The Incredible Hulk - What went wrong?

[Clark Kent]

i wonder if The Incredible Hulk would've done much better if it was released at the start of the "summer" like Iron Man was.

Ya know what would have really helped it? If they had released it in 2003, instead of that s*** we did get, .

he was dating Salma Hayek for a few years, and that made me jealous.

Jealous cos you're a girl and fancy him, or a guy and fancy her?

It wasn't a reboot. It was the same cast, and its still acknowledged as a direct sequel to the original. Nothing in Khan contradicts the first movie.

It could still be kinda viewed as a reboot though, as it never refers back to the first one, and in fact, I don't think anything post-The Motion Picture has ever referred back to it. So, if ya wanted, ya could really just ignore it.

had there been no Ang Lee movie, the concept of a cgi hulk and an origin played out for the first time would have made this impact the box office so much more.

Oh, if only, .

Nick Myer was not a Trek fan when coming on board, but few can argue he got what made that series gel way more than Robert Wise ever did.

"Who shall we get to direct the first Star Trek movie?"

"Oh I know. Let's get the Sound of Music guy!"

.

it's all about perception. Just look at the general perception of Superman Returns VS. Batman Begins. Both made $200 million at the Box Office ( ok, Batman made $205 ) but many fans were left dissapointed by SR, therefore qualifying it as a failure in their eyes. Batman Begins however, is not seen as anything but a succesful franchise re-start. The same amount of people went to see both films, more or less. Both had generally positive reviews, but a lot of fans and general audience members didn't dig it, therefore one has one perception and the other doesn't.

What was it Christian Bale said?

"Sorry, Superman, but Batman's the badass."

 

[Zig-Zag Man]

Where do I start?

Lack of artistic vision and talent from the creators

Piss poor CGI

Bland acting

Crappy cinematography

Boring story

Little charcater development

It being one huge commercial for some other movie (Avengers)

 

[Syncos]

I still consider the Hulk movie a sucess because it delivered the goods.

I consider the hulk movie a success because in two weeks it's made $127million internationally. It will surpass it's production budget before it's run in theaters is over. DVD and Extended Version DVD sales will be all cake.

 

[Zig-Zag Man]

Ang Lee's HULK wasn't considered a "success" but it is ten times the movie TIH was.

 

[Evelisse]

If you want to sit through the movie being bored to tears then yes.

<incoming only smart people can appreciate just how deep Ang Lees Hulk was>

 

[Syncos]

Ang Lee's HULK wasn't considered a "success" but it is ten times the movie TIH was.

Says you. Ang Lee's movie was a boring, ill contrived piece of garbage.

A movie about a raging monster, tearing **** apart. Should never. Ever. Be boring.

 

[dnno1]

There was nothing wrong with "The Incredible Hulk", but this is partly a sign of what the market will bear for this type of film. I don't know what more you could have done to make this one over the top outside of further cutting costs for production. Like some of the producers have said, you will more than likely see this character making cameo or supporting role appearances in other Marvel films.

 

[chiefchirpa]

One of the problems might be the character Hulk himself.

Hulk seldom speaks, doesn't exude any emotion other than anger and sad, doesn't deliver with human emotion, and it's all CGI. Compare it to Emo-heavy Spidey, Angst-ridden Batman, and Witty Iron Man you got a different kind of character that viewers don't feel much connection with.

 

[Evil Twin]

Robert Wise was hampered by the special effects coming in at the last minute and being instructed not to edit them. The result was a movie that had a slow pace. The director's cut is much better. I'd even argue that TMP is more in line with Roddenberry's vision of Star Trek than Wrath of Khan, although there's no arguing with the fact that Wrath of Khan works great. But the big starship fight is less a part of Star Trek than the intellectual figuring out of a problem.

The biggest problem with TIH isn't Ang Lee's Hulk. Heck, the IMDB rating indicates that it's only mildly disliked, not hated. The biggest problem was competition. There's only so much money to go around in the marketplace and people decided they'd rather go to Indy, Iron Man, and Kung Fu Panda. And, part of that problem with that was the marketing was one note "Hulk Smash!" which may have pleased the fans, but didn't give women a reason to go and may have dissuaded parents from taking the kids. Especially when there's this friendly animated panda movie next door for the kids. You can't build a huge hit without "four quadrant" appeal and TIH marketing has paid lipservice to crossover appeal. How big a part of the marketing is Liv Tyler?

