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You will like me when I'm Ang Lee
by Greg DeanS (movies profile)
Jun 22, 2008
142
of
194 people found this review helpful
Fans of superheroes have recently been lucky to be rewarded for their years of waiting by finally getting big-budget live-action movies based on favorites like 'X-Men,' 'Daredevil' and 'Spider-Man.' They have all been faithful to the spirit of the characters, and more often than not, *mostly* faithful to the minutiae of the character's legacies. Watching 'The Hulk,' however, what I realized is that even though they're all very loving of their source material, each has instilled a bit of humor into the stories, a certain winking acknowlegement that this is still, ultimately, a movie based on a comic book. 'The Hulk' makes this acknowlegement as well with a visually stunning editing style which uses split screens and multiple-panel views to duplicate the experience of reading a comic book. What Ang Lee does not use in any degree are one-liners and snappy comebacks, like the movies starring the three aforementioned characters do. There are a few moments of levity, but mostly, Ang Lee has delivered a tale of Greek tragedy, of dark generational legacies and the relationship struggles between a hardened (and manipulative) father and his son. Throw in elements of 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,' 'King Kong' and 'Beauty and the Beast' and you have Ang Lee's 'The Hulk.' And that, to me, as someone who's fairly familiar with the 40 years of Hulk comic books... is a good thing. There's been a lot of attention given to the CGI Hulk (with some people even saying they'd prefer a human actor playing the 10+ foot behemoth!), but I think the problem is that the trailers and ads take the Hulk out of context, and that within the movie, he looks a lot better, and the confused dumb look on his face makes complete sense... he *is* an idiot; Bruce Banner's super-scientist intellect is completely submerged. I would go so far as to say that the Hulk is truly an actor in the movie. The actor who deserves the most credit, however, is Nick Nolte, whose bravura performance as David Banner is the core upon which this entire Greek tragedy is formed, and as that lynchpin, he reigns. Quite frankly, as much as I liked the Hulk action, any chance to see Nick Nolte in action was appreciated as well. I could see Nolte's performance receiving nominations at year's end, his presence (including one scene in which Ang Lee essentially gives him a "stage" upon which to hold forth), is *that* powerful. At first glance, one might think that 'The Hulk' is *all* about mindless violence, but really, the Hulk just wants to be left alone. Traditionally, his goal is to find some completely remote place in the desert, 500 miles from anyone (as seen in the movie), and just... be alone. It's when he's chased or bothered or angered that he lets loose. Look at the desert chase sequence... he spent most of it running, and often followed what violence he did do with acts of contrition (like in the tank sequence when he drops the "bat" he made out of a turret, and decides to twist a turret rather than harming soldiers). If no one had chased him, he would have been happy to sit in the desert and chill. This is the theme of the classic comics... Hulk wants to be left alone, but humanity, villains, etc. keep seeking him out, looking for trouble. Ang Lee captured that perfectly. Lee's challenge is that he is using the most bestial version of the Hulk for his film, to the degree that the monster only utters 5 words in the whole movie. So, effectively, the Hulk is a silent movie character, and so Lee has to inform the audience about the Hulk's intentions through his actions and subtle (via beautifully careful CGI) facial expressions. Does the Hulk look addled, confused and perhaps mentally disabled in many of his scenes? Of course he does... he may have human origins, but the Hulk is a big dumb beast, except that in his quiet moments, as his rage subsides slightly, a human morality emerges. Ang Lee's treatment is deadly serious, but a lack of winking humor is appropriate in the case of this dark heroic tale, and the action sequences are riveting, thrilling and cathartic. Like a great comic book, 'The Hulk' has complexities hidden within its 4-color spectacle that reveal themselves sublimely upon repeat visits, as in when adults go back to read the comics they grew up with, after a lifetime of experience, to see the subtext they missed the first time. |
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