Loved it. A

Don't make me Ang Lee.

You don't want to see me when I'm Ang Lee!


Well Hulk has to have set the high water mark for the most serious and dramatic tone for any comic book movie thus far -- it's positively Shakespearean... and I like it! There were only a couple of brief flashes of humor in this whole 2+ hour film, but the time flew by. The acting was top notch including the leads, but especially the two fathers played by Nick Nolte and Sam Elliot. The CGI was really extraordinary, except for a couple of early scenes in the lab - after that I completely bought the Hulk as a character.

The real strength of the movie though is the story - - it was really well told by the director, Ang Lee. It was never rushed but had me on the edge of my seat nonetheless. I really cared what happened to the big green guy and couldn't predict the ending an hour early like in so many of these comic adaptations. The rich cinematography and the cool comic-panel style editing really brought the whole thing together.

The ever lovin' Hulk returns to pop culture and darned if he doesn't smash the competition - at least in terms of quality. I'm not sure that it will make that much money, as I overheard considerable muttering from the teenagers leaving the theatre, saying things like "sloooooow", "artsy-fartsy", and "needs more smashing". Probably anyone who liked Spider-man will not have sufficient brain capacity to appreciate Hulk. I found the movie techniques, like wipes, dissolves, multi-split screen, etc., that Lee used to create a comicbook vibe were exciting and effective. The plot showed real psychological depth and only stretched credibility on a couple of brief occasions (esp. the "parking lot" scene). And boy, oh boy, that Jennifer Connelly is so sweet, especially when she's on the verge of crying as she is virtually this whole movie! The Hulk animation was good but not perfect - I suppose how much you notice it depends on how well the story has grabbed you (one things for sure, Hulk certainly beats that creepy Gollum animation anyday).

Hulk is essentially a really quality remake of Frankenstein - - so if you are in the mood for a dramatic movie along those lines I can highly recommend it.

Finally, a great summer movie for 2003!

5 out of 5.



[^ Original review from theatrical release.]

Interesting grade distribution for Hulk - - I don't remember seeing one as even from top to bottom...

Heh, that's what I thought as well.

Though I'm very sure I've seen at least one more film here with the same kind of grade distribution...I just can't remember which one.

I'm dying to see this again. It was unfairly scorned when it came out... all of these strong reviews make me want to revisit it. Of course, I do have similar tastes to trixster and he/she didn't care for it.... hmm...

He.

Yeah, I thought I might appreciate it watching it again, but I didn't. It's just not that good.

I'm having a love/hate relationship with this movie. In theaters I thought it was awesome, at home one or two years later I was bored to death, but I was not in the best mood that day and I kinda want to see it again to be sure.

B+

Didnt really understand the hate when it came out. Good comic book film.

Sweet Son of an Assistant Wall Planner this movie was odd!

I loved the slow build-up and the vast amounts of exposition. I loved Bana and Connolly. I loved the action sequences even thou the CGI has dated rather badly and I.................


..............Oh wait the last 15 minutes..........................Ummmmmm..................NEVER HAPPENED THE MOVIE WAS GREAT BEFORE THIS IGNORE LAST BIT LALALALALALALALALALA!!!

I just re-watched this, and I still believe it to be one of the most unjustly maligned movies in a while. The first half is talky, but never lost me. In fact, it only heightened the impact of the second half of the film. The character development is aces, as is the acting. Eric Bana is terrific as Bruce Banner, Jennifer Connelly is better than the average damsel in distress love interest, Nick Nolte is awesome in whacked out form, and Sam Elliot and Josh Lucas also offer solid supporting work. It takes a long time for the action to get going, but it's nothing short of exhilirating once it does. I also loved the decision to use the split screens to try and make the movie feel like a comic book come to life.

I loved what Ang Lee did with this, and I would have liked to see what direction he would have gone in with another installment. But as it is, the upcoming reboot looks pretty solid- though it will be hard pressed to top this one in my book.

Grade: A-

I thought it was atrocious. If it wasn't for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen being released in the same year, this would have been the worst film of 2003. The new one should definitely be better. D/D-

This was a fantastic film. Everything from the CASTING to the STORY to the ACTION and even the EDITING. I mean, making like an actual comic book was BRILLIANT and worked extremely well.

Great psychological hero movie. A-

Watched it again tonight... wow.

It sure does get better the more you watch it.

Without a doubt one of the worst superhero flicks of all time. It was a big joke to me. Not even the visual effects were good. This is even responsible of making the lovely Jennifer Connelly boring. If I could give it a lower grade I would.

1/10 (F)

That's just sad, man...

lol.

It is though. It's right up there with SPIDER-MAN 3 and ELEKTRA as the worst. Although ELEKTRA at least had some hot lesbian action.

A terrible film! I'm so glad Incredible Hulk was 50X better than this.

D-

better than the new Hulk. By a mile.

I would like to write a full review now...

I thought the movie was FANTASTIC!!!! and I'm pretty tired, so I'll give a quick review: I thought the HULK was easily the BEST Comic Adaptation I've seen since the Original Superman in 1978, in terms of it's Epic Quality and Scope to the movie.. I thought the environments and split screen panels worked great to give you the perspective of what's happening in 1 scene than another.. VERY COOL!!! and very unique.. The story flowed very well, despite listening to people whine about how the first hour was slow, it's called good character buildup and good storytelling, something that was missing from another so called blockbuster this summer called Reloaded.. Hell, you had it in Superman and Spiderman where you didn't sethe character for 45 minutes into the movie.. That certainly isn't a big deal and only a nitpick from people wanting to find flaw in this movie..

The CGI of the HULK was easily as good looking as Gollum, despite never getting a LOTR fan to admit it, but it was and you know it.. Hell, I'm even willing to admit there were a couple of shots in the movie that weren't quite there yet, but than again, so what?? That's what our technology currently has available and I'm easily pleased.. I can overlook alot of things unlike the nitpicky internet CGI Experts..

The Acting was SUPERB from everyone involved, including Nick Nolte who was an absolute delight, and very menacing, very convincing and over the top.. I loved it.. All villains are generally over the top anyway, right?? I thought the action in the movie was jaw dropping, especially the desert scene and the much scoffed at by the internet world, HULK DOGS, which really fit into the context of the story once you seen the movie, instead of all the whining about it for the last several months.. Brutal and down right intense.. I'm glad Ang Lee didn't cater to the kiddies in this movie.. Not everything has to be for the kiddies, but despite that, they'll still continue to see it anyway..

All in all, I give the HULK **** out of **** stars.. I really had no problem with any of this movie and thought it moved pretty fast for the most part, even at the running time of 2 hour and 20 minutes.. I also definitely dug the ending to.. Very satisfying and obviously a setup for HULK 2... 2 BIG THUMBS UP!!!!!!! This Movie will Open HUGE!!!!!


The Movie RULES.. PERIOD.. I just don't get what all this whining is about the first half cause even in Superman, even in Spiderman, you didn't see the character for 45-50 Minutes in the movie and you know it.. Get over it already.. To me, that's just a reason to find something to nitpick over, but then again, I shouldn't expect anything less from some of the internet world that slammed it from the getgo.. By the way, nice poll results.. Very interesting that I could have such a major affect on some people around here and I love it.. HULK gets **** out of 4..

I'm amazed that there are people here that didn't trash this movie immediately.
I tried three times. Never got more than 20 minutes in. The most dull 20 minutes I've ever experienced.

That is not an exaggeration of any kind.