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The Incredible Hulk
Edward Norton, Liv Tyler
In 2003, it appeared that Universal Studios and Marvel Comics had done everything right. They had hired one of the greatest directors in the world, Ang Lee, who had already made such classics as Eat Drink Man Woman, The Ice Storm and Sense and Sensibility and had shown he could do action with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which had surprisingly swept America. In interview after interview leading up to the film, he had shown that he understood the ethos of the character. Up and coming Aussie leading man Eric Bana had been cast as Bruce Banner, the Hulk’s alter-ego. The most beautiful woman in Hollywood, the underrated Jennifer Connelly was onboard as Betty Ross. In a business where everyone is in it for the money, all three of them were renown for the high quality of their work. Even Nick Nolte, who might have been the greatest actor of his generation if it had not been for alcohol and drug abuse, had signed on as Bruce’s father. Universal Studio had such faith in the film, and the potential franchise, that they spent a huge amount of money for an ad for it during the Super Bowl. With millions of dollars of fast food and other promotional tie-ins and endorsements in place, it looked like The Hulk was going to be the blockbuster of the summer. Opening weekend came and the theaters were filled with Marvel zombie and fanboys. It took home $62.1 million opening weekend, which, at the time, was the 16th best opening of any film released. What could go wrong? Almost no one came back the next weekend. The film experienced an almost 70 percent drop off in audience the next weekend. Word of mouth did- what the Rhino, Absorbing Man and a hundred other Marvel villains could not do. It killed The Hulk. With mixed reviews and almost no fan support, it limped out of the theaters with a gross of slightly more than $132 million. While not a box office bomb, it became the largest opener not to make $150 million. It was like someone put saltpeter in the Hulk’s drink and all of a sudden one of the biggest potential film franchises under the Marvel Comics brand was in trouble.
What went wrong? Some people blamed Ang Lee who rewrote the script to get rid of the “cheap action.” He envisioned a modern Greek tragedy and what he made was action-oriented arthouse film. Yet, the real scoundrel was the poor CGI, which was the major reason Lee tried to limit the green dude’s screen time. People complained that the Hulk look fake, like a muscular Shrek. Every time he appeared on the screen his appearance took audiences out of the moment. Add to this dilemma that CGI was still so expensive at that time that the green guy cost an arm and a leg every time he appeared. In other words, too much talk, not enough Hulk. The franchise was put on the backburner and even though they had a three picture deal it was pretty clear that Bana, Connelly, and Lee were not returning.
Cut to five years later, CGI is a million times better and a lot cheaper and Marvel felt enough time had passed to try a second stab. Replacing Lee at the helm is Louis Leterrier, the man who directed The Transporter franchise and a lot can be said about that franchise, but that those two films are not action packed is not one of them. Before Bana had signed the bottom line in the first film, the part had been offered to Edward Norton, who at the beginning of the decade was one of the hottest actors in Hollywood with leading roles in films like Fight Club, American History X, The Score, The 25th Hour, and Red Dragon. At the time, many critics were writing that he was on the verge of being the Brando or Dustin Hoffman of his generation. He turned down the role. Yet, over the last five years his career has fallen apart in a Kevin Costner-like fashion. Films like The Painted Veil, Kingdom of Heaven, The Illusionist, and Down in the Valley were major disappointments. Even the yummy Salma Hayek, his girlfriend of many years, left him during this time. When life is serving you humble pie, you learn to swallow it. Five years later, Norton was extremely agreeable about playing the role. Along a planned sequel to The Italian Job, if this film is successful, Norton has a chance of returning to the “A” list of Hollywood actors. Joining him is Liv Tyler as Betty, another actor who needs a successful movie to boost her career back to the level it was at when she was the star of The Lord of The Rings franchise and before she took time off to have a child. With roles drying up and younger actresses getting off the bus in Hollywood every day, Liv needs a big film if she is going to extend her career another decade or she is banished to playing a mystery solving detective on cable television. Also joining the film are character actors Tim Blake Nelson, Tim Roth, and William Hurt as Gen. Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross. Even the CGI Hulk looks a thousand times better.
So, who is the Hulk smashing? The Abomination. Who? And there is the one problem with The Hulk as a character. Every great superhero has his nemesis. Superman has Lex Luthor. Batman has the Joker. Spider-Man has the Green Goblin. Daredevil has The Kingpin. While almost everyone in America knows the Hulk, if you can name one of the Hulk’s foes, I can pretty much guarantee you that you have attended a comic book convention in the last year and probably worn a costume. (On a side note, if you are sitting next to me at a preview and are wearing a t-shirt that is two sizes too small with a comic book character on it, I am not interested in singing the Mighty Marvel theme song with you. None of the villains of the green rage machine are memorable. Most of them are just run of the mill monsters and third rate rouges, and the Abomination is just another muscle bound behemoth. In many ways The Hulk’s biggest nemesis is David Banner himself.
Bruce Banner is a fugitive on the run overseas, pursued by the United States Army led by Betty’s father, General “Thunderbolt” Ross (Hurt). Someone else is also after our mild mannered scientist, Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth). Blonsky soon repeats the accident that gave birth to the Hulk and soon becomes the monstrous Abomination. Unable to transform back to his former self, the newest monster in the Marvel Universe blames Banner for his problems. Let the behemoth battle begin. For non-geeks this will make no sense but this film reminds me of a Jim Lee comic, a lot of overblown action (which was lacking in the first one) splashed across a huge screen. It is better than the Fantastic Four movies but nowhere in the league with of the Nolan Batman franchise. Ultimately the success of the film comes down to the CGI and how believable the Hulk looks. While computers are a thousand times better than they were just a few years ago, there is still work to be done. In a summer with Batman, Iron Man, and Hellboy up on the marquee, it is the fourth best superhero film but that is like being the ugliest girl in a room full of playmates. Hellboy 2 and The Dark Knight are the best of the pack, but for dumb action the Hulk is not too bad.
Verdict: Better than the first film