I want those 2+ hours of my life back....and the five dollars that I spent on the movie at blockbuster

had to get that off my chest before I went to bed

Yeah, I know, I saw The Hulk in theaters and it was one of the most deeply frustrating and disappointing moviegoing experiences I've ever had. If I could describe The Hulk in one word, it would be confused. Everything about this movie is either confused or confusing. Now, don't get me wrong, there are many good qualities about this movie. The acting, the action and the visual effects are all excellent. There are ambitions about this movie that are very brave and daring. But they all seem inferior when you look at the movie as a whole, because in that perspective, it just does not all hang together. The movie is confused about what it wants to be, where it wants to go, where it wants to begin, where it wants to end, when it wants to start, and when it wants to stop. It's confused about how fast or slow it should go. It's confused about what to emphasize and what to downplay. And the most annoying confusion is how many comic-bookish transitions and split-screens it should use, because there are waayyy too many. It gets pretty irritating after a while. Even in the most inappropriate scenes for these transitions and split-screens, there they are. And there are many moments when the movie seems to be building to something high, but then wimps out. Almost everything about this movie is indecided and lost, and thus the movie really suffers. There were actions and decisions made about the movie and scenes included that had my mind boggled as to why they happened, or why they were there. Some of the experience of watching this movie was frustrating and trying, rather than thrilling or moving. Sure, some scenes are thrilling and some scenes are moving, but it just doesn't help the fact that the movie is deeply confused. Maybe it's because Ang Lee was confused when he directed this. After all, I'd probably be a little confused if I were an acclaimed director stepping into a comic book flick. I have many questions about the movie, but somehow I doubt there are very good answers. And that in a nutshell is my big problem with this movie, and why it falls way short of my all-time favorite comic book flicks X2 and Spider-Man.

I didn't have a problem with Hulk until the end where it seems the writers were on crack. The pace was off at times and some parts were boring...but by they time it was over...i left the theatre liking the movie. It was better than i thought it would be (i thought i'd be crap from the trailers). The major problem i had is that it was marketed all wrong. The marketing made it seem like an action movie...and although it has strong action elements in it...this is a character driven film about discovery of one's self. In that respect it succeeded...but i can see why many people wouldn't like that about it.

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"Me? I'm dishonest. And you can always trust a dishonest man to be dishonest. Honestly, it's the honest ones, you want to be afraid of."

i think the hulk is an "artist's" version of a comic book film. what i mean is, with spiderman raimi was really aiming to please audiences and fans. he says so in interviews, and i think in desperately trying to please us all he left out his own personal touch. i believe with spidey 2 his stamp will return (as he is reunited with the dp from the evil dead series).

x2 was an action film with a loosely threaded screenplay that was only a diversion until we got to the action scenes. yes nightcrwler was cool, the opening scene deserved merit and kudos to brian singer and crew for carefully lying xmen trivia and bonus material all over the film (like the names of other mutants on stryker's comp). but to, all of this us just clever filmmaking, not excellent storytelling. what terroritory did x2 tread, that the first one didnt. (and im not referring to pace and/or action).

yes it started to move a lot quicker and gives u a lot of bang for your buck, but... i believe what ang was trying to do was something more. he is a deep, passionate filmmaker who tells rich, engaging stories about real life and real people. to be brought in on a science fiction/comic book movie and want to do it well he had to approach it from a tangible point of view (and by that i mean whats tangible for him which is reality).

the ending was a bit much (art house meets weird and ridiculous) but i think upon second viewing and thought you could understand - if you were willing - where this thoughtful filmmaker was coming from. and the end, to me, sums it all up in terms of where bruce banner must go, with a shot, and nothing else. at the end, when we see a lizard, on the tip of his hat as we move upward toward the sky it tells us, banner will from now on have to blend in, as does that lizard. to me, that is one of many other moments that sold the film to me as a great achievement for comic book movies.

i could say a lot more, but i dont wanna lay down my feelings any more than necessary.

Thanks guys! Now I can save my money and not go rent it! Phew . . . that was a close call, I was just getting ready to leave and get it.

" . . . Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . but as for me and for my house, we will serve the Lord." - Joshua 24:15

relik: u may have saved money (i use the term loosely) but you definietly missed out on something very fresh in the comicbook-to-movie adaptation stage hollywood is going through.


as for x2...the screenplay wasn't just filler into the action scenes...it was actually very clever and moved onto stuff that x1 wasn't able to. in x1, we meet logan and he stays a dark stranger with a dark past the entire film...here, he has loosened up a bit and wants to know his past (as does most of the audience) and he searches for it. also, x2 brought more depth into the conflict...last time it was just mutant vs. mutant with little human involvement (senator kelly)...now, its mutant vs. human vs. mutant. the clear conflict is the mutants against striker...and the shadowed conflict is magneto working things his own way against the others. There's quite alot to this film and it x2 shouldn't just be waved off as a typical sequel (ie, reloaded)...its a continuation of the original story going where it should go narrativly.

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"Me? I'm dishonest. And you can always trust a dishonest man to be dishonest. Honestly, it's the honest ones, you want to be afraid of."

When you're 17 with a crappy job, Every buck counts.
Now, I don't mean this rudely, but why are you talking about X2 in this thread?

" . . . Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . but as for me and for my house, we will serve the Lord." - Joshua 24:15

Whoops! sorry Cipher! I see what your talking about! Wow, I'm an idiot!

" . . . Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . but as for me and for my house, we will serve the Lord." - Joshua 24:15