2000s, 2008, Action, Adventure, F, Grade, Marvel, Past, Review, review-movie, Science Fiction, Superhero, Year

Film Review: The Incredible Hulk – 2008

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SPOILER DISCUSSION

Ross ( William Hurt ) stares at the news in bewilderment.
The news reports that Ross’s expedition against the Hulk has been captured and uploaded by college students.
As if the audience needed anymore of a reason to doubt the efficacy of the military. Ross’s shock that students could get footage is all of us. How can we believe this organization is powerful, if a bunch of college kids can take secret footage in plain daylight with absolutely no concern and then have the ability to be interviewed about the same?

1.Speaking of military inadequacy, the movie has the gall to have us believe that they don’t have the capacity to stop college students from filming, uploading, and then interviewing about confrontation between Ross and the Hulk. Of course they wouldn’t be able to stop Banner’s encrypted communication; Ross’s eyes almost bug out when he realizes that students have recorded the public situation that unfolded. It’s absurd to ask the audience to respect the military forces as a valid threat to Banner if their internal security could be broken by a few students with no training or expertise.

Bruce (Edward Norton) falls from the plane.
Bruce (Edward Norton) realizes that he’s not transforming.
Bruce transforms into the Hulk.

2.I hate how Bruce’s final transformation is undercut for a joke that’s only funny for a few seconds but whose effect lingers for close to 30 seconds – the length of time between Banner realizing his transformation won’t happen to the Hulk’s hand coming out of the pavement. The transformation, which is Norton’s first genuine attempt at wanting to transform into the persona he’s tried to seal, is the only genuinely dramatic moment in the film and is accompanied by Armstrong’s swelling score. It’s literally the perfect “superhero” moment.

Then, as if in sick joke, the moment is undercut by Banner realizing he can’t transform. Then the suspense from the lack of transformation isn’t even held to generate a real sense of suspense. 30 seconds is more than enough time to ruin a dramatic moment but isn’t enough time to built up to one. Imagine the moment without the joke; Banner willingly transforms and the green-tinted vision dissolves over his own vision as the two halves become one. The transformation happens as the score hits its apex. Instead, the moment comes to a screeching halt. The score actually fades out and loses its momentum.

I’m fine with jokes in serious movies. Hell, I’m fine with this exact same literal joke when it’s made in Thor Ragnarok by Taika Waititi. The difference is in that movie, the momentum of the film leaves itself open for a ironic comedic twist. Within the confines of this movie however, the momentum of the scene is on life-support as is. Stopping it for any reason is a horrible decision.

Abomination impales the Hulk against the wall.
The Hulk stands over Abomination, fully triumphant.
The Abomination and Hulk fight should be the center-piece of the movie. Even though the CGI models for both creatures are fitting, their color palettes are so overbearingly similar to one another and the environment of rubble they battle in that it becomes incredibly difficult to enjoy the spectacle. The two creatures are visually indistinguishable at a moment’s glance and the brutality of their blows is hard to tell as a result. The lack of contrast between them and their environment makes even the kinetic frenzy of the final battle hard to appreciate.

3. Outside of the disappointment from losing Tim Roth’s acting upon his Abomination transformation, the lack of any visual distinction between Abomination and the Hulk makes their confrontation far less alluring. There’s no contrast between them, so the energy that would normally be attributed to the kinetic movement in their fights is hard to place. The battle doesn’t pop or enthrall in the way a comic fight does; the visual appeal is low.

4.Imagine the story if Mr. Blue was Leonard Samson (Ty Burrell), Betty’s boyfriend, instead of Dr. Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson). We’re told early on that Leonard is a psychologist. Given that the Hulk could be explored as a mental condition instead, the position of a psychologist who could help Bruce would be an interesting way to progress the narrative.

The film already spends time having Leonard stand up for Betty and Bruce when Ross comes to interrogate him. The move to stand up for the long-lost ex come into the relationship goes against the grain and having him help Bruce would go one step further in establishing the audience’s trust in the character. If Leonard was Mr. Blue, it could be revealed that he intentionally got into a relationship with Betty to have a higher chance of getting into proximity with Bruce. This would also let the writers get away with setting up Bruce and Betty again; the audience wouldn’t mind losing an evil boyfriend character.

Ross makes a comment that compares how weird his daughters partners are, so the parallels are naturally set up. Sterns is set up as a scientist foil to Bruce anyways, so the combination would tick off multiple boxes. This could also help expand Ross’s comments about scientists vs warriors. It’s indicative from the Hulk’s mannerisms that he’s more warrior-like than Banner. If the movie had Samson and Banner explore that dichotomy it would naturally give the movie a way of showing why Blonsky is so good at maneuvering his Abomination form, as opposed to just saying it was due to a “better formula.” This would also give Banner a way to show his progression with the “Hulk” form as opposed to the tacked on ending scene of his eyes turning green momentarily along with his counter.

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