Review of Hulk (2003) by Damjan R — 03 Jul 2013

One thing that can't be said about this film is that it lacks emotion and depth. All the characters are given more than adequate time to show and reveal themselves and this keeps the film from falling into the usual emotionless action fare that most comic book films tend to veer towards.

The Hulk, and Bruce Banner by extent is another tough character to write and explore because he is non-confrontational in nature, and that basically makes him an undesirable protagonist. Perhaps some of the themes explored in this film are haphazardly attempted, but I would like to commend Ang Lee for even trying to inject some much needed layers into a film that could have taken the brainless approach and gone for all out action.

That said the story is paced like a snail, and runs a little long given that the revelations in the story occur later for the characters than the audience and some relations are telegraphed which takes away from their impact.

While it's style attempts to mirror a sort of comic book style visual identity, by some standards it feels a bit outdated, but visually interesting, finding me at odds of liking or disliking it. The acting from the leads, especially Jennifer Connelly is excellent and it only adds to it's credibility.

The story itself at the end is a bit of a mash-up of a couple of elements that don't quite fit together, as the introspective nature of Banner and the outlandish attempts to weaponize the tissue regeneration don't quite fit, but it's still a fun watch, and features some great scenes.