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The Incredible Hulk (2008)
In 2003, one of the early superhero adaptations came to
theatres. From the very beginning ‘Hulk’ was The Gamble Movie of that
year.
This was because the character of Hulk had only been visualised in a
1970’s TV
show, which worked to that extent. Another wild card was the casting of
Eric
Bana, who certainly appeared as an interesting choice to play Dr Bruce
Banner /
Hulk to the rest of the world, but everyone in Australia
was totally stoked! We Aussies knew Eric Bana from Chopper yes, but we
also
knew him and loved him most in “Full Frontal”. For my non-Australian
readers,
Full Frontal was a comedy variety/skit show that ran for about six years
in
the 90’s. The ensemble cast were very talented, especially Bana who
played
several iconic characters. Out of the TV show’s cast he was the only one
to go
on to bigger and better things. And finally, another fact of 2003’s Hulk
making it a long shot was the guy calling the shots. Ang Lee of
“Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon” fame helmed the directing duties; an unusual
choice of
director for a summer blockbuster, as he was more known for his art
house
films. If he pulled of Hulk, it would make him one of the most versatile
directors working in the world.
Unfortunately, Hulk didn’t quite pay off like many had
hoped. It was overlong, overdramatised and lacking in solid action. The effects
appeared to be somewhat unfinished as well. Hulk had a few good moments, mainly
towards the end where the angry green beast goes on a rampage through San
Francisco. Overall, it was more of a miss than a hit.
The filmmaker’s hopes to launch a new franchise looked dead… or so it seemed.
Four years later, and superhero films were now big business
at the box office, thanks to the success of characters like Spiderman and the
X-Men crew. The character of Hulk was only lying dormant, as he had plenty of
anger left in him for another film. Filmmakers believed he was a comic book hero
with substance and wanted to have another crack at it. To lay to the rest the
memories of the first try, a new director, new cast and new look were
incorporated and in 2008, we met “The Incredible Hulk”.
The story follows on from the first one, where Dr. Bruce
Banner (now played by Edward Norton) is on the run in South America.
He has learnt to deal with his curse of turning green and grumpy whenever he
gets angry, by closely monitoring his body’s signs to avoid any unplanned
visits from his inner beast. Feeling safe and in control, Banner lives a
peaceful life. But the military are still hot on his trail, and General Ross (a
returning character from the first film) wants to capture Hulk for an army
project to create super soldiers using gamma ray radiation; the same source of
power that originally turned Dr. Banner into the Hulk.
Of course, Bruce Banner wants no part of this and cleverly avoids
capture several times. But things get complicated for him when his former love
Betty (the Generals daughter) shows up to stir his emotions and a hot-headed
soldier named Blonksy wants the Hulks power for himself. He finds a way to tap
it and becomes a monster equal to Hulk in power and size; the Abomination. When
these two meet on the streets of Harlem, the stage is
set for the ultimate smack down!
Incredible Hulk was a far superior film from the 2003
attempt. The filmmakers here did not set out to make a sequel, even though this
instalment follows on from the first film. The intention here was to reboot the
character and set things up for the Avengers. As Incredible Hulk was released
the same year as Iron Man, the filmmakers were either very smart or
over-confident that an Avengers movie would happen. Instead of waiting to see
if Iron Man was a hit, they went ahead with another Hulk film. And this time,
they got it right. Sorry Ang Lee.
* TIE IN TO THE AVENGERS - A disgruntled General Ross slams
down drinks at a dusty bar, soaked in self-pity and failure for not capturing
the Hulk for his own intentions. Into the bar walks a smarmy looking man in a
suit who approaches the general and says “Ahh… the smell of stale beer and
defeat” It’s Tony Stark (Iron Man) who advises the general that his Super
Solider program was cancelled for a reason. Stark has paid the General a visit
to tell him he has a solution to his problem. Stark offers a proposition “What
if I told you we were putting a team together?” Stark asks. “Who’s we?” the
General asks. Stark doesn’t answer, instead just stares at the beaten-down
general with a knowing, confident smirk. END OF SCENE *
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