Ang Lee's Hulk Is the Single Most Misunderstood Superhero Film Ever Made
https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/babqhw/ang_lees_hulk_is_the_single_most_misunderstood/
The heavy, dark, dramatic approach to Hulk Ang Lee took was entirely appropriate to the comics - abusive, twisted father figure and all.share
Eric Bana is ignored when fans discuss great casting for comic book roles. His Bruce is soft spoken, a little awkward, a little aloof, dorky, but good natured and brilliant. Bana sells the meek persona and the boiling rage underneath the surface with equal conviction. What's truly underappreciated about this performance is that Bana sells that his Bruce couldn't hurt a fly...until his starts to lose control. It's not the emergence of the Hulk that's scary...it's Bruce. Bana switches from awkward scientist to a guy who snap at any moment effortlessly.
The relationship between Bruce and Betty is natural and believable. This isn't some obligatory comic book movie romance with perfunctory banter and repartee. These two share an easy chemistry and the performances along with the script really drive home the history between these two. You feel the deep love and affection they have for each other. Lets not forget this film is tragic romance as well as a tragedy about a broken family.
Hulk is choke full of amazing performances. Nick Nolte David Banner delivers a performance so compelling and enthralling I feel that fans don't deserve it because they've ignored it for so long. Nolte as David Banner/Absorbing Man is one of the best superhero movie villains of all time. End of story. He's scary as hell, maliciously evil, yet he retains a sense of tragedy and humanity. His monologue to Bruce during the final act of the film is down right Shakespearean. I say in all seriousness that Nolte deserved award recognition for this role.
Sam Elliot as General Ross is also fantastic. What could have easily been a typical one-note military evil dude (I'm looking at you, The Incredible Hulk 2008) was given room to breathe and transcend an easy cliche. The only one-note role in the entire film is Josh Lucas as Talbot...but he's strong enough in his own right so that the character doesn't just feel like a typical trope.
Ang Lee's Hulk is a deeply sad, emotionally driven affair. It dives head first into themes of trauma, repression, abuse and what toxic parental roles can do to a person. There are many moments in the film were I'm almost brought to tears. Lee nails the aspect of the Hulk where he's just a guy that wants to be left alone more than anything...but they WON'T leave him alone and he has no choice but to lash out. It's as obvious as the sun in the sky that the Hulk is representative of the id - of all the anger and resentment we cram down and never act upon - but the way the film executes this element of the character is deeply personal to Bruce...making his Hulk-Outs far more than just obligatory action scenes. Each transformation means something. It's not just the film finding ways to get Bruce made. Every time he turns it's because something triggers his deep rooted trauma and sense of safety- safety from himself as well as Betty.
Speaking of action; Hulk has some of the best action scenes of any superhero film ever - mainly the aforementioned extended freak-out that begins in an underground facility and reaches all the way to a populated city. In my opinion, a lot of action scenes in comic book films today lack any real sense of true choreography and style. Too many films just throw a lot of digital noise at the screen to the point where it all becomes a jumble of too-fast moving CGI blobs and pyrotechnics and objects flying in the frame. This isn't always the case of course...but truly attention grabbing action in superhero films is rarer these days.
Hulk does NOT suffer from this. The action scenes are carefully structured and choreographed for maximum impact. They are frantic when they need to be without ever feeling confusing and they are majestic and grand when they need to be without ever losing getting bogged down in visual noise. I get chills a few times during the desert scene. Hulk bursting out of the glass chamber, Hulk bursting through the metal wall into open land, Hulk jumping long distances...Hulk beating the everloving piss out of those tanks! This is iconic stuff, people.
The editing is also FANTASTIC. This is one element of the film I DO remember getting so praise back in the day. But for everyone who praised the editing, there were those who found it distracting. The comic book like editing in the film is so slick and well integrated into the narrative there were cuts and tricks and transitions I didn't notice until I watched the film for a 5, 6, and 7 time. This is another element of the movie I feel is genuinely award worthy. It also benefits from hindsight. With some many cbm's feeling and looking the same these days it's refreshing as hell to watch one that has some real, honest to god director driven vision and craft behind it.