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Hulk (2003)
When someone like Ang Lee, a director with a great sense of style and an even greater sense of inner conflict, takes the reins of a comic book based movie, you should immediately expect something different. Comic book purists may decry a rewriting of the Hulk's personal history, but in doing so, Lee and his partner James Schamus are able to bring out the more subtle psychological elements of the character in the shortened time frame of a movie. The end result is a movie about a superhero with an unusual amount of careful thought and emotional resonance. For once this isn't a superhero story pitting good versus evil with the world/city/universe hanging in the battle. What it really comes down to is two people trying to come to grips with an emotionally crippling childhood.
The story is really about only four characters: Dr. Bruce Banner (Eric Bana), his father David Banner (Nick Nolte), Bruce's love interest Betty Ross (Jennifer Connelly) and her father General "Thunderbolt" Ross (Sam Elliott). David Banner was a scientist working under General Ross on a project to help wounded soldiers regenerate quickly. Denied the chance for human testing, he uses himself as a guinea pig and then unwittingly passes the genetic changes on to his son. His reckless ways land him in jail and Bruce grows up unaware of his true father's existence. As an adult, Bruce becomes a scientist pursuing similar ideas as his father. He works with Betty and they clearly love each other but there own neurosis keep them from having a successful relationship. Released from jail after thirty years, David starts sniffing around the lab, looking for his son, getting in by taking a job as a janitor.
A lab accident exposes Bruce to a deadly dose of gamma radiation but instead of killing him, he feels better than ever. Inevitably, David introduces himself, getting Bruce good and mad and all hell breaks loose as he transforms into the Hulk, a giant angry mass of green muscle. The rest of the film is a power struggle as David and General Ross try to gain control of the Hulk, with Betty inserting herself as the only known way to stop the rampaging monster.
The heart of the picture is Bruce and Betty trying to deal with their fathers. Betty's father is a tyrant and was largely more concerned with his work than his daughter. Bruce's father, on the other hand is a madman. He is so obsessed with his research that he disobey's orders, endangers his own life, the life of his son and throws away any hope of a normal relationship with his son. This is a guy going for the title of worst father ever. The Ross' on the other hand show hope for developing something of a decent bond. Obviously, the story is fantastical but the Hulk is a great allegory for the rage of a child spurned by a parent. The Hulk stands apart from most other superheroes. He doesn't fight for justice. He fights only out of rage. His powers are thrust upon him unwillingly, making them more of a curse than a gift. It's an interesting dilemna for the character that with the great strength comes a total loss of self-control. Banner admits to liking that but simultaneously is scared out of his mind by it. That really sets the movie apart from the rest of the genre and allows it to be more grownup than its brethren.
The movie can almost serve as an entertaining game of "Spot the Reference." It pulls liberally from the TV series, Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde, King Kong, Frankenstein, Greek tragedy, Shakespeare, The Right Stuff and comic books themselves. Heck, I even thought that parts of the score were eerily reminiscent of Yo Yo Ma's cello solos from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, another Ang Lee film. Lou Ferigno, who starred as the Hulk on the TV series, has a cameo appearance, as does Hulk co-creator and long-time Marvel editor Stan Lee.
The only real complaint I can level against the special effects and action sequences is that they work so well I wanted more. The computer animated Hulk is an impressive creature who actually looks better the closer the camera gets. Close ups of his highly expressive face are highly impressive. He looks good at a distance too, just not as jaw droppingly good. Scenes where he fights through a trap set by his father and where he battles tank and helicopters are both amazing and great fun. Use of CGI gave the filmmakers great freedom and they took advantage of it with highly imaginative action. It was no doubt hard work but the animators were doubtlessly having fun with this. Despite the Hulk's ferocity there is an almost whimsical nature to his fight scenes.
The look of the film is fairly unique with an array of creative wipes, split screens and vivid cinematography that often provides the feel of a comic while keeping everything moving smoothly. Particularly effective is a scene where a split screen emerges to show close ups of the two characters' eyes while the main screen follows the characters' movements. It adds tension to an otherwise ordinary movement and perfectly mimics the style of a comic.
Nick Nolte is the strongest performer in the film. He is creepy and deranged and frighteningly calculating. What makes his character so good is that while clearly unhinged, he never becomes totally inhuman. We can see traces of decency in him, enough that he doesn't come off as purely evil. He's just human enough to feel a touch of sympathy for and a lot of sadness. Eric Bana is good but the nature of the role leaves him off screen for long periods. When he is on screen though, he does a good job of conveying a man with a huge demon inside that he struggles mightily to keep under control. Jennifer Connelly is great, providing the film's emotional center. She makes Betty strong and decisive and doesn't fall into the typical damsel in distress role more typically found in these movies. Sam Elliott does a great job of taking his performance right to the edge of over-acting without going over the line. Like Nolte, he never goes too far and become a charicature. He keeps touch with reality enough to make Ross a person, just not a very nice one.
This will almost certainly be a hotly debated film. Younger audiences eager for action and excitement might find themselves bored by lengthy dialogue and quiet scenes that slowly move their way toward the action. On the other hand, adults looking for Lee's trademark characters struggling with repressed emotions may find these characters a bit too simplistic. Right from the start, Lee was somewhat painted into a corner with a character equal parts "Hulk smash!" and tragic hero. Lee and Schamus had to walk a tightrope to create a film that nicely bridges those elements without straying too far in one direction or the other and risk alienating viewers. While I think they did a solid job, doubtlessly many will disagree, feeling shorted in one department or the other. Either way, it's a strange creature combining highly sophisticated CGI and action with a story of repressed childhood trauma. This is the comic book movie for grown-ups.
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