Current release: THE INCREDIBLE HULK
I'm a comic geek. It's my duty to turn up to films like this so that I can either get a fanboy thrill out of seeing these things realised on screen or else just be really disappointed at how it doesn't really live up to the comic and then come home and moan about it on the internet. Unfortunately, I'm beginning to think that I'm turning up to all these superhero movies out of curiosity rather than because I think I'll enjoy them.
Every so often I'll see one that tries something new, or has a unique visual style to make it more interesting, but the majority of them are just, well, a bit samey. I'm looking forward to THE DARK KNIGHT, but otherwise I think I'm just getting bored of these films. ELEKTRA... FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER... the more recent IRON MAN... I didn't even get round to seeing these ones. I just can't muster up the excitement. Is it a comic geek thing? Have I finally realised that none of these films will ever live up to my expectations? Or is it nothing to do with that, and I'm just being hit by the same realisation that I suspect many other moviegoers, comic geek or otherwise, are probably being hit by - that these films just aren't that great.
I think part of the problem is that they're the epitome of films that I usually don't like - vapid storylines as an excuse to blow things up and have really cool special effects - but at the same time I feel compelled to treat these ones differently because they're from source material I love. The same thing could explain why I went to see I AM LEGEND (my favourite book ever) when I knew it would disappoint (though, I admit, not nearly as much as I expected it to).
So anyway, THE INCREDIBLE HULK more or less ignores Ang Lee's take from a few years ago, largely because very few people actually liked it, and starts off as a kind of sequel-but-not-really. Instead of referring to the original movie (this new one is completely recast for a start) it constantly refers to the TV series and comics, albeit not explicitly. You know the drill - man gets angry, man turns into big green monster, monster smashes things up.
Aside from offering nothing new as a superhero movie, THE INCREDIBLE HULK is hampered by the acting.
Norton is a charisma-free zone (I know that many think he's a Very Good Actor, but I just don't get it) and a rather drippy Liv Tyler is even worse. That's not a good start, given that a love story between the two is supposed to offer us some kind of heart to the film. On top of that, William Hurt is miscast and Tim Roth is only two steps removed from the pantomime villainy that he subjected us to in that bloody awful PLANET OF THE APES remake (sorry, I really shouldn't keep mentioning that).
On top of that, the effects are far from great too. A lot of the Hulk effects improve over the naff effects in Ang Lee's version, but many don't and the Abomination (the villain that Roth turns into) was just garbage. If the CGI flops from I AM LEGEND mated with Dick Durock's man-in-a-suit SWAMP THING, this character would be the result. Well, this character and a really disturbing movie sex scene.
Neither movies have been great, but I think Ang Lee's edges this one for at least daring to be different, and no amount of fanboy in-jokes or TV series references are going to change my mind. In fact, I'm reminded here of my experience of watching HOSTEL 2 - the appearances of several Euro-cult veterans only reminded me how much I'd prefer to be watching one of their movies than Eli Roth's nonsense. This film had much the same effect with each and every TV series reference. Norton is no Bill Bixby, CGI is no Lou Ferrigno and Liv Tyler is no... well, she's just nothing at all based on this evidence.
I guess if I want to be optimistic about it I should point out that the film has been a hit with plenty of folks. Aside from the fact that, as I write, it has a mindbogglingly high score on IMDb, the screening I went to did end up with lots of kids running out shouting "Hulk smash!" so I guess they enjoyed it.
Every so often I'll see one that tries something new, or has a unique visual style to make it more interesting, but the majority of them are just, well, a bit samey. I'm looking forward to THE DARK KNIGHT, but otherwise I think I'm just getting bored of these films. ELEKTRA... FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER... the more recent IRON MAN... I didn't even get round to seeing these ones. I just can't muster up the excitement. Is it a comic geek thing? Have I finally realised that none of these films will ever live up to my expectations? Or is it nothing to do with that, and I'm just being hit by the same realisation that I suspect many other moviegoers, comic geek or otherwise, are probably being hit by - that these films just aren't that great.
I think part of the problem is that they're the epitome of films that I usually don't like - vapid storylines as an excuse to blow things up and have really cool special effects - but at the same time I feel compelled to treat these ones differently because they're from source material I love. The same thing could explain why I went to see I AM LEGEND (my favourite book ever) when I knew it would disappoint (though, I admit, not nearly as much as I expected it to).
So anyway, THE INCREDIBLE HULK more or less ignores Ang Lee's take from a few years ago, largely because very few people actually liked it, and starts off as a kind of sequel-but-not-really. Instead of referring to the original movie (this new one is completely recast for a start) it constantly refers to the TV series and comics, albeit not explicitly. You know the drill - man gets angry, man turns into big green monster, monster smashes things up.
Aside from offering nothing new as a superhero movie, THE INCREDIBLE HULK is hampered by the acting.
Norton is a charisma-free zone (I know that many think he's a Very Good Actor, but I just don't get it) and a rather drippy Liv Tyler is even worse. That's not a good start, given that a love story between the two is supposed to offer us some kind of heart to the film. On top of that, William Hurt is miscast and Tim Roth is only two steps removed from the pantomime villainy that he subjected us to in that bloody awful PLANET OF THE APES remake (sorry, I really shouldn't keep mentioning that).
On top of that, the effects are far from great too. A lot of the Hulk effects improve over the naff effects in Ang Lee's version, but many don't and the Abomination (the villain that Roth turns into) was just garbage. If the CGI flops from I AM LEGEND mated with Dick Durock's man-in-a-suit SWAMP THING, this character would be the result. Well, this character and a really disturbing movie sex scene.
Neither movies have been great, but I think Ang Lee's edges this one for at least daring to be different, and no amount of fanboy in-jokes or TV series references are going to change my mind. In fact, I'm reminded here of my experience of watching HOSTEL 2 - the appearances of several Euro-cult veterans only reminded me how much I'd prefer to be watching one of their movies than Eli Roth's nonsense. This film had much the same effect with each and every TV series reference. Norton is no Bill Bixby, CGI is no Lou Ferrigno and Liv Tyler is no... well, she's just nothing at all based on this evidence.
I guess if I want to be optimistic about it I should point out that the film has been a hit with plenty of folks. Aside from the fact that, as I write, it has a mindbogglingly high score on IMDb, the screening I went to did end up with lots of kids running out shouting "Hulk smash!" so I guess they enjoyed it.
Labels: comics
posted by Alan at 7:54 pm
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