What's the beef with The Hulk?
 

So I've heard a lot of people bad mouthing The Hulk around here, but I just saw it for the first time tonight and I have to say I was actually pretty impressed with it.

First off, the story is pretty solid. The background is fairly well developed . . . the characters relationships are built well . . . most of the plot lines are wrapped up fairly nicely. I was entertained . . .

More importantly though, I thought the framing, cinematography, and editing were amazing! The way the scenes were cut to look like comic book cells was a fantastic touch. I thought that it gave the movie much more of a feel of the Hulk comics. It had a huge impact on the movie and really affected my enjoyment of it. I think that it even made the CG Hulk more easy to believe since it set the comic "mindframe".

The only thing that I could possibly see people complaining about was the fact that it sort of mixed up the original story (different way of becoming the Hulk, both David and Bruce banner, etc.), but it's a movie based on the comic, not the comic itself, so I would hope that that wasn't the issue.

So my question is . . . what was it about this movie that so many people didn't like?

Edit: BTW, I did do a search first and found some info, but there was also a lot of "This movie sucked!" comments and I am looking for a little more than that. :D

For me, the movie was too...gloomy for a comic book-based film. There's no "fun" factor in it at all.

For me the cuts were GOD AWFUL. I hated the transitions from scene to scene. They might aswell have thrown in a Modulated Star matrix wipe in it. Gag, the person working the post work/switcher controls should have been dragged out into the street, shot and then kicked for wasting the equipments time and bombarding the audiance with stupid unneeded wipes.

I tend to agree. Although I will give Ang Lee credit for trying to do something different with this movie, I still think most of us wanted to see more HULK and -just a tad- less Melodrama.

I will also confess that from day one I liked the way Ang did the HULK scenes. I liked them even more while watching them in the store the day the dvd came out. I think for what HULK is he looked really good and he fit the comic book proportions. :up:

The editing and effects are what really made me want to see this movie and while the movie has some serious faults I really enjoy most of what it had to offer.


Like a number of movies out there the longer it went on the worse it got.

A.I. is the movie that is the biggest culprit but Hulk is certainly in the top 5.

I own the DVD and like the first 3/4 of it. I simply turn the movie off before it hits that downhill slide into crap. It's one of the worst endings in my collection and I just don't watch it.

The "beef" with The Hulk is very simple:

people on this board love to tear down and bash anything that becomes too popular. Popularity = Bad to many of the people who frequent this site, so Hulk was an easy target for people who feel they must support the smaller films by bashing the big Hollywood event films, regardless of whether it was good or if they saw it or not. Many Ang Lee fans badmouthed the movie months before it even opened also, accusing Lee of being a Hollywood "selllout".

Only problems I had was the CG dogs and the ending. I really hated how it ended. But I loved everything else.

So true so true :(

I really liked the Hulk. dont get me wrong, its not perfect though:

it WAS too sad. it was almost a sadder movie than mystic river. it should have been a bit more fun.

it was too long, also. several scenes could have been cut, i.e. Betty and Ross, the flashbacks...

but i'm just trying to find faults. i really enjoyed it overall.

This may be true about other mainstream movies - but THE HULK was never popular. Sure, it made a lot its first weekend...which is in an indication of how many people WANTED to like this film, but bombed quickly thereafter, indicating how universally panned it was by the moviegoing public. A quite similar thing just happened with MATRIX REVOLUTIONS.

I thought the movie was perfect! A wonderful comic film that keeps the tone of the comic and re-creates what a comic book movie can be about and do.

Everything is pitch perfect to me...the fact that you dont see Hulk for an hour...split-screen...Nolte...everything...and those reasons are basically the ones that most people dont like it for...to each their own...fools...

And Gigli was the year's best movie and should win several Oscars.

We don't need a movie to be popular to bash it. We'll bash anything that moves.

And, BTW, I haven't seen The Hulk yet. And since I was such a huge fan of the comic, I'm not quite sure I want to yet.

my sentiments as well.
not the first time a film of this quality has been piled on and had the $#!% kicked out of it by the J6p film snobs.
even the 'so-called' fans hated Blade Runner when it was first released- primarily due to the studio creating the wrong expectations.
i know i hated it at the theater.
it wasn't until years later that i re-visited it that i tried to meet the material 1/2 way that i realized how fine a film it was.
down the road Hulk will be appreciated,
but not anytime soon.

Knock it off. What you're saying is that everybody found The Hulk to be an excellent movie, but those who say they didn't like it are lying because it was popular. That's total bullshit.

Guess what? There are people in the world who don't share the same opinions as you. You need to accept that without tearing them down. It's part of being a mature adult. How about talking about the film itself instead of making ad hominem attacks? Is that even possible on this board?

Okay, now that the rant is off my chest, here are some of my problems with the film:

1. Marketed as a kid's film, including a deluge of toys and other merchandising. Film would be boring as hell to most kids.

