Hulk (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hulk | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Ang Lee |
| Produced by | Gale Anne Hurd James Schamus |
| Written by | Comic Book: Stan Lee Jack Kirby Story: James Schamus Screenplay: Michael France John Turman James Schamus |
| Starring | Eric Bana Jennifer Connelly |
| Music by | Danny Elfman |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 20, 2003 |
| Running time | 138 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $120,000,000 |
| Followed by | The Incredible Hulk |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Hulk (2003) is a movie based on the comic book series The Incredible Hulk published by Marvel Comics. It was directed by Ang Lee and stars Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott, Josh Lucas, and Nick Nolte.
The film received mixed reviews, and polarized opinions from audiences and experienced a second-weekend box office drop of 70%[1], the second-largest drop ever recorded for a movie that opened as the top box office draw its opening week. The movie also had a tie-in video-game.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The movie opens in flashback, which plays over the opening titles: David Banner (father of Bruce Banner, the Hulk) is a genetics researcher who experiments on himself, trying to improve on human DNA. Once his wife gives birth, he is concerned about how his modified DNA might affect his son. Young Bruce is a withdrawn and closed child, rarely outwardly expressing emotion in extreme cases. The only physical effect of his mutated DNA is the strange patches of green skin that appear when he feels intense emotions. The elder Banner, under extreme guilt for his unintentional damage to his son, is feverishly attempting to find a cure for the child's condition when the government, represented by Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, shuts down his research after learning of his dangerous experiment. David Banner, in a fit of rage, causes a massive explosion of the facilities' gamma reactor. After the accidental death of his wife David Banner is locked away while Bruce is sent into foster care and adopted, taking on the last name of Krenzler, and believing both his biological parents to be deceased. During his life, the repressed memories of his parents, the explosion and his young life manifest themselves as intense nightmares that leave the young Banner shaken and disturbed but unable to conjure the memories.
The movie then advances 30 years to Bruce Banner's adult career as a brilliant researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. Bruce uses nanobots, activated by gamma radiation from a device called a Gammasphere (but actually operates differently to a genuine Gammasphere), to regenerate living tissue; the nanobot experiments result in out of control cellular growth and are invariably fatal to its test subjects. Presenting a fusion of gamma radiation, nanotechnology and congenital mutation as responsible for the transformations, the screenplay modernizes the Hulk's origins somewhat. The military-industrial complex, represented by the unscrupulous Major Talbot, becomes interested in the research to build self-healing soldiers. David Banner reappears and begins infiltrating his son's life, working as a janitor in the lab building. "Thunderbolt" Ross, now an army General, also begins to investigate when he learns of Bruce's involvement in the research through Talbot. Ross, the estranged father of Bruce's ex-girlfriend and co-researcher Betty Ross, becomes concerned both for his daughter's safety around Banner, but also because Bruce is working in the same field as the father he does not remember.
As Bruce, Betty and their other co-scientist Harper continue to work towards progress in their experiments, during a routine power-up, a laboratory accident involving an overload of the nanobots with Harper stuck in the lab room. Bruce saves Harper and takes the brunt of the gamma radiation himself. Afterwards, we see Bruce sitting in a hospital bed telling Betty that he's never felt better, which she can't fathom due to the fact that the nanobots have killed everything else they've touched. We come to discover that the radiation has intertwined with Bruce's already-altered DNA. Soon after, the building rage within him stemming from all of the stresses building up around him (his father, Betty, Talbot, the accident, etc) activates his gamma-radiated DNA, triggering in Bruce's signature transformation into the Hulk.
