Hulk Review:

Synopsis

Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) is a brilliant researcher who is working alongside his beautiful ex-girlfriend Betty Ross (Jennifer Connelly) in a genetic research laboratory. When a scientific experiment goes wrong, Banner is hit by a deadly dose of gamma radiation and is bizarrely left unscathed. A strange presence, however, soon begins to develop within him – an anger fuelled presence that will eventually cause him to transform into the Hulk.

A rampaging, yet heroic green being, The Hulk soon begins to make sporadic appearances, demolishing Banner's laboratory and home and causing havoc in the local area. Despite his volatile nature, a more compassionate side to the beast soon begins to shine through and it becomes apparent that the Hulk will stop at nothing to protect his beloved ex-girlfriend, Betty.

Headed up by Betty's father General 'Thunderbolt' Ross (Sam Elliot) and rival researcher Glenn Talbot (Josh Lucas), the military are soon engaged to track down the monster and protect civilians from his harmful force. When Betty discovers a link between Bruce's transformation into the beast and the work of his scientist father (Nick Nolte), she sets out to stop the hunt and protect the beast from destruction.

The Film

Gasps were to be heard when acclaimed director Ang Lee announced that he would be directing Hulk, an action blockbuster based on the famous Marvel Comics character.

However, this combination of man and material seemed increasingly logical as the shooting schedule drew nearer - for starters, Lee had successfully blended a strong storyline with jaw-dropping action in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Meanwhile, The Hulk, aka Bruce Banner, was not a textbook Marvel hero and a faithful adaptation would benefit from a more thoughful director. Banner was more of an anti-hero, never wanting to save the day - he just wanted to cure himself and escape loneliness.

Eric Bana stars as near-namesake Bruce Banner, the mutated scientist who turns into a ferocious green monster when irate. The military soon learn about The Hulk's existence and are keen to study the creature for scientific advancement. Banner is, of course, none too happy at being hunted by the army and an all-out battle ensues between the two deadly forces.

The film opens with quite a lot of backstory, allowing the audience to witness key moments in Banner's life that have subsequently become repressed memories. This is quite an effective technique for patient audiences that pays off by adding subsequent credibility to the main character. On the other hand, those looking for pure action thrills will be disappointed - a lot of time passes before The Hulk is even fully unleashed on screen. There are a few thrilling set-piece sequences, such as the 'Dog Fight' scene, but, on the whole, there is nothing remarkably new about the action. Effectively, Hulk is a jack of both trades - story and spectacle - but master of none.

Technically, Bana doesn't play The Hulk himself, since the character is a mixture of CGI wizardry by ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) and motion-capture by Ang Lee. Audiences were intially disappointed to hear that the film wouldn't follow previous TV adaptations in casting a real person in the title role. However, with Ang Lee's vision for The Hulk's size and actions, the computer route was the only one available. The end result is largely successful but quite odd for various reasons. Firstly, there is always a rather cartoonish appearance to the monster, thus reducing menace and credibility for the audience. However, some of the movements and facial nuances seem incredibly human and fluid thanks to Ang Lee's work in the motion-capture suit.

Eric Bana is very good as Banner, offering vulnerability and intellect in equal parts, while, Jennifer Connelly dresses down to bring an everyday charm to Betty, Bruce's research colleague. Look out for Nick Nolte, who puts in a wonderfully dark turn as Banner's mysterious father.

Overall, those who are very happy to sacrifice a lot of action for added story while find themselves preferring Hulk to other recent comic book adaptations - on the other hand, those looking for visceral stunts and special effects should definitely look elsewhere.

Video

The film looks very good on the first DVD but by no means exceptional. This is hardly surprising given the amount of material that has been crammed onto Disc One - the 132 minute feature (complete with an additional DTS soundtrack and commentary) along with almost half an hour of video extras.

Nevertheless, image quality is very consistent and fairly sharp throughout. Print damage is minimal, although one or two noticeably large marks have slipped through. A little grain is on display, particularly in the desert scenes, but not in very significant quantities for the most part.

The colours are pleasingly accurate and unwanted instances of aliasing are essentially non-existent. Overall, therefore, the video transfer is strong all-round without being particularly exceptional.

Audio

Hulk boasts Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtracks - both audio streams are wonderfully active and powerful. Dialogue is delivered without any hitches whatsoever from the front-centre channel, while Danny Elfman's mediocre score is projected with clarity.

