Author: Flatty
Date: 7/8/03
Rating: 3.0
Movie Rating: PG-13
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The Hulk was not a smashing good time.
I recently coughed up the $4.50 to see an afternoon screening of the Hulk, and I was once again sadly let down by the Box Office. Now, I've heard a lot of people complaining because the movie "didn't stick to the main comic book story." I'm sorry, but if this is worst (and/or the only) thing you have to complain about, you obviously weren't watching too closely. Let's face it, "gamma radiation" just doesn't cut it in this day and age as an explanation for why a normal man would turn into a huge green muscular angry guy. I actually think the movie did a good job of creating a "modern day" explanation for how Dr. Bruce Banner would turn into the Hulk. However, the movie gave way too much significance to the father, and in the end I think this ruined it.
I like the idea of the government cracking down on a rogue scientist (Bruce's father) in the beginning. I think the movie did a good job of highlighting the struggle of ethics vs scientific progress. So, Dr. Banner Sr. was not allowed to perform any experiments on human subjects, so he had to choose himself to test on. So, he was caught and put away, but not before he could pass on his genes to his son. This is actually a good setup for the rest of the movie, but sadly, the rest of the movie was quite a let-down.
First off, the whole memory loss of Bruce was entirely unnecessary. The only reason it is in the film is to keep him unaware of who his father is and what's been "done to him." Secondly, it took about an hour and a half before we actually saw Bruce Banner transform into the Hulk. Really, it wasn't necessary to have THAT much buildup. He's "the Hulk" for about a day before he's captured by the military. I really believe they could have done much more with that.
It gets worse. The director wanted to have a scene that shows the human side of Bruce-while-in-Hulk-form. This is a good idea, I like it. Now, why in the world did they have to make him go and save his girl from a mutant poodle? I hate to say it, but that fight (and that whole scene) was really stupid. What reason did Banner Sr. have for sending the dogs after Bruce's girl? There was no explanation. The conversation between the two of them told us nothing, only that Banner Sr. was "angry" with her.
My final gripe with the movie (and it's a big one) is Bruce's dad. I saw no point in him exposing himself to the little biological thingies and the gamma radiation to trigger his own "power"... What did he do with it? He wanted to steal Bruce's energy. Great. Directly following his mad rant with his son in a very stupid looking "futuristic" chamber, we have an equally stupid "battle" between father and son in which a nuclear bomb was dropped on the two of them in the end. Great. Terrible ending. Well, technically that wasn't the ending. Of course, we had to have the General explaining "You know Bruce couldn't have survived that blast" but wait! No! He did! Now he's Bruce of the Jungle and you're left with him getting angry and the directors tossing the question of "Hey, if you guys liked this one enough, maybe I could make you a sequel?" out there.
No, I didn't. Please don't.