Hulk

Ang Lee has directed some great films, but this was not one of them. Probably the most glaring problem is the lack of a hero with whom we can identify. Maybe the Hulk was better in Marvel comics, but in this film, hes just big and indiscriminately destructive. Theres some early tension waiting for the hulk to materialize, but when he does appear, I found myself ambivalent. Possibly because the science that created him was fuzzy to non-existent. There were some nice animal kingdom clips of jellyfish and reptiles.and colorful visuals, but no evidence Then later in the story, the conflict of Hulk vs. the military varied from not very believable to a boring repeat of every monster movie. And during this sequence, Hulk hopped around on earth like it only had moon gravity, just adding to the silly science factor. Finally, the storyline failed to have any real resolution.

But there was some entertainment value although it was definitely comic book quality. Lee used multiple frames to give us several windows on an event and I thought that was interesting. There was also an emotional quadrangle between the two main characters, Bruce and Betty and each of their fathers. But there was no subtlety and again, it suffered from being unbelievable.

Eric Bana plays Bruce alias Hulk. Hes an Australian who began as a comedian, then moved into TV. I first saw him as Hoot Gibson in Black Hawk Down (2001).

Jennifer Connelly plays Betty, the love interest. I thought she did well in the part considering the screenplay she had to work with. She was recently in Pollock (2000) and A Beautiful Mind (2001), both quality films.

Sam Elliot plays Ross, Bettys father. His film debut was a bit part in one of my all time favorite films, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). Hes had more than 50 roles since then, mostly in TV. He is the quintessential cowboy actor and for me, he just could not make it as a career military guy in this role.

Nick Nolte plays Bruces father. I think he stole the show, primarily because he was having such a good time being crazy. Maybe this is the real Nolte. Regardless, he was absolutely convincing as the dark side progenitor. He made the film worthwhile.

Ang Lees previous work includes the wonderful trilogy Pushing Hands (1992), The Wedding Banquet (1993) and Eat Drink Man Woman (1994). Next he did a Jane Austen story, Sense and Sensibility (1995) and recently Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). These are all excellent films and nothing like Hulk.

Reviewed October 29, 2003