HULK, THE
Released: June 20, 2003
Perhaps a bit more smart than other recent comic book treatments by Hollywood, "The Hulk" sinks or swims by what you think of the CGI Hulk meshing with the live action. Does it work? Well, clearly Ang Lee (the director - and no relation to Marvel Comic's Stan Lee) has abandoned the wires used in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in favor of CGI effects but that doesn't mean the point behind the storyline is lost amid all sorts of green colored effects. Not at all. In fact, once you get used to the larger-than-life Hulk character in CGI, then the film is actually quite entertaining. "The Hulk" is not nearly as mainstream-ready as other recent comic movies like "Spider-Man" or "X-Men" but it makes up for it by giving us a character whose "super power" is unstoppable rage. Eric Bana plays Bruce Banner, the mild-mannered geneticist whose new experiment transforms him into a green hulking monster when agitated. The lovely Jennifer Connelly plays Banner's love interest in a role that is virtually identitical to the one she played opposite Russell Crowe in "A Beautiful Mind" (the romantic support to a crazed scientist). Ang Lee splits the screen up into moving comic book panels, the first comic book movie to actually celebrate the actual look of a comic book. Though slightly too long, clocking in at 138 minutes, "The Hulk" is a tad nore cerebral than other comic book movies but worth a look. Don't miss Marvel chief Stan Lee and TV's original screen Hulk Lou Ferrigno as security guards in brief cameos!
138 Minutes
Universal