| Sunday, June 22, 2003 |
"I Like It" 
 Friday night we went to see "Hulk" (the movie). I was always a fan of the television series and the dark moodiness of scientist turned lonesome traveler, David Banner, as portrayed by the late Bill Bixby.
I decided not to read any early reviews of the film. Not just to avoid spoilers, but because I knew we were going to see the movie no matter what, and I didn't want to go in with any prejudices. I can see where it would be vastly different than many people expected. All I can say is that I liked it. It was interesting and not what I expected. When I left "Spider-Man," I thought it was a really well done movie, but it was the same story everyone knew. I didn't leave "Hulk" feeling that way. I had been concerned that the special effects would be a distraction because in all the trailers I'd seen I thought the Hulk looked a bit one-dimensional. However, since I know that trailers are not necessarily representative of the final product, I decided to reserve my judgment until seeing the final cut. The main special effect (of the Hulk himself) was much better after final production tweaks--lighting, shadow and other elements layered in improved it to make him a much more three-dimensional character. The unique and stylized shooting/editing methods utilized by Ang Lee for the film was both interesting and impactful, and itself reminiscent of comic books. His choices definitely enhanced the storytelling. Eric Bana, who also had a role in my favorite movie so far this summer (mentioned in my previous post), did a good job as the broodish and repressed Bruce Banner using to full measure his deliberate and raspy (and Americanized) tones while Nick Nolte as his father, David Banner, sporting a gravelly voice and grisly appearance was downright chilling...as was Sam Elliot as Betty's GI-dad. Jennifer Connelly, as Betty, was actually better than I expected. For animal advocates, laboratory and dog scenes might be difficult to watch. On a related note...I think that all the merchandising and promos (everything from Oreos to Hershey's Hulk green chocolate sauce) went a bit too far in hyping this movie as something it is not--"The Hulk" is definitely a serious drama. p.s. When you visit the movie's website, be sure to click on "Bruce's Desktop" and look around...animal activists note the message in Bruce's In-Box. [ ] |
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