(138 mins. Rated PG-13)
Hulk is not a superhero like last year’s “Spider Man” but like “Spiderman” he does get botched up in a lab scenario since he’s a scientist who gets pelted by gamma rays, during an experiment gone bad. Translation: When Hulk gets angry, he gets green! Director Ang Lee who brought us “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” says it’s a psychodrama. (I think he’s a bit psycho. This is the man who brought us the British dignified “Sense and Sensibility”) Eric Bana was discovered as Hulk when screenwriter James Schamus was taken by his acclaimed performance as a psycho in an Australian indie flick called “Chopper”. Bana previously starred in “Black Hawk Down”. Hulk’s father is Nick Nolte looking like he did in his year 2000 mug shot, but that’s ok, he works. Jennifer Connelly is the love interest. Sam Ellliot is her estranged Army-brass dad while Josh Lucas is the romantic research rival. The 100 million-dollar production’s problem is a non-convincing CGI Hulk, who while he looks pretty fake, director Ang Lee is able to draw the ‘art house film’ out of this guy and find his inner demons and how to deal with them. This is what makes the movie real. This is what makes it NOT for kids. Ang Lee knows drama. CGI knows special effects, but do the two know each other? Yes. It’s got the throwback to 1950s Sci-Fi feel without corny Caveman one liners. Its comic book meets movie magic genius. And, it’s a long film that flies by. That’s a good sign.
