Hulk rules!
He really does. I mean I do realize that people’re making fun of him for his ultra stretchy purple pants. But that just means he’s sharing good company with Nacho Libre, right?
For a character that might or might not still be in current comic continuity, it was one hell of a movie. It IS obvious to everyone that the stakes of obscure characters tend to rise drastically once their movies hit the big screens, right? Where were Blade and Elektra before their big screen debut? (yes, I know, Elektra might’ve been a Skrull, but still..)
Anyway, Hulk boasts big action, gratitious amount of explosions and the use of cgi to a pornographic extent (what’d you expect? He IS a big green giant) but unlike other shows it doesn’t lose itself in the visual overload. *cough* Superman Returns *cough* In an either or situation, a mediocre story trumps top notch cgi, anytime.
And at the centre of Hulk was the story of Bruce and Betty, the story of Thunderbolt and Betty, and of course the story of Bruce and Emil around which the movie revolves. While Iron Man was a fun watch, it was a story of, well, ermm… a super rich man defending his money with his shiny, new toy. (don’t be mistaken, I’m still a fan of Iron Man) (a lil brainless popcorn dun never hurts anyone).
My point? Marvel’s been doing a pretty swell job of churning out epic, fun (and slightly deep?) flicks that are accessible to the casual audience while not alienating it’s (hard)core audiences: pimply fan boys. Whoohoo!!
I know Lee Ang wanted his version of Hulk to be a tribute to fan boys everywhere and for the style of the show to be faithful to the genre (guilty confession: I am one of the rare fans. Gamma transformed poodles and all) but this Hulk is so much better. Both as a film and as a Easter Egg hunt for nerds (like me). It not only pays tribute to the comics but the old television series as well.
I’m still deciding which got me more excited, Getting the old Hulk in as a security guard or that McGee was a campus reporter who captured the Hulk attack with his mobile. And one particularly nice touch is of course, the appearance of Stern and his eventual fate. Leader, anyone?
Very nice indeed.
