HULK

[modage]

now that its out, what does everybody think of it?  i liked it a lot.  ang lee does some really really cool things by making it look like a comic book with the use of panels and such.  the style of the film was really cool.  i cared about the story, so much so that the first time he "hulked out" i wanted him to quit smashing stuff so i could get back to what was going on.  but there was really a lot going for this movie.  its 3:31 am and i am still trying to digest it all, it really needs another viewing.  the score was really cool although does anybody else notice the main theme was like almost exactly ripped off bernard herrmanns vertigo score?  cool that they didnt try to cram in a bunch of crappy pop music like daredevil and just kept to the danny elfman score.  i thought he was one of the most believable cgi creations, and when cgi isnt done well it really REALLY bugs me.  but especially in the close-ups he had a lot of emotion.  the acting was good.  there were a few hiccups, but overall i thought it was great.  really different.  i imagine that comic book panel style of filmmaking will be very imitated in the future (atleast for comic book movies).

[Ghostboy]

Nah, we might as well start a new thread, now that everyone will be seeing it. So here'e a cut-and-paste of the SPOILER FREE mini review I posted last night in the other thread:

I just got back from seeing it! It was good but not great, but I'd still very highly recommend it, because the style Ang Lee uses here is pretty awesome. First of all, the script isn't anything deep or grand...it's a comic book movie. There's a little bit of that Greek Tragedy element, but not much (and it ends up being the lamest part of the movie, honestly). Blade 2 did the whole Greek Tragedy thing a million times better than this. The actors all do good work, but only because they don't second guess the material.
 
Now, what makes the movie is the style. Because of the way Lee's approached the story, the shallowness of the script actually works. If you've read any of the original Hulk comics...that's what this is. It's a 1960s horror/sci-fi comic come to life, literally (and I wish they'd have gone all the way and set it in the sixties, too). The best part of the movie is the way it's edited...you really have no idea how well the 'panelling' editing style works. It's fantastic, and it immediately gets you in the right mood (it also helps the hour or so of exposition at the beginning of the movie whip by). Furthermore, the special effects are great. They really don't look any different than what you've already seen on your TV screen, but in the context of the movie, its clear that Lee made a definite stylistic choice in his representation of this character, and it works incredibly well. The close-ups of the Hulk's face are all very good, and surprisingly, he looks the most realistic in the desert scenes. That desert chase...man, it's a blast. The sound design in that sequence is terrific.
 
There's a point where it seems certain that the movie will end, complete with a perfect 'To Be Continued' moment. Unfortunately, it does continue, and from that point on the movie is just dumb and awkward. But aside from that, I'd say you'll get your money's worth.

[Banky]

I gotta say that i was not to happy with this film.  I really liked Ang Lee's direction and editing with the cool disolve and panel tricks.  The score was also good and i had no real problem with the CG because the previews totally numbed me for it.  I just didnt like the complete package.  It had some moments but i felt the climax in the little water resevoir thing was really weak.  I didnt get it because im not a huge comic fan i suppose, but to the average viewer it made no sense and it was anti climactic.  Its like they wanted to set it up for a sequeal but did not pull it off.  And the very final scene was just stupid.  I had no real emotional connection to the characters.  It was well put together and looked great.  I just think it is definantly not the best comic movie as of late and just missed the target.

[Rudie Obias]

first lemme say that i really like ang lee and i really wanted to like THE HULK but i just couldn't.  i attribute it to bad writing.  the cgi didn't bother me and the score was really cool.  the split screen, the wipes and dissolves were really fuckin' great!  it gave it a really good comic book feel.  i like eric bana and jennifer connely but nick nolte pissed me off.  there were moments where i felt for bruce banner and didn't want him to turn in the hulk but like i said there were just small moments.  definitely not enough moments though.  it was like A BEAUTIFUL MIND meets CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON all encapsulated in the marvel universe.  so what i say about THE HULK, good direction & bad writing.  ang lee did what he could with a really bad script.  it's very aesthetically pleasing.

[polkablues]

Jennifer Connelly has proved to me that she can be in any movie and make me feel like I'm watching the best performance I've ever seen.  It makes me ache, this woman is so damn talented.

And the movie was okay, I guess.  Oddly enough, the action was far more boring than the story.  Can't say I was expecting that.

