June 21, 2003
Hulk, ummm... Smash?entry,
I saw the Universal/Marvel production of The Hulk today, and while it did some very, VERY cool things, it was still a bit of a let-down.
On a scale of 0-3, it rates a 1.
This is my own personal scale for "how many times I will pay money to see this film in the theaters." I'm glad I saw The Hulk in the theater, but half of the reason I went was the hype. I won't be paying money to see it a second time, although I likely WILL be renting it on DVD.
(For the record, The Matrix rated a 3, the first two The Lord of the Rings films each rated a 2, as did The Matrix: Reloaded. Daredevil and X2 both rated a 1, although X2 would have been a 2 if I'd had more time on my hands. Two Weeks' Notice, Maid in Manhattan, and Kangaroo Jack all rated zeros.)
So what was wrong? Why don't I want to go back?
That's a tough question to ask. A better question would be "On a scale of 1 to 10, where would I map a 1 on my scale of 0 to 3?" That's easy. It maps to somewhere between 7 and 9. So I guess The Hulk isn't THAT disappointing. It was just hyped beyond the ability of mere mortal filmmakers to deliver.
I might also say that the movie was darker than I expected -- not Batman dark, though. More of a "the sun is shining, the sky is blue, I had a troubled childhood so I am too" kind of dark. Fortunately, I think the director was shooting for some of that, so any argument I have on that account is a matter of interpretation rather than execution.
Speaking of execution, there are some split-screen things going on in the film that I believe to be nearly as revolutionary as the whole Wachowski/Matrix "bullet-time" thing. Watching three people's faces, in close-up, as they react to each other, tells 5 minutes worth of story in about 15 seconds. The technique got overused just like "bullet-time" did, but I didn't mind. Only after I got home from the film did I realize that the split-screen stuff was heavily reminiscent of comic-book panels.
Well, duh.
Should you see The Hulk in the theater? If you plan to see it at all, then yes, you should pay to see it in the theater first. Why? Because the Hulk is a very, very big creature, and you really need a bigger screen than most of us can afford in our homes in order to appreciate him.