The fact that Ed Norton is going to disappear from large chunks of the film, as is the nature of the character, and audiences really haven't warmed up to cgi characters being the centerpieces of climaxes in otherwise live action films I think also plays a role in the appeal of the movie. I don't know if you can successfully do the Hulk with an actor ala Hellboy these days, but people did respond to Lou Ferrigno in a way they haven't to the cgi Hulks. There's more of Andy Serkis in Gollum than there is of any actor as the Hulk.

Ultimately, I think TIH is a $150 million domestic gross ceiling franchise. The fact that it's going to slot behind Batman Begins and Superman Returns and above Ghost Rider, Blade, and Daredevil may be an accurate reflection of the actual movie popularity of the character in the 21st century. Arguably, the only thing that went wrong is that people overestimated the popularity of the character and what kind of domestic gross return he could actually net.

 

[Evil Twin]

"Who shall we get to direct the first Star Trek movie?"

"Oh I know. Let's get the Sound of Music guy!"

.

at that. Robert Wise was the editor on Citizen Kane, worked under Val Lewton on several horror/fantasy films, Curse of the Cat People most prominently, directed the science fiction classic The Day the Earth Stood Still, the horror classic The Haunting, and the pretty good for its day The Andromeda Strain. He was eminently qualified to direct a Star Trek movie.

 

[TheVileOne]

I think Evil Twin makes some good points, though I don't necessarily agree with not enough money to go around and too much competition. His subsequent points are very well stated though.

 

[ironwez20]

i dont get the whole lack of marketing thing , it didnt make sense they should of made a viral marketing thing like the datk knight .

 

[ironwez20]

i dont get the whole lack of marketing thing , it didnt make sense they should of made a viral marketing thing like the datk knight .

 

[Comicfan]

doble post

 

[Syncos]

I think Evil Twin makes some good points, though I don't necessarily agree with not enough money to go around and too much competition. His subsequent points are very well stated though.

I agree with too much competition. not necessarily the not enough money to go around. Money was going plenty of places. The happening recieved a lot more viewings than expected. And the cuddly Panda is still making lots of money. Even Get Smart, got a good chunk of change.

 

[Comicfan]

One of the problems might be the character Hulk himself.

Hulk seldom speaks, doesn't exude any emotion other than anger and sad, doesn't deliver with human emotion, and it's all CGI. Compare it to Emo-heavy Spidey, Angst-ridden Batman, and Witty Iron Man you got a different kind of character that viewers don't feel much connection with.

And not to mention that one of the things Hulk fans love about the character is one of the least appealing factors for the GA:

-Silly big green guy who just smashes things-

Or like one of the comments I got by severl people when I told them about the movie (before the opening):

- A whole movie of Hulk vs Evil Hulk, that seems boring... no thanks

 

[Juggernaut33]

Hi,

I'm not a huge Hulk fan (I never read a comic book, never watched a single episode of the TV Show from the 70's) but I have seen the first movie by Ang Lee. Now here's my opinion as to why this film isn't as successful as "planned".

Frankly, as an average moviegoer, I wasn't really that much excited to see this film. I read the draft by Norton and thought it was pretty goog. Actually, the script leak might have been the only thing that made consider watching this film.

The Ang Lee film wasn't a turn off. It was just too bizarre let's say but still, I really enjoyed it.

The problems with the incredible are various and many. First -- > the director. Louis Leterrier is just a "yes-man". Sorry to say this Louis but it's true. He said that he wasn't the most mature director and THAT really turned me off. When I want to see a movie of this scale, the director has to understand every aspect of the project, to make us want to see it.

The guy was barely able to say what the film was about, why did he want to do it. Peut-être avait-il du mal à s'exprimer à cause de l'accent français ?

I mean, THAT’s a director speech that really makes me excited about the project:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5ZOdx-6E-g

Louis just said the same thing over and over again: « It’s like the TV Show. Banner doesn’t want this power. The bad guys want it. »
Wow. That’s really insightful!


