Hulk - the first try

Title: Hulk

US Release: 6/20/2003

Directed by Ang Lee

Written by James Schamus

Distributed by Universal Pictures

Cast:

Eric Bana – Bruce Banner, alias Krinsler

Jennifer Connolly – Betty Ross

Sam Elliot – General “Thunderbolt” Ross

Josh Lucas – Glenn Talbot

Nick Nolte – David Banner

Cameos by Stan Lee and Lou Ferrigno

The Skinny:

                This film tried to be true to its comic book subject matter, and this is obvious right off the bat with an eclectic title sequence (which have vanished from all films these days) to split screens made to look like comic panels throughout the film.

                David Banner (Nolte, the younger played by unknown actor Paul Kersey), a research scientist at a United States Army base somewhere in an unnamed desert, is working on manipulating DNA and combining it with animal DNA with the aim of infusing soldiers with the ability to heal their own wounds, practically becoming almost invincible.  Base command however does not approve human testing, though his research shows potential, the implications of human testing are too dangerous.  David ignores this, and starts to test his research on himself in secret.  He is thrown for a loop when his wife reveals she’s pregnant.  David is distraught, even after his son, Bruce, is born and begins to mature, he’s terrified of what he’s passed onto his son.  He does care for his son and plays with him often after work, but collects blood samples when his wife is out of the house.  David is soon caught and thrown off the project.  In a fit of rage, he makes his way to the base’s nuclear reactor and causes a meltdown.  He rushes home, and in a fury pulls his wife away from Bruce, and into another room. 

                Bruce grows up in an adopted family, but has frequent night terrors.  He eventually becomes a brilliant scientist himself, goes to university on a full scholarship, and begins a successful career as a scientist, specifically a genetic scientist. 

                Eventually, Bruce, going by his adopted last name of “Krinsler” is head of a project to test prototype miniature robots, called “nano-meds”, with the goal of injected them into living organisms to heal injuries.  The project has been unsuccessful, and his research partner, Betty Ross (Connolly), also his ex-girlfriend, is afraid they will be shut down.  To further complicate the issue, another ex-boyfriend of Betty’s, Glenn Talbot (Lucas) a former Army captain now a civilian contractor with the Army, is scheming to take over their project for his own greedy motives.  Betty and Bruce repeatedly reject his offers. 

                Bruce, who continues to work on the project even at home and late into the night, starts to notice a strange man, accompanied by three dogs, is following him.  Tense from Talbot pressuring them, the prospect of failure, and this suspicious stalker, Betty tries to ease Bruce’s tension by asking her estranged father, Gen. Thunderbolt Ross (Elliot), who is in command at the desert base where Talbot works, to pressure Talbot into leaving them alone.  The discussion is cut short when the technician assisting with the project, who is doing maintenance on their apparatus, accidentally triggers the Nano-meds to be released.  Bruce valiantly pulls him out of the apparatus and away from harm.  But the apparatus won’t close, and alarms are sounding that gamma radiation is about to be released into the chamber along with the nano-meds.  Unable to close the apparatus, and the technician too scared to move, Bruce covers the opening with his own body.  He is saturated by gamma radiation suddenly released into the chamber.

                Bruce survives, which confuses Betty, as every specimen exposed to the nano-meds died, but he is healthy and alive.  She’s visibly distraught at the thought of losing him.  That night Bruce is awakened to find his stalker in his hospital room.  The man seems to know how Bruce thinks and says Krinsler is not his last name.  He reveals himself to be David Banner, Bruce’s biological father.  Having recently been declared sane and released back into society, David wants finish the tests he performed on Bruce as a child to see not only what was passed onto him, but what it has matured into as Bruce grew and what it can do now that’s been exposed to the nano-meds.  Bruce angrily tells him to leave.

                After he’s released from the hospital, Bruce, suffering an emotional breakdown when his own tests prove that David is his father and his DNA has been tampered with, ignores a phone call from Betty, who had a lunch date with her father earlier, which she stormed out.  Bruce with his adrenaline already surging from his emotional breakdown, physically transforms in a huge giant and trashes the laboratory.

                Betty visits Bruce the next morning to ask about what happened to the lab, but Bruce can’t remember a thing.  Their conversation is cut short when Gen. Ross unexpectedly arrives, and arrests Bruce.  He requests Betty stay away from him and Bruce is interrogated by Gen. Ross about events he doesn’t remember.

                David is paid an unexpected visit from Betty. Their conversation, where it is revealed that he does know Betty’s father, makes him suspicious of her, and plans to eliminate her after she leaves.  Using notes and some lab equipment he had stolen from Bruce’s lab earlier; he experiments on his 3 dogs.

Bruce, under house arrest, discovers David has been in his house, and finds a cell phone he hid under his couch cushion so they could have a private conversation.  The results of which only anger Bruce, right as Talbot forces his way into Bruce’s home.  Aggravating Bruce more, he transforms into the green giant again.  Awestruck, Talbot can’t escape, and is hurled through the window and Bruce escapes to find Betty.  He finds her a family cabin she retreated to in order to relax.  Scarred but curious, she realizes its Bruce, only for David’s dogs, now mutated into oversized monster dogs, arrive and attack.  Destruction ensues and Bruce dismembers all 3 monster dogs.  Exhausted and calmed down, he reverts to human form.   Betty surmises that the nano-meds must have had a completely different reaction on him, only for Bruce to reveal it is something inside him from birth that is reacting to the nano-meds.  Bruce wonders why his real father would want to turn him into a “Hulk”.

Betty, even more scarred, calls her father while Bruce rests.  A swat team arrives and tranquilizes Bruce.  He’s then taken back to the same desert base he was born at, and Betty tries to help him remember his childhood.   Betty’s efforts are cut short, as Talbot, alive but badly injured, has gone over Gen. Ross’s head and taken over the project.  His initial efforts to cause Bruce to change so he can study his Hulk form, are unsuccessful, so he uses electrostimulation.  Betty, upon arriving home, finds David waiting for her.  He confesses all he had done while working for her father, and what he had done to his wife that Bruce witnessed, traumatizing him.

The Bruce, now remembering what had traumatized him due to the electrostimulation, awakens, and quickly transforms into the Hulk.  Talbot is unable to extract any organic sample from him, and the Hulk easily breaks free of his confinement.  Talbot, Gen. Ross, and the rest of the world soon witness the destructive potential of the Hulk, and that nothing can stop him.

                 

On the surface:

                This movie had an artsy feel mainly to the Comic book panels that moved across the screen for the entire film.  It definitely had a more emotional feel to it by introducing childhood trauma for Bruce Banner that was not in any of the Hulk comic books.  The audience didn’t jive with the trauma and instead was expecting a straight superhero movie, and a lot seemed disappointed that the Hulk never says his famous line “Hulk Smash!” from the original Jack Kirby comics.  It was financially successful, but received poor reviews.  The deep emotion Ang Lee and screen writer James Schamus tried to inject into the character was not liked by the general movie going audience or the comic book fans who flocked to see this film.  Never the less, it still has a small following mainly among the casual Hulk fans who know the character but did not read every issue featuring the Hulk before watching the movie or since.  

                The Comic paneling was not only distracting, but apparently undercut the emotional element of the film, stifling its effect on the story and the audience.

Production wise:

The was the first big budget film attempt to bring the classic green skinned monstrosity into Hollywood mainstream.  More and more movie producers and screenwriters were taking interest in the already established history and character development, along with a long-standing fan bases stretching generations of readers, of Marvel comics.  With successful releases of Spider-man, X-men and its more successful sequel X2: X-men United, the view of superhero movies was changing from overly dark, to colorful and fun, and with the right talent, could be made into successful films.

The film had been in development since the late 1980’s.  With the success of “The Incredible Hulk” tv show, (which made body builder Lou Ferrigno famous, and makes a cameo in this film) many directors and studios wanted to make the character into a feature length film.  Universal, who had produced the TV series, courted many writers and directors throughout the 1990’s to make the film.  Production had been approved and scheduled but kept getting delayed as no one could agree on a script or overall vision for the Hulk on film.  After many re-writes and changes in the production staff, Ang Lee and James Schamus’s script was approved and filming started in 2002.  All along, ILM was the main choice to create a completely CGI Hulk.  ILM exceeded that request and created a rendering so close to actual human anatomy, complete with sweat glands, muscle sinews, hair follicles, and even pores rendered into his skin for realism.  The final product was finished just a over a month before the film’s release.  Ang Lee along with several stunt men performed in motion capture to give the Hulk realistic human movements in the film.

Why I liked this film:

                I did find the comic paneling distracting throughout the film, but the scenes of the Hulk destroying everything around him definitely got my attention.  The CGI rendering of the Hulk was exactly how the character needed to look on film, big, buff, and off the wall angry.  The film used every opportunity to show how indestructible he was: facing off against tanks, F-22 Raptors, Comanche attack helicopters, Military grade ordinance, and three mutated monster dogs.  The Hulk remained unscathed.

                I believe this film would’ve aged well if it hadn’t been so ill-received on its release.  The element of childhood trauma, an all too common reality for a lot of boys and men, seemed out of place with the audience.  Though more into my 20’s, I did see what Lee and Schamus were going for.  The trauma angle gave Banner more depth, and his transformation into the Hulk was an emotional response, not just a reaction, to a familiar feeling of loss and suffering he had experienced since his early childhood.  When that all comes to a head in the film, with David Banner confessing to Betty what he did, and Bruce remembering, it started to hit an emotional level with me.  A lot of men with emotional trauma do feel like a monster is inside them when they try to cope with trauma and everyday circumstances, no matter how small and petty, seem to dredge up those experiences all over again.

                David Banner’s character being made into the Absorbing man, a villain from the early days of the Hulk comics and Jack Kirby, did seem a little forced, but I thought it gave Nick Nolte more of a chance to show how crazy David Banner had become.  His speech toward the end of the film when he implores Bruce to “give back” his power shows just how maniacal he was, and how that attitude, along with actions, had left a mark on Bruce so horrible that he couldn’t remember it for the longest time, but always felt it. 

                The cameo by Stan Lee, which would become a staple in pretty much every Marvel movie until his passing, was a nice gift to fans in the audience, and the cameo by Lou Ferrigno was a gift to the fans of the tv show as well giving him due credit for being an important part in the development of the Hulk on screen. 

                This film is very creative, and if given a chance, can be very deep.  It may speak to some male viewers or give a glimpse into why the character resonates mostly with men for many decades.  That may be a far-reaching statement, but then again for deep emotions to be touched, even briefly, one would need to reach very far indeed.

                Eric Bana, who joins a long list of successful Australian actors, did well in my opinion, I would’ve liked to see him continue as the Hulk, even into the MCU films.  Sam Elliot, who has played the seasoned military commander roles before, is more than believable as Gen. Ross.  The performances of the actors in this film went beyond two-dimensional, which I guess the audience wasn’t expecting, and just wanted to see the Hulk smash things. 

The film is rated PG-13 for brief nudity, “Sci-fi” destruction (which I doubt could be disturbing to viewers who watch this movie for the destruction) and some CGI gore.  The scene where the Hulk tears apart the monster dogs is very creative, maybe over the top for younger or more sensitive viewers, but still worth watching to the rest of the film feels more coherent.  Stream or rent where available, and give it a chance or even a second watch to see the emotional elements.  They are there, not to be found, but to be seen.