Hulk (2003)

The 2008 version may have an actual plot, but at least this version isn't boring. The Hulk in this movie has a presence, and the look of the movie is interesting. When this movie is bad, its funny. Being so funny its bad is better than being mindblowingly boring like the 2008 version. I would only recommend this movie if you like laughing at incompetent scrips, or if you're a fan of The Hulk.

This movie proved to be VERY divisive upon release. We heard the now familiar rumblings of 'superhero fatigue,' and talk that the comic book bubble was about to burst - and this was fourteen years ago!Let's be fair - Hulk is not a bad movie. Ang Lee doesn't know how to make a bad movie. Having said that, was he the right guy for this movie? Hmmm... The story comes across more as an art-house type Greek tragedy than a superhero flick, when people really just want to see The Hulk and The Abomination pummelling each other. They did so in the Incredible Hulk, a lame reboot nobody went to see. The action beats, when they do eventually come, are pretty impressive. We see Big Green taking on tanks, helicopters and, er, poodles. The Hulk himself looks really weird now. People were criticising the CGI even then, and of course, time has not improved it. It would be a while before they would get the Hulk right. One thing that I hadn't seen before was the framing of some shots in the style of comic book panels, a technique later borrowed by other comic-book movies (see Kick-Ass). Eventually Marvel realised that The Hulk works better as a supporting character than as a lead, but Hulk remains and underrated curio.

Ang Lee's tribute to comics and the big green uncontrollable superhero distinguishes itself with a visual style but drags with a long story that is confusing and slow. David Banner experiments on himself with a new drug that enhance the immune system when he finds out his wife is pregnant. Their son exhibits strange behavior like a lack of response to pain and green-tinged skin when he's angry. General Ross confronts Banner about his experiments and threatens to shut down his work. David Banner's son is shown with his foster parents preparing to go off to college and become a scientist. Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) bikes to his lab at the institute where he works with Betty Ross (Jennifer Connelly) who recently dumped him. There experiment with gamma radiation is up for review but they are planning a big experiment but it goes wrong.Looking to purchase the lab, Glenn Talbot (Josh Lucas) has a unique relationship with Betty's father General Ross (Sam Elliott). A mysterious janitor (Nick Nolte) with three dogs begins to work at their lab sneaking around at night and watching Bruce. The next day the experiment goes wrong and Bruce is hit with a blast of gamma radiation. In the hospital, David Banner, the janitor, visits his son and tells him the truth of his identity. He uses his blood for his own nefarious experiments. Back in his lab, Bruce becomes uncontrollably enraged about confusing memories and transforms into the giant green monster Hulk trashing his workspace. He sees his father watching him and remembers the trauma of his childhood before leaping away into the city leaving his laboratory in shambles.Check out more of this review and others at swilliky.com

This is an embarrassment to one of Marvel's best superheroes and it makes it seem that 'it's not easy being green' especially considering that the film didn't bring much green at the box office. The film is a comic book movie that's WAY too literal in its editing (though it is a nice style in an otherwise sloppily paced movie) and even then the movie is BORING! For a film that has the word HULK in the title, it's very unfortunate that the film's name is totally out of place considering the story is basically a slow-paced and Hulk-lite story.As a fan of the Hulk character, this film didn't really want to focus on its title character; instead it wants to be Bruce Banner, a sooky and whiny insult to the character's alter-ego.For 2003 it's technically impressive and well-done multi-million dollar filmmaking, but today it's a bad egg that has collective nostalgia for some, but others not so much. I'm amongst the not-so-much crowd in that regard.