Hulk (2003)

 

Poor Bruce Banner.  He had a lousy childhood, and has had a couple movies that the Hulk just couldn't be the sole star of.  This is the first big screen appearance of the jade giant, and it shows his origin.  Or origins.  He gets pelted with gamma rays, though not from a bomb, but an overheated super collider.  Betty had already dumped him, but they still have to work together.  His long thought dead father shows up (David Banner, of course) and turns himself into either Zaxx or the Absorbing Man.  Naturally, all the father issues come out.

I have enjoyed this movie far more than I thought I would.  I really love the way it looks, and a lot of the fades and wipes.   It is very innovative, and evocative of comic books.  The cast is good, though Eric Bana looks far too young to be that accomplished a scientist.  The CGI gets questionable at times, especially with the Hulk being about 18 feet tall on occasion.  He also looks like a really angry Shrek at times.  

The movie is also too long.  It runs 2:18 hours, and should be about 100 minutes or at most two hours long.  There is a mostly useless scene where the army stand-in Axxion goes after the Hulk.  It goes on and on, without really accomplishing much.  I did like seeing Glenn Talbot get his just comeuppance.  

The movie is better than I thought, though I had very low expectations.