The Incredible Hulk

My first movie date with Tammy.  We had planned to see Matrix Reloaded, but the first theatre we went to didn't have it, and the second was sold out until really late.   So we kind of ended up at this one.  Needless to say, I was pretty distracted through the movie.

I was kind of a Hulk cartoon and comic book fan when I was a kid.  (At least I think there was a cartoon of it in the late '60s, wasn't there?  Let me check...   Yeah, there was.   Anyway.)  I remember being disappointed most episodes because he didn't turn into the Hulk as often as I would have liked.

Early on in this movie I was annoyed by some of the strange camera angles they used.   I don't know if it was because I was distracted by being there with Tammy, but eventually I realized that they were trying to capture a comic book feel.  I guess I need to see it again someday to decide if they actually captured it.  I'm guessing not.  While angles like that work for one comic book panel with some narration or dialogue, they almost never work in a movie theatre.  Maybe if they do voiceover or a monologue.  But not if they have to cut away and then back.

This movie spent a great deal of time explaining things.  Banner's history, the girl's history, the faux-science that leads to Banner changing, his father, etc.   Even more so than usual with this flaw, it really broke the flow of the plot, because they had so many things to explain in detail.

And of course, for me the verisimilitude flaws just drove me nuts.  Where did the extra mass come from when he changed?  How could he leap a quarter mile at a time without going through the ground on his jump.  He weighs a coupla tons, yet he's able to sling a 70-ton tank around like an Olympic hammer throw.  And neither the gun barrel nor the turret of the tank ripped off instantly.  And the tank flew a few hundred yards and somersaulted to a stop, yet the crew was unhurt.  And of course the faux-science was just silly.  The flaws just kept coming.

Jennifer Connally was sexy as hell, of course.

The special effects were mostly pretty good.

I really like Nick Nolte, but it didn't feel to me like he fit this role very well.   I guess partly because I was getting bored with all the explanation.  But it feels like there's more to it than just that.  Somehow a gravelly-voiced bear of a guy just didn't feel right for a character who was skulking in the shadows.

On my brother's Total Movie Value Scale, Pay Per View.  Too much faux-science hurt the comic book atmosphere.

Editing history:

30/SEP/06 - Found links to 1966 cartoon version.

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