Theatrical Release: June 20, 2003

Review by Tom Johnson(tomjohnson@thecinemasource.com)

We're living in a golden age of comic book adaptations right now, and for the most part, we have Marvel to thank for it. While DC (Owned by Warner Bros.) almost killed the genre with a slew of junk leading to the unforgivable "Batman and Robin", Marvel Films producer Avi Arad has constantly reimagined what a comic book movie could be, and the results have ranged from decent("Daredevil") to good("Blade") to great("X2", "Spider-man", "Blade 2"). "Hulk", his latest production, falls in the middle category. It never reaches the geeky, adrenaline-fueled highs of the X-men or Blade series, but it never really tries to. Here, director Ang Lee tries to do something different, and while it may not always pay-off, when it does, the results are thrilling.

From the start of "Hulk", we know we're about to see something.....different when the narrative rushes through 30 years of the Banner family's trials like a comic book junkie on speed reads through a first issue. Within five minutes, we've been brought to present day, where Bruce(Eric Bana) is teamed with ex-girlfriend Betty Ross(Jennifer Connelly) on a radical military study. Something always goes wrong in these situations, and before we know it, Bruce is a mean, green, smashing machine.

The only man with any real knowledge on these strange events Bruce's mysterious father(Nick Nolte), who has been locked away for 30 years after an old "accident". Old and crusty, Old Mr. Banner is flanked by three mean-spirited dogs, a device that's amusing at first, but quickly gets old. Thanks to both his and the military's shenanigans, Bruce is in for a very tough time.

Ang Lee approaches "Hulk" as if it were the world's most expensive art film. Action is kept to a bare minimum in the first 90 minutes, aside from a violent outburst at the lab and a somewhat lame fight between our green hero and the three mutts, now monster-sized. Instead we get a level of character focus that's often unseen in movies like these. The casual moviegower will no doubt get restless and impatient during some of these slow-moving scenes, but should stay put. The action pay-off is HUGE.

Once the Hulk goes face to face with the military's best, we get half an hour of ground-breaking special effects wizardry. Trust me when I say that they've kept all of the money shots out of the ad campaigns. Some of what has been accomplished here has never been seen before, and will be met with gasps and giddy laughter across the country. However, the action never overshadows the story but instead propels it to new heights. By the end of the movie, you will be exhausted. In a good way.

While the movie gets a lot right, it also fails in a few areas, namely editing. Lee employs a "living comic book" style to the film, with scenes being broken ...