Thanks for all the rates - if you read one of my reviews, then I will return the favour! Would appr...
Thanks for all the rates - if you read one of my reviews, then I will return the favour! Would appreciate any reads of my Flashforward review - it came through too fast!
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The Incredible Hulk
Stuck for something to watch over the week-end, we finally decided upon the Incredible Hulk, which is currently showing on Sky Anytime. Initially, me daughter wasn’t interested as she saw it as a ‘boy’ film, but when I explained about watching the television series whilst growing up, she decided to give it a go.
What’s it all about?
Well, this is a big budget superhero type film, reminiscent of the 1970’s tv series starring Bill Bixby. It tells the story of Dr. David Banner (Edward Norton) who is basically an experiment gone wrong. After being subjected to gamma rays, he has a reaction that turns him into a super strong green monster with super human strength and power. Whilst he thought the experiment was to further research that would help soldiers, the experiments were in fact
designed to increase military power.
After destroying the lab and hurting Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) his girlfriend, he goes on the run, hiding from the military, whilst trying to find a cure for his condition. He talks online to an unknown person, who is trying to help him. William Hurt plays Betty’s father - General Thaddeus Ross, who is determined in his desire to capture David Banner and sees only the potential benefits to the army in doing so.
For those who do not know, it is important to point out that his transformation only occurs when he gets angry! So of course, he tries to avoid this happening at all costs.
The film follows him on the run as Major Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) is the leader of the team who pursues him. Things get more interesting when Major Blonsky agrees to be injected with some of the formula that will make him superhuman. That is all I will give away of the plot, as I hate to spoil the bulk of the film.
Opinion
The film gets off to an extremely rapid start, with flashbacks explaining the back story of how the green monster was created in the first place, with the opening titles running at the same time. I liked this aspect because it didn’t take long to get into the film (always a good thing with children!).
I enjoyed the film more than I thought I would, although I found the scenes between David and Betty a little tiresome, as I really just wanted to get to the action sequences.
The soundtrack, although not memorable, does a good job of heightening suspense and keeping you on the edge of your seat.
The CGI effects are good, especially during the transformation of Doctor David Banner. In fact, I would love to see an episode of the tv series, just to see how dated it looks compared to this! His face and his eyes in particular look quite scary. The scenes when they attempt to trap and capture him are particularly effective.
The movie has a strong military feel to it, with plenty of guns and armoured vehicles which may not be to the taste of some.
Performance wise, all the acting was of a good standard and it was nice to see William Hurt in a less serious type of movie. I thought that Liv Tyler’s character was a little wishy washy and I would have liked to see a stronger character, rather than just ‘pretty girl in distress’. Edward Norton I thought was unusual casting, however it seemed to work, but for me, Tim Roth delivered the best performance and was believable as committed army soldier.
One aspect that I thought the film lacked was humour; in Spiderman and Superman there were more one liners and laughs and so at times it was a bit too serious for me.
The ending was a nice touch – I will not reveal or spoil anything, but I thought that it was a nice twist that I wasn’t expecting…
Oh, and it may be my imagination, but I thought the original Hulk was ‘greener’ and uglier! Whilst his strength was put across well, I would have liked a Hulk that was less humanised.
Overall, I found it reasonably entertaining – but certainly not a classic. I would advise trying to rent it or watch it on Sky, as I think its lasting appeal is limited.
***Availability***
It is available from Amazon for £5.98. It lasts for 108 minutes and is rated 12.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1977 - Action/Adventure - Director: Clint Eastwood - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring:Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney
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