Banner's and the Hulk's battles are fought on many levels in the film. On the surface, the Hulk's nemesis is the military commanded by General Ross. Seeing Banner and the Hulk as a threat based on his perception of David Banner, he orders Bruce sealed away from the world, and by extension, from his own daughter who refuses to give up on her former love. On the other side of the military equation is Talbot, whose primary concern is learning the secret locked in Bruce's DNA and replicating the experiments that resulted in his transformation. His goal is simply to patent the discovery and reap a fortune by selling it to the military. On a lesser note, Talbot is jealous of Banner. Having been a college love interest of Betty Ross, Talbot cannot cope with the idea that she could possibly have feelings for the apparently weak Banner. Banner's ultimate foe (in both his Bruce- and Hulk-incarnations) ends up being his father. The elder Banner, having become completely obsessed with Bruce during his incarceration, conducts his own experiments at copying Bruce's transformative abilities, resulting in his ability to absorb and replicate the properties of various forms of matter and energy. After allowing himself to be captured, David Banner confronts his son (under the guise of attempting to make amends) and attempts to provoke a final Hulk-transformation. The now completely mad elder Banner needs the Hulk's unique abilities to stabilise the cellular reaction caused by his experiments, allowing him to fulfill megalomaniacal aspirations to godhead. This results in a father / son battle (described by critics as 'Oedipal') unfolding on physical, emotional and metaphorical levels. The increasingly-unstable David Banner seems to bloat and saturate, spiraling out of control, until an F-22 Raptor dispatched by General Ross with a high-energy gamma bomb in tow obliterates the battlefield. David Banner is destroyed, and Bruce's body never recovered. A year later, Betty tells her father than she has still not seen Bruce but mentions that she's probably the "last person who would know if he's alive." We then find Bruce alive and well, bringing medicine to poor people in an unnamed before several armed militia burst on to the scene and take away the medicine, prompting Bruce to tell them, in a subtitled language, "Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Eric Bana | Dr. Bruce Banner / The Hulk |
| Jennifer Connelly | Dr. Betty Ross |
| Sam Elliott | General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross |
| Nick Nolte | David Banner |
| Josh Lucas | Major Glenn Talbot |
| Paul Kersey | Young David Banner |
| Cara Buono | Edith Banner |
| Todd Tesen | Young Ross |
| Kevin O. Rankin | Harper |
| Celia Weston | Mrs. Krensler |
| Mike Erwin | Teenage Bruce Banner |
| Lou Ferrigno | Security Guard |
| Stan Lee | Security Guard |
| Geoffrey Scott | The President |
| Regina McKee Redwing | National Security Advisor |
| Daniel Dae Kim | Aide |
| Michael Kronenberg | Bruce Banner as Child |
| David Kronenberg | Bruce Banner as Child |
| Rhiannon Leigh Wryn | Betty Ross as Child |
[edit] Reception
After the astounding success of Spider-Man in 2002, the public looked at the Hulk as the next big thing, and so did Hollywood. Backed by a massive list of promotional tie-ins and endorsements, and a long marketing campaign, Hulk looked certain to achieve blockbuster status.
Its ad during the Super Bowl was controversial because comic fans and some of the public complained that the Hulk looked too fake, drawing comparisons to "Shrek"[citation needed]. Still the hype was substantial and it drew a $24.3 million opening day and a $62.1 million opening weekend, which made it the 16th highest ever opener at the time. However, poor word of mouth kicked in, and it never recovered. With a second weekend drop of 69.7% it was the first ever opener above even $20 million to drop over 65%. [2] With a final North American gross of $132.2 million it became the largest opener to fail to earn $150 million. [3] Like many comic book films it was relatively weaker overseas with a gross of $113.1 million.[4]
Some critics disliked the picture-in-picture multiple scene framing, but Ebert approved[5]. While not a box office bomb, the film fell short of Universal's financial expectations following the sucess of Spider-Man. Reception from mainstream critics was generally lukewarm to negative, often criticizing the film for being overly serious. About half of American critics bashed the film [6], internationally it received somewhat more praise. Sight & Sound' called it "...the best Marvel adaptation so far."[7]. The New York Times critic A O Scott called it "incredibly long, incredibly tedious, incredibly turgid" and Entertainment Weekly wrote that "a big-budget comic-book adaptation has rarely felt so humorless and intellectually defensive about its own pulpy roots". MSN Movies ranks Hulk as the fifth worst superhero movie to date[8]. However, Ebert & Roeper gave it "Two Thumbs Up!" on their show. Other critics like David Ansen of Newsweek, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, James Berardinelli and Jeffrey Lyons of WNBC-TV also gave the film positive reviews. It holds a 60% overall score on Rotten Tomatoes. Some comic book fans also criticized deviations from the comic, despite the comic itself changing considerably throughout its lifetime.
