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coalescentAng Lee’s Hulk is, as you might expect, somewhat different to other superhero movies. This is, as you might expect, something of a mixed blessing. The nature of the mixture, however, is perhaps not as you might expect.
For example, although the film has a number of strengths, the characters are not amongst them. This is not to say that the characters are bad – indeed, by and large they are decently drawn by any absolute standard, never mind by the standards of superhero flicks. Performances are solid all round, with Bana’s Banner providing a particularly nice line in repressed and broody. It is, however, to point out that nobody is ever, ever going to go and see Hulk for the characters. Lee apparently understands this, and accordingly has focused his energies elsewhere.
The visuals, for instance. There’s the big H himself, of course, and he’s impressive; man (quite literally) writ large, emotional retardation and violent outbursts front and centre. He’s as much a character as any other player on the screen, and if you never quite feel the fear you suspect you’re meant to, you certainly feel the empathy. More important still, however, is the direction. Lee goes all-out to provide a comic-book experience – split-screens and screen-wipes of all shapes and sizes recreating a feeling of moving from one panel to the next. It’s likely that you’ll either love this approach or hate it; it’s true that at times it verges on the distracting, but for the most part I thought it worked well. There’s also a nice level of detail in some of the set design; it struck me that although the science in the film is obviously nonsense, the labs at least looked real, down to the posters of Cell covers on the walls of Banner’s office.
With Lee at the helm this was never going to be an all-action all-the-time film. Indeed, it’s something of a juggernaut, taking over an hour to really build up momentum. Once it does get going, however, it can be an awful lot of fun. Hulk vs the US army is every bit as enjoyable as it should be.
That said, for the majority of the run time the elements never quite come together in the seamless way you’re hoping for. Part of this is not Lee’s fault: He's clearly got a good handle on the metaphorical nature of the material, but beyond a certain point you have to face the fact that superhero origin stories tend to be structurally rather similar, and that none of what’s happening is exactly new. It rarely feels fresh. Part of it is Lee’s fault: He can do character-mode well, and he can do action-mode well, but he never quite nails the transitions. Overall, the film has the feeling of a curiosity – it’s worth seeing to see what it is...but what it is may be something of an acquired taste.
For example, although the film has a number of strengths, the characters are not amongst them. This is not to say that the characters are bad – indeed, by and large they are decently drawn by any absolute standard, never mind by the standards of superhero flicks. Performances are solid all round, with Bana’s Banner providing a particularly nice line in repressed and broody. It is, however, to point out that nobody is ever, ever going to go and see Hulk for the characters. Lee apparently understands this, and accordingly has focused his energies elsewhere.
The visuals, for instance. There’s the big H himself, of course, and he’s impressive; man (quite literally) writ large, emotional retardation and violent outbursts front and centre. He’s as much a character as any other player on the screen, and if you never quite feel the fear you suspect you’re meant to, you certainly feel the empathy. More important still, however, is the direction. Lee goes all-out to provide a comic-book experience – split-screens and screen-wipes of all shapes and sizes recreating a feeling of moving from one panel to the next. It’s likely that you’ll either love this approach or hate it; it’s true that at times it verges on the distracting, but for the most part I thought it worked well. There’s also a nice level of detail in some of the set design; it struck me that although the science in the film is obviously nonsense, the labs at least looked real, down to the posters of Cell covers on the walls of Banner’s office.
With Lee at the helm this was never going to be an all-action all-the-time film. Indeed, it’s something of a juggernaut, taking over an hour to really build up momentum. Once it does get going, however, it can be an awful lot of fun. Hulk vs the US army is every bit as enjoyable as it should be.
That said, for the majority of the run time the elements never quite come together in the seamless way you’re hoping for. Part of this is not Lee’s fault: He's clearly got a good handle on the metaphorical nature of the material, but beyond a certain point you have to face the fact that superhero origin stories tend to be structurally rather similar, and that none of what’s happening is exactly new. It rarely feels fresh. Part of it is Lee’s fault: He can do character-mode well, and he can do action-mode well, but he never quite nails the transitions. Overall, the film has the feeling of a curiosity – it’s worth seeing to see what it is...but what it is may be something of an acquired taste.
