Difference in Opinion

Let’s call it Hulk 2.0! Although I was never one of those people that minded the first Hulk movie, this one is sure to please any who were disappointed with the franchise. It is a GREAT year for superhero movies. Just like Iron Man did, and The Dark Knight will, The Incredible Hulk has raised the bar for superhero flicks. Visuals and nostalgia no longer is enough, people want to see a good and believable (as much as it can be) movie that they want to watch over and over again. Having Louis Leterrier direct the film was obviously a great choice. Leterrier is no stranger to action movies having directed Unleashed and Transporter 2, and been the art director for the first Transporter. Action comes easy to him, but he also did a great job with the entire film, even when there weren’t any helicopters being thrown about.

The one disappointment I did have (if I can even call it that) was that there wasn’t a lot of surprises thrown my way. After watching the trailer played twice each commercial break on TV I knew almost the whole movie. It even showed the main villain clear as day in them, and how he came to be. That being said, the story was great, and the locations were awesome as well. It seemed like the first Hulk movie had all the action happening at either a random forest, random desert, or a single street in a city. The Incredible Hulk has scenes in other countries, a college, downtown New York, a bottling factory, and various other locations. Great locations can really make a film (great example being the Bourne series was made so much better by being filmed all over the world). Great acting can definitely help as well.

Edward Norton is one of my favorite actors hands down. He does such a great job in all of the movies he is in and has yet to be in a bad movie really. Liv Tyler is always easy on the eyes and has proven that she can handle blockbuster films. I almost wanted her to look at General Ross and say “if you want him, come and claim him!” Her father in then film, General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross, is played by the always excellent William Hurt. The antagonist of the film is played by Tim Roth, who I have had a great appreciation for ever since the first time I saw Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. Although Ghost Rider proves the contrary, with a great cast it is really hard to make a bad film. It is easy to see that The Incredible Hulk had an amazing cast (one which far surpassed Ghost Rider. Yes, I am still very sour about that movie).

Another superhero movie? Didn’t I just see the new Iron Man like a month ago? The truth is that there are a lot of superhero movies coming out. Some might think that it dilutes the genre but I thing that is only makes it stronger. Sure, there are your movies that were obvious bowel movements from money-hungry studios (Ghost Rider anyone?), but every genre has those. If anything, the importance and emphasis being placed on superhero movies is garnering studio to spend a bit more time and make a quality movie since they have been shown that they can definitely pay out (i.e. Spiderman and X-Men). With The Incredible Hulk, you can tell they didn’t want to half-ass it like some believe they did with the last one. They loaded up the cast with great actors and actresses, got a solid action director, formed a script and put a lot of work into it. It all worked out extremely well. This is one of those movies that you want to see on the big screen, so get to it!