08-09-2020, 05:19 PM
Hulk (2003) Ang Lee's take. I do like Ang Lee as a moviemaker. He makes some gutsy moves. Here he tries to make an art film out of a comic book movie. There's some really unique framing - multiple screens flipping across his celluloid canvas that simulate the frames of a comic. It doesn't quite work but it is interesting.
I didn't care for Bana as Bruce. I'm not sure I ever liked him. I did like Jennifer Connelly as Betsy better than Liv Tyler (those labyrinthian eyes beat those rocker-child party-in-your-mouth lips) and Sam Elliot as her general dad better than William Hurt (Sam actually got teary-eyed and William, well, he phoned it in. It's a much different story than the MCU version. Instead of the psycho-obsessive rival Roth, it's Bruce's dad by the permanent bedhead hairdo of Nick Nolte, but the result of both characters is about the same. Nolte brought in all sorts of 'sins of the father' issues and gave Hulk a different origin story that was more complex.
There's some interesting dreamscape work here. I liked that. Like I said, Ang tries to make it artsy. Unfortunately, it just comes off too talky and long winded. It was a worthy effort, but Ang fails here. At nearly 2.5 hours, this film could have trimmed a good 45-50 mins of fat and been a lean, tastier cut. I also liked the hulk poodle.
I liked this version better than the MCU version, but I didn't care for that very much. It was a bit confusing to see one and a half Hulk flicks and then finish the last half of the first one. The story lines lost their distinction.
No sword fights. Not DOOM recommended.
Needed more hulk poodle.
I didn't care for Bana as Bruce. I'm not sure I ever liked him. I did like Jennifer Connelly as Betsy better than Liv Tyler (those labyrinthian eyes beat those rocker-child party-in-your-mouth lips) and Sam Elliot as her general dad better than William Hurt (Sam actually got teary-eyed and William, well, he phoned it in. It's a much different story than the MCU version. Instead of the psycho-obsessive rival Roth, it's Bruce's dad by the permanent bedhead hairdo of Nick Nolte, but the result of both characters is about the same. Nolte brought in all sorts of 'sins of the father' issues and gave Hulk a different origin story that was more complex.
There's some interesting dreamscape work here. I liked that. Like I said, Ang tries to make it artsy. Unfortunately, it just comes off too talky and long winded. It was a worthy effort, but Ang fails here. At nearly 2.5 hours, this film could have trimmed a good 45-50 mins of fat and been a lean, tastier cut. I also liked the hulk poodle.
I liked this version better than the MCU version, but I didn't care for that very much. It was a bit confusing to see one and a half Hulk flicks and then finish the last half of the first one. The story lines lost their distinction.
No sword fights. Not DOOM recommended.
Needed more hulk poodle.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse