Hulk (2003)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2003
	Director: Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain, Life of Pi)
	Actors: Eric Bana (Star Trek), Jennifer Connelly (Once upon a time in America, Requiem for a Dream, Noah), Sam Elliott (The Big Lebowski), Nick Nolte (48 Hrs, The Thin Red Line)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 18.05.2019, VOD, 14" computer screen.
Synopsis: Son of a military scientist, Bruce (Bana) follows without knowing in his footsteps. After an accident in his laboratory, he gets chased by the military led by the father (Elliott) of his co-worker and former love interest Betty (Connelly).
Review: I had almost no memory of watching this movie except for the fight against the big dogs which I wrongly thought was the climax, and the breathtaking (although simple) shot of an explosion that I played twice like I did 15 years ago. It has been clearly stated that this movie does not belong to the official Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it was released four years before Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk started it. I really thought Marvel was trying to make it disappear so when I found it on the German Netflix I had to watch it immediately. You can tell from the tone (and the cast) that it does not fit what the MCU adopted for all of its movies, but I like to think that I can believe this original story to be the one of the Hulk we see in the MCU. It would explain why he is like he is and why there is no other Hulk (its genesis is a convoluted and lengthy adventure). This movie even ends in Latin America where The Incredible Hulk starts! There is in fact a lot to be said about this movie: - The 2003 digital special effects are much better than I thought they would be in particular their insertion in the many practical ones (a plus) except that I find the Hulk to be too green, less realistic than the shades we see in the following movies. - Director Ang Lee (discovered thanks to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and later known for successes like Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi) chose to shoot this move like a Drama, with a Comics-book backdrop. I believe this is unheard of in any other adaptation. This reminds me of the choice of classic director Robert Wise to shoot the first Star Trek movie. He does an excellent job at directing his actors and shooting their performance in close-up during realistic interactions. For good or worst the time he spends on his actors brings the length of the movie to 2h18. - The movie sometimes has a cheap 80's-90's look (maybe helped by the 1.85:1 filming ratio) but I find it does fit with what the directors tried to do. One scene is even shot like a theater play (light, sound, acting)! - Banner's conflict with his other personality is well-shown on screen - The action scene are well-spaced and edited - The movie over-uses of comic-book-looking transitions between scenes and several-angle-of-view inserts which I can qualify as I read on a review as "hit-and-miss". This attempts at giving a comics-book visual identity to an adaptation looks like the movie is trying to distinguish itself from the 2000's other super-hero movies that were Sam Raimi's Darkman and Spider-Man, X-men and Fantastic Four. - The aerie Music by Danny Elfman is kind of a character in itself. The notes reminded me of the soundtrack of Alien or other space-borne movies of the 80's. It looks like Elfman was the go-to guy for the soundtrack of comic books adaptation at that time as he was on the aforementioned Spider-Man films, Darkman and then Hellboy II: the Golden Army. In the end an interesting super-hero movie to watch, especially for the comparison to the contemporary films in the same genre, and to the ones made in the following decade.
Rating: 5 /10