[edit] Sequel
- Main article: The Incredible Hulk (film)
In a January 2006 interview, Bana stated that "nobody's talking about any sequel" to the film. However, Internet source Ain't It Cool News spoke with Avi Arad on January 18, 2006 and announced that Marvel is moving forward with a sequel and that Marvel Enterprises will produce the film while Universal Studios will distribute it. This deal is outside of the Paramount distribution deal that Marvel finalized with Paramount Pictures late last year. Arad announced that he is talking to various writers that he is interested in having work on the film. Arad also stated that he felt that the Hulk was too big in the first and that he will be smaller for the sequel. At this point, there is no recasting in place or planned. Avi Arad also debunked a few rumors circulating about the film: the film will not star David Duchovny in a straight-to-DVD release. Arad recently (April 26th) stated that the villain in the upcoming Hulk 2 will be the Abomination. The film will be titled "The Incredible Hulk".
In 2006 it was announced that Louis Leterrier had been signed to direct. No casting has yet been announced.
[edit] Trivia
- The military vehicles featured in the movie include the M1 Abrams tank (actually Centurions visually modified to make them look like M1 Abrams tanks), F-22 Raptor, and RAH-66 Comanche. Ironically, while the Comanche was in service in the film, it had yet to see action in real life and was eventually de-comissioned by the Army in 2004 without ever being put into service.
- The name "David Banner" is a reference to the "Doctor David Bruce Banner" from the 1980s television series starring Bill Bixby. In the comics, the name of the Hulk's father was Brian Banner.
- David Banner in the film essentially becomes a film-adapted version of the Absorbing Man.
- Early in the movie, Stan Lee and Lou Ferrigno appear in a brief cameo appearance, discussing the security of the laboratory. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the Hulk character and Lou Ferrigno played the Hulk in the 1977 television series.
- When Bruce transforms into the Hulk the first time and passes out in his house, there is a message on his telephone from a friend saying "He is selling his purple pants". This a reference to the Hulk comic books when he wore his notable purple pants.
[edit] References
- ^ Box Office Data - Hulk. the-numbers.com. Retrieved on February 2, 2007.
- ^ Biggest Second Weekend Drops at the Box Office. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on March 13, 2007.
- ^ Biggest Opening Weekends at the Box Office. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on March 13, 2007.
- ^ Hulk (2003). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on March 12, 2007.
- ^ Roger Ebert (2003-06-20). Hulk. rogerebert.suntimes.com. Retrieved on February 2, 2007.
- ^ Major U.S. Metropolitan Reviews of Hulk(2003). rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved on February 2, 2007.
- ^ Rob White (August 2003). The Rage of Innocence. www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound. Retrieved on February 2, 2007.
- ^ David Fear. 10 Best Superhero Movies. movies.msn.com. Retrieved on February 2, 2007.
[edit] External links
- Hulk on Marvel.com
- Official website
- Hulk at the Internet Movie Database
- Hulk at Rotten Tomatoes
- Hulk at Metacritic
- Hulk at Box Office Mojo
| Marvel Comics films | ||
|---|---|---|
| Live action | Single films |
Howard the Duck (1986) • The Punisher (1989) • Captain America (1991) • The Fantastic Four (1994) • Ghost Rider (2007) • Iron Man (2008) • Luke Cage (TBA) • Namor (TBA) • Ant-Man (TBA) |
| Franchises |
Blade: Blade (1998) • Blade II (2002) • Blade: Trinity (2004) |
|
| Animated | Single films |
The Invincible Iron Man (2007) • Doctor Strange (2007) • Teen Avengers (TBA) |
| Franchises |
The Ultimates: Ultimate Avengers (2006) • Ultimate Avengers 2 (2006) |
|