2. Too much angst and whining. The film takes itself way so seriously, but without the consummate weighty issues.

3. Completely unsatisfying over-the-top and muddled climax.

4. Bad acting from good actors. Can't say I blame them since the dialogue wasn't that great.

5. Poor pacing.

6. Simply put: the film wasn't entertaining.

My problem with the movie (besides the godawful cuts and what not) was the whole tone of the movie. Way too serious. Certain lines in the movie I wasnt sure if they were supposed to be funny or not. Very awkward movie.

I thought it was great. It was tragic - but when you think about it the Hulk is a tragic character. The Hulk looked cool, the character development was good, the cinematography and the story were well done. My only gripe was the last battle with Nolte. It just felt out of place.

i didn't like the way the split screen action worked. I don't mind it on 24 and shows like that but it didn't seem to fit on the movie. It was also way too long, cut some of the melodrama crap and trim Nick Noltie's role (that means no final battle) and get more traditional editing and the movie would have been better.

Hulk dropped off my to-see radar after seeing the first commercials (during the Super Bowl I think); I thought the CGI looked awful. I didn't really pay much attention to it upon its theater release though I did perceive a vibe (from Internet message boards and reviewers, box-office reports, etc.) that it wasn't that great or maybe even quite poor (if I recall correctly, a couple of the DVDTalk reviewers really hated it).

I don't recall what the heck possessed me to do so but I actually made a blind-buy of Hulk towards the end of its first week release on DVD. Note: my film preferences generally tend away from superhero/comic book films (though Superman is an all-time favorite, I am not a big fan of X-Men, Spider-Man, Blade, Batman, etc.). Anyway, I had to do a bit of arm-twisting to convince others to watch it even on DVD. Well lo and behold........I thought it was great (as did others who watched it with me)! I'd readily give it 3.5/4 stars (maybe even a little higher).

I thought the Director did a very nice job. I didn't find the film boring at all. On the contrary, I thought the first 70 minutes or so were wonderfully gripping with a slow and controlled ratcheting up of the suspense throughout. Shyamalan's Signs was the last film to have such an effect on me as a viewer. The CGI too - within the context of the entire film - was very effective and perfectly suited to the needs of the film. The dramatic storyline and angst of the film struck more of a chord with me than...let's say......a film like Mystic River.

The only flaw I had with the film had to do with the handling of the numerous extras during the desert scenes. I found their reactions to the Hulk to be a little cheesy (if that's the right word) or maybe too over the top (like the old Japanese monster movies). I felt the Director could have handled those shots a little better (serious, grim, business-like facial expressions vs. mouths-agape, wide-eyed surprise (in fairness though, how does one react to seeing a Hulk)). Basically, I felt that a more "professional" reaction by the extras would have been more in line with the dramatic and serious tone of the film.

After watching Hulk, I checked the reviews from Ebert and James Berardinelli (two critics whose opinions I hold in some regard though I don't always agree with them especially Ebert (sidenote: Bad Boys II just might be my favorite film of the year, though I'll credit Ebert in that his scathing review actually prompted me to see it in theaters (everything he disliked seemed liked something I'd enjoy))). As I was saying, Ebert gave Hulk 3/4 and Berardinelli scored it 3.5/4. In closing, I'll echo then some of their remarks in that I eagerly anticipate a sequel and that perhaps as Ebert says, Hulk is the comic book movie to see for people who wouldn't be caught dead at a comic book movie.

The film leaves a bad taste in my mouth for that really f-ed up last bit/confrontation between Bruce and David Banner. Take that part out, clean up the ending a little more, and it's a more satisfying movie experience. The WTF feeling you get leaving the theater had no place in film like Hulk.

Aside from the ending, I liked Hulk quite a bit. For those who would argue that it was dark,gloomy, and dreary, I suggest you pick up some of the more recent issues of the comic. I have to give Ang Lee credit, he nailed the mood just right.

I will say, however, that after reading some of the recent issues before viewing the movie, I actually thought that there was no way mainstream audiences would make this a runaway hit. Another movie that was mismarketed this year was Master and Commander. They tried to make it out as a Gladiator on water, which it wasn't.

Alright, let me first say I did not look forward to the Hulk and it's the only superhero movie I did not catch during it's intial run. With that said, I bought the DVD and really I couldn't figure out why people was hating it. Yes. it had problems. Mainly the split frames, which I found were extremely over-used and then there was also Nick Nolte's absording man character which felt tacked on, but for the most part, I thought it was a decent comic book film. Infact, I'd say it was one of Marvel's better one's, right after X-2.

:thumbsup:

I think it was great! They created hulk exactly like he was suppose to be in the comics...alot of people who never saw any of the original comics or the cartoon think he was made wrong they think he should have looked like Lou Ferigno, in the Hulk series!

They thought he was too big comparing him Lou, then when I tell them that he is suppose to be 10 feet tall and all they think again and say they did'nt like it cause it was all CGI...hell man if CGI looks good (and it did) then why complain.

I think the beef alot of people had was that they think they got ripped off because the Hulk is CGI.

I don't care as long as it looks great, and I think Hulk looked damn good, and brilliant. Hell Toy Story, Nemo and all are CGI!!

Yet nobody in this thread who didn't like the Hulk has mentioned the CGI.