[MrBurgerKing]

first lemme say that i really like ang lee and i really wanted to like THE HULK but i just couldn't.  i attribute it to bad writing.  the cgi didn't bother me and the score was really cool.  the split screen, the wipes and dissolves were really fuckin' great!  it gave it a really good comic book feel.  i like eric bana and jennifer connely but nick nolte pissed me off.  there were moments where i felt for bruce banner and didn't want him to turn in the hulk but like i said there were just small moments.  definitely not enough moments though.  it was like A BEAUTIFUL MIND meets CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON all encapsulated in the marvel universe.  so what i say about THE HULK, good direction & bad writing.  ang lee did what he could with a really bad script.  it's very aesthetically pleasing.

I love you more than life itself. Please don't tell me you go to McDonalds regularly. I was dissapointed because I never thought Ang Lee was capable of creating such garbage. The writers make a great scapegoat. You're right though, in the hands of many other filmmakers, Hulk would probably be terrible. Lee elevated it into mediocrity. It would be much more dissapointing if Lee botched Shakespeare, but he was given a garbage summer-action script, and he did what he could. Hey though, this is my opinion of course, I realize the reviews are mixed and some people love it.. I wish I was in that camp. I'm the type of guy who is scared to get in his car at night because of potentially getting into an accident. It's not so much the car damage, or physical injury I'm worried about, but the other people. I just couldn't deal with a man / woman screaming at me over car damage. I would probably say 'yep, you're right, it's my fault' just so they wouldn't scream at me. Yep, I'm single.

[Pozer]

Jennifer Connelly has proved to me that she can be in any movie and make me feel like I'm watching the best performance I've ever seen.  It makes me ache, this woman is so damn talented.

and insanely beautiful. I love her. I don't know why, but it's wierd to me that she chose to do this movie. Ang Lee I guess.
It's kinda like Johnny Depp's choice to do Pirates of the Caribbean. Hey I like the sound of those two together. Hell, those three--I'll stop.

[Rudie Obias]

Please don't tell me you go to McDonalds regularly.

i'm a vegan!

[Derek]

SPOILERS

I can't make up my mind about this film. It definitely was not the movie I expected. Going in, I was prepped for a more reality-based interpretation of the subject matter, but this veered way off into comic book territory(especially the climax, but whatev). Which isn't a terrible thing, just unexpected. The split-screen panelling works very well for the most part, but unnessary and over-used in some spots...is it nessary to have 4 different angles of helicopters flying across the desert?

The acting is pretty good across the board, Connelly and Shepherd delivered I think the best performances. Josh Lucas, I'm sure had an idea in his head about how one should act when appearing in a comic book movie, and he paints in one-hue broad strokes. Probably the weakest link.

I know that the Hulk can't look exactly life-like due to the fact that there's no such thing as a 15 ft. muscle-bound green guy in real life. But, some of the cgi still bothered me, I found that the Hulk looked best in broad daylight, not in the nighttime scenes. The skin also looks a little too rubbery in some scenes. minor complaints.

Like I said, I can't decide whether I like it or not, but I want to see it again soon.

[Cecil]

its good. the cgi was pretty swell, sometimes a bit shitty.

[Rudie Obias]

SPOILERS

is it nessary to have 4 different angles of helicopters flying across the desert?

do you read comic books?  this is how a panel would look in a comic book.  i loved the helicopters scene.

[Cecil]

yes, this movie was storyboarded like a comic book. this is why the "film line" is crossed as well. THIS is the way to do it. m night, eat your heart out

[Jeremy Blackman]

I loved this movie. Why did no one else love this movie?

I laughed hysterically when the Hulk started smashing tanks and helicopters. Didn't anyone else think that was deliciously irreverent?

I could NOT get over the transitions and split screens. I ate that stuff up, and it made me very happy.

Much better than Spiderman.

I cannot believe how much I loved this movie. This doesn't happen.

I could have done without the (SPOILER) transformation into a ball of energy thing. That was bad.

[meatwad]

I thought the transitions were great, and different, but at times i kept thinking that they were using them too much. Maybe if they toned it down a little bit, i would have enjoyed it more. Besides that, it was a good film, in my opinion better then Spider Man, and def much better then Daredevil

[Banky]

i think people dismiss daredevil way to easily.  I think its everyone hatred for bennifer.  I personally liked Dardevil, i mean with all its flaws and shit, i liked it.