Month of Superhero Film Reviews: Hulk

Howdy ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Day #18 of my Month of Superhero Film Reviews! During this month I’ll be reviewing of some of the best and worst comic book adapted films. Now it is time for me to talk about one of my most loathed films ever, this film is just one that not only insults me as a superhero fan but as film fan in general. I am of course talking about the filth that is Hulk.

I knew this day was coming, I just didn’t want to come. This is one of those films you don’t talk about in a casual manner, its one of those films that you kill, bury in the back yard and never speak of ever again. But for the sake of this review series I will go back through hell for your reading pleasure. Prepare yourself, I may go a bit mental…

In terms of the plot it goes a little something like this:

“Bruce Banner is different from everyone else. While working on a new technology to accelerate the healing process in animals, he is exposed to gamma radiation. Instead of killing him, the radiation turns him into the Hulk, a mindless green behemoth. General Ross is tasked to contain the monster before it can endanger San Francisco.” 

The story was very different from the comics and had a lot of elements I wasn’t expecting. There was a heavy focus on Bruce Banner’s father, David Banner which I didn’t appreciate at all because it was so depressing and diverted the story away from the main star Bruce Banner himself. A lot of the time I was just watching the film but not really caring about what was going on. I really wasn’t keen on this version of Bruce’s origin story. I understand that the source material is hard to convert into live-action but to see so many different, strange and disgusting modifications to one of my favourite childhood comic characters was really crappy.

Now let’s talk about the cast. Eric Bana as Dr. Bruce Banner/Hulk. Bana is a good actor, but I don’t think he was right for this role. I found him to be so boring, plain and unable to relate to. There’s a look and personality that comes with the character and I don’t think he embodies those traits of the comic book character or the likeability of the Bill Bixby version from the TV show. As for Jennifer Connelly as Betty Ross, she was alright but as the female love interest I just didn’t care for her. I’ve never been a big fan of Betty Ross in general and I guess Connelly didn’t change my mind either.

Sam Elliott as General Thunderbolt Ross was pretty much in line with the comics and I guess I liked what he did with the role and in a way I guess he was the best person in the film. And then there’s Nick Nolte as Dr. David “Dave” Banner, his character was very shady and twisted, his character was okay, but I didn’t like how much of a focus there was on him and the way his character became the is crappy villain near the end of the film that had the powers of Absorbing Man and Zzzax, to even reference those villains in this rubbish film is just bad. And lastly the cameos from Stan Lee and Lou Ferrigno was a nice nod to the fans.

Now let’s talk about the presentation. I give the film praise for being different and attempting all these different forms editing and scene transitions and making it similar to the comics but at the same time it can be incredibly distracting and a bit weird at times. Also this film has an obsession with green, yes, all us Hulk fans know that the character is green but I feel like this film is always trying to remind us. Then there’s the CGI, good gravy, its ugly. It looks very questionable and cheap at points. When you see the Hulk running, jumping or fighting some other CGI creatures everything looks pretty dodgy. And speaking of the Hulk, whoever was responsible for the look of the Hulk should be taken out. He looks so fat and disgusting, his face alone looks so stupid and makes me disgusted. Also As for the soundtrack by Danny Elfman, there are a good few similarities to his work on Spider-Man which came out a year prior. This soundtrack has a lot of his trademark instruments and Elfman’s score is one of the stronger elements of this film.

And lastly how does it compare to the comics? Well I’ve only read bits and bobs of Hulk comics but there are some things that translate okay and others that just don’t. Bruce Banner’s origin story is completely changed from the comics and while that’s not uncommon for origin stories to be changed, this film just changes so much in an uninteresting manner. Bruce’s execution in relation to the comics suck. And since when did Hulk start growing in size when he gets angrier? What kind of bullshit was that? And of course I have to mention those stupid CGI dogs, what the fuck kind of stupid enemy was that and why were they in this bloody movie? This film just makes me angry.

So to conclude Hulk is a film that makes me sad. The film attempts to take the source material and change it up, modify it and make it all fancy. But the problem is that everything Hulk tries was before its time. There is a very dark and dull story complete with far too many crazy transitions, cheap CGI and a lead character who just sucks. For some reason there are people that actually like this film, but for the rest of us, we know better. Hulk is a foul film and just needs to be forgotten about forever! Nuff said.

Rating: 3/10 (Yuck!)

So there’s my review/rant people, only 12 more to go. So have you seen Hulk and if so what are your thoughts on it? Drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts yo! Come back tomorrow and I’ll have a new film review online, until then peace out!