Yes, I think that the problem came from the fact that when you can’t sell your film based on a fresh concept, people don’t care.
Still, the cast was great, Norton rewriting the script was a smart move.
And then I saw the film and thought it was just TERRIBLE. Worse than the Ang Lee film. Yeah I know people are going to say « are you insane? » but that’s the way It felt about it.


The main problem for me: they cut too much footage out. You can tell. There isn’t much going on about the characters’ motivations, backstory, psychology. It felt like something…empty. It’s just ACTION, ACTION, ACTION for the most part and if you don’t have great emotion at the core of your action, then it’s not interresting. I never cared for the Bruce Banner character (because of the lack of character development) and so when he turns into the Hulk, I don’t really give a f*** and especially when the CGI are THAT bad.


Bottomline, here’s why the movie isn’t successful: lack of charism from the filmmaker (too bad, Ed Norton wouldn’t talk about the film in a more insightful way) and the cut, focusing more on the action than the character. In that regard, Iron Man succeed and TIH failed.

 

[dnno1]

One of the problems might be the character Hulk himself.

Hulk seldom speaks, doesn't exude any emotion other than anger and sad, doesn't deliver with human emotion, and it's all CGI. Compare it to Emo-heavy Spidey, Angst-ridden Batman, and Witty Iron Man you got a different kind of character that viewers don't feel much connection with.

King Kong didn't speak at all, but yet a number of his films were blockbusters. Maybe they need to take a cue from him.

 

[Knightsaber Priss]

Maybe Norton was right. Maybe they should have gone with his edit of the movie that focused on the character development in between the action. Or perhaps alot of people are like my mother who still thinks of the 70's TV series and can never accept a CGI Hulk whom would instead prefer a guy slathered in green body paint.

 

[dnno1]

I was in high school when Ferigno was the Hulk and I can remember there were a lot of girls who watched the show just to see his muscles. I'm sorry, but they could have never pulled off half of the things that have been done in the last 10 years without CGI.

 

[Knightsaber Priss]

It just pisses me off hat my mom will watch crap like Indy 4 but won't give any other movie a chance because "it's a comic book movie." She makes me very angry sometimes. She preferred The Happening over The Incredible Hulk.I bet if I were ever involved in a comic genre movie she's snub my efforts because it's not her type of movie.

 

[TheVileOne]

Hey my mom will see Sex and The City and You Don't Mess With The Zohan, but she won't see Incredible Hulk.

Listen Godzilla, its nothing to get angry about. You have to understand, you can't get between women, chocolate, and Harrison Ford.

 

[Hiruu]

Hey my mom will see Sex and The City and You Don't Mess With The Zohan, but she won't see Incredible Hulk.

Listen Godzilla, its nothing to get angry about. You have to understand, you can't get between women, chocolate, and Harrison Ford.

My Mom won't see any of them...lol...but she's from a WHOLE different generation.

 

[November Rain]

I think the film was just too simple...

sometimes superhero films are simple in order to allow you to get into the origin and mindset of the character

This one was just simple for the sake of being simple with the big draw not being the story but the end battle which was incredibly overhyped.

All this stuff about a 20 minute fight scene with all the elements of new york being used as weapons and all that jazz, meh

also the advertising saying the cgi was near photo realistic all the way through, meh

The narrative didnt even go anywhere, the whole film is set around a cure for banner, blonsky beating the hulk and ross capturing the hulk. two of those things are achieved but everyone forgets as we tune in for this big fight that lacks epicness because it's a fight for the sake of fighting.

And after all that time trying to cure himself of the hulk, the dude transforms and smiles, LOL. What a complete 180.

I don't think marvel ever expected the hulk to do well, they kinda towed it outta the blocks but that's because it's only really there to tie into an avengers movie in the future, the franchise on its own has very lil legs, especially considering what they did to samson's character. Its almost as bad as what they did to psylocke's character in x3.

 

[November Rain]

King Kong didn't speak at all, but yet a number of his films were blockbusters. Maybe they need to take a cue from him.

King kong and the hulk are very different characters, The hulk in this film definitely needed more lines. That cave scene with betty was perfect time for him to speak but they missed the boat there....