Hi, Folks:

For this episode, I watched Ang Lee’s 2003 movie, the Hulk.  I had never seen it, but from other people’s comments I had come to expect problems. 

The movie was shot beautifully.   Directed to feel something like a comic, the picture was often broken into panels, and hard-edged transitions rolled across the screen in a somewhat unique manner.  Not everyone agrees with me that this faux-comic book approach worked, but I appreciated it for what it was.  The special effects were quite beautiful, and great effort was made to make the Hulk himself appear believable, even when he’d grown to eighteen feet tall or thereabouts.  I heard that the animators employed more than a hundred separate mattes making up the Hulk’s skin to get him just right, and it showed.

That’s all well and good, but then there was that plot.  Whoa-boy.  With millions of dollars at stake, how do they let monstrosities like this happen?  I guess, put more succinctly, how do a bunch of smart people produce a dumb thing?  There were huge holes in the plot, and ridiculous omissions, and actions that defied all logic taken by characters.  You want me to name the plot holes?  I’m not going to bother.  The writers certainly didn’t.  I’m positive these are talented, professional grade writers each capable of great things, yet…

Then, there’s the acting.  Eric Bana was a complete cipher, yet I’m sure this was because he was instructed to act in this manner.  (I’ve seen him in other movies, such as Troy, and I feel confident that he can indeed act.)  Sam Elliott was awesome as General “Thunderbolt” Ross, and Nick Nolte, whose character was awkwardly shoehorned into the plot, was outstanding.  Nolte and Elliott each made the movie enjoyable for their performances, so some small grace is to be found here.

This movie gets a C-.