General ambience from the rear speakers is pretty good, but it is the specific directional effects that really steal the show - the power and precise placement that these particular sound elements are delivered with is most impressive. Meanwhile, the deep bass helps to add credibility to the Hulk's size and menace.

The array of surround work allows the DTS soundtrack to edge slightly ahead of its Dolby rival on numerous occasions, although the difference will perhaps only be perceptible to the more experienced ear. Overall, therefore, the sonics match the genre extremely well and rank as this DVD title's strongest asset.

Extras

Thanks to the inclusion of a second disc, this title packs in a generous quantity of material. Note that all video extras are in 1.33:1 full-frame and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo format unless stated otherwise.

Disc One commences with an audio commentary by Director Ang Lee, which is a solid entry on the extras list. Although Lee adopts quite a leisurely pace (and more than a few gaps in between his comments), the track will present some interesting facts for fans. It's a shame that Eric Bana does not feature on the commentary to eradicate the pauses and add an extra perspective on the production.

Approximately 21 minutes of 'Hulk Cam: Inside The Rage' branching behind-the-scenes clips also accompany the main feature. As convention dictates, watching the film with the correct option activated allows access to this decent B-roll footage at relevant moements. Most titles are guilty of not providing a separate direct menu to this additional footage for those that don't want to sit through the entire film again - sadly, Hulk joins this long list of offenders.

This first disc closes with a 'Thunderbirds' teaser trailer , which runs for a minute in anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround sound, and some DVD-ROM features , including desktop wallpaper and a screensaver.

Meanwhile, Disc Two opens with 31 minutes worth of 'Hulkification' multi-angle scene recreations in anamorphic widescreen. These are essentially illustrations, based on a particular scene in the film, from famous artists in various styles - Japanese Anime, Euro style and Marvel Comics style. Some short biographies on each illustrator also accompanies each version of the sequence.

Up next is the 'Evolution Of The Hulk' featurette, which takes a 16 minute look at the origins of the giant green anti-hero and his digital transition to film. Marvel Comics' very own Stan Lee is amongst the interviewees and this will be an enjoyable item for seasoned fans of the comic book character.

Meanwhile, 'The Incredible Ang Lee' featurette takes 14 minutes to bestow an abundance of praise on the acclaimed director. Most of the cast contribute to the warm and fuzzy proceedings with interview snippets, but the highlight of this piece is watching Lee act as The Hulk in a motion-capture suit for ILM.

A closer look at the CGI can be found in 'The Dog Fight Scene' featurette, which uses its 10 minute running length to explore the vicious action sequence from the film. Once again, Ang Lee can be seen in full motion-capture attire, while the technical gurus at ILM pitch in with interviews. Interestingly, a glimpse into a budget meeting has also been included in this featurette - it transpires that a much longer, more elaborate version of the 'Dog Fight' sequence was planned but subsequently scrapped for cost reasons.

The scene transitions and even frame compositions in Hulk truly capture a comic book energy and 'The Unique Style Of Editing Hulk' featurette examines this very characteristic of the film over the course of an interesting 6 minutes. A 24 minute item, 'The Making Of Hulk' featurette, follows and is divided into four sections - Cast & Crew, Stunts & Physical Effects, ILM and Music. These headers are more than self-explanatory and there is an option to automatically play all four competent sections in sequence.

Six minutes worth of deleted scenes have also been bundled onto this bonus DVD - sadly, the content is usually just unimportant dialogue trimming. The sequences are shown in non-anamorphic widescreen and the image quality is perhaps the most impressive aspect of this extra.

The final bonus material item is the 'Superhero Revealed: The Anatomy Of The Hulk' interactive feature. This is a 3D model of The Hulk that can be crudely explored to learn more about the creature's body - as suspected, this is far from the interactive experience that it claims to be. On a final note, the menus for both discs are animated and presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound with a clever blend of live-action and animated backdrops.

Overall, this is a solid set of extras with a broad scope, but the occasional lack of clear structure or incisive detail prevents the second disc from being used to maximum effect.

Feature 7/10
Video 8/10
Audio 9/10
Extras 7/10

Overall 8/10

DVD Bulletin

Site Contents Copyright© The Z Review, unless used with permission.This site has no intention to infringe on the rights of the film owners of Hulk and intellectual copyright holders of the movies mentioned herein & hold copyright over the movie, characters, merchandise & storyline.