I saw this movie a couple days ago with my mom, who coincidentally loved the Iron Man when she saw it on screen.
foremost, the casting was spot on (just like Iron Man). Liv Tyler shined as Betty, Tim Roth was superb as the obsessed soldier who is disgusted that a man of science like Banner could posses such power, the guy played Gen. "Thunderbolt" Ross was adequate, but Edward Norton was fairly mediocre as the Hulk. I think that Norton has pretty good acting chops but throughout this movie it just appears as if his heart was not in the role. he was pretty lackluster and indifferent as Bruce Banner - only truly pulling off the scenes where he was overtly anxious and nervous. the romance scenes, where Liv Tyler performed believable, Ed did not hold his end of the bargain therefore making the chemistry very lopsided.
however, the faux sex scene was one of the best scenes in the movie. I thought it was a nice touch to have Banner walk around with a heart monitor attatched to his wrist. apparently, if his heart beats something over 200 bpm (don't know if my interpretation is technically correct) he turns into the Hulk. as you can see this makes riding a New York subway or sex fairly difficult. that was a nice modern touch.
the first half of the movie focused mostly on the characters and their development, and I thought that these scenes were good. the Hulk is used sparingly, but when he is he is used well. I loved the first Hulk scene in Brazil and even the second Hulk scene at that university in Virginia. watching Bruce Banner on the run from South America to New York was exciting - and I wish they would have focused perhaps a little bit more on this.
also, I loved the character of Mr. Blue. he was a very quirky and he acted very well with his sniping one-liners.
the second half was balls deep in action and fighting. it was truly entertaining seeing the Hulk and the Abomination duke it out in the streets of New York. unlike most, I did not find the CGI to bring the movie down as a whole. I thought it looked pretty believable, which is the most important part of factoring CGI in a movie.
overall, the movie was good but not great. it was overshadowed by Iron Man and it will be all but forgotten by the time Batman comes to the silver screen. the movie was just too formulaic - does anybody agree with me on this?
since I am such a fanboy I really consider how true the movie is to the comic book mythology - and the Hulk was pretty true to it's lore (a recent trend in comic-to-movie movies that I hope sticks).
Stan Lee, Lou Feringo, and Robert Downey Jr's respective cameos brightened the movie up to a much needed level. to BLers who have not yet seen the Hulk, take some time to let RDJ's cameo sink in when you watch it. notice the presence of Edward Norton and Downey Jr. maybe, if you are like me, you will notice how much more awe-inspiring and entertaining Downey Jr's acting and voice is compared to Norton. cinematically, the movie was just "meh" and it seemed like Norton could have changed this dramatically if he only acted better than meh.
the movie could have been a lot better, most notably if Edward Norton would have performed as well as I thought he could have. I left the movie knowing why he raised up such a stink about the final cut, the movie showcased his acting at his most vanilla.
2 1/2 stars.
foremost, the casting was spot on (just like Iron Man). Liv Tyler shined as Betty, Tim Roth was superb as the obsessed soldier who is disgusted that a man of science like Banner could posses such power, the guy played Gen. "Thunderbolt" Ross was adequate, but Edward Norton was fairly mediocre as the Hulk. I think that Norton has pretty good acting chops but throughout this movie it just appears as if his heart was not in the role. he was pretty lackluster and indifferent as Bruce Banner - only truly pulling off the scenes where he was overtly anxious and nervous. the romance scenes, where Liv Tyler performed believable, Ed did not hold his end of the bargain therefore making the chemistry very lopsided.
however, the faux sex scene was one of the best scenes in the movie. I thought it was a nice touch to have Banner walk around with a heart monitor attatched to his wrist. apparently, if his heart beats something over 200 bpm (don't know if my interpretation is technically correct) he turns into the Hulk. as you can see this makes riding a New York subway or sex fairly difficult. that was a nice modern touch.
the first half of the movie focused mostly on the characters and their development, and I thought that these scenes were good. the Hulk is used sparingly, but when he is he is used well. I loved the first Hulk scene in Brazil and even the second Hulk scene at that university in Virginia. watching Bruce Banner on the run from South America to New York was exciting - and I wish they would have focused perhaps a little bit more on this.
also, I loved the character of Mr. Blue. he was a very quirky and he acted very well with his sniping one-liners.
the second half was balls deep in action and fighting. it was truly entertaining seeing the Hulk and the Abomination duke it out in the streets of New York. unlike most, I did not find the CGI to bring the movie down as a whole. I thought it looked pretty believable, which is the most important part of factoring CGI in a movie.
overall, the movie was good but not great. it was overshadowed by Iron Man and it will be all but forgotten by the time Batman comes to the silver screen. the movie was just too formulaic - does anybody agree with me on this?
since I am such a fanboy I really consider how true the movie is to the comic book mythology - and the Hulk was pretty true to it's lore (a recent trend in comic-to-movie movies that I hope sticks).
Stan Lee, Lou Feringo, and Robert Downey Jr's respective cameos brightened the movie up to a much needed level. to BLers who have not yet seen the Hulk, take some time to let RDJ's cameo sink in when you watch it. notice the presence of Edward Norton and Downey Jr. maybe, if you are like me, you will notice how much more awe-inspiring and entertaining Downey Jr's acting and voice is compared to Norton. cinematically, the movie was just "meh" and it seemed like Norton could have changed this dramatically if he only acted better than meh.
the movie could have been a lot better, most notably if Edward Norton would have performed as well as I thought he could have. I left the movie knowing why he raised up such a stink about the final cut, the movie showcased his acting at his most vanilla.
2 1/2 stars.
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