrong, but the way you put it is essentially true. I guess you can chalk that one up to plain ol rushing >_< Like I said, pacing=bad.

Heh, yeah Ganter it doesn't seem like it would be your type of film if the visuals like that turned you off, though I know what you mean. Some scenes made me think of some of the gross stuff I've seen on UFC while at a bar.

I wouldn't compare it to Fantstic 4 though because those movies were just stupid, they made me feel like I was loosing brain cells just by watching it. I felt that this movie was just simple, because truthfully there isn't much to The Hulk in the first place. Punch, Smash, Kick, whatever. I didn't find that the movie was trying to do anything more than what was nessisary. Maybe that's a bad thing, but in this case I think that if they tried to do any more with it, it'd be corny and unessisary.