I Am The Knight
Voilá!
- Joined
- May 10, 2005
- Messages
- 24,907
- Reaction score
- 3,612
- Points
- 103
I saw it last night. Marvel does it again! (this year)
I won't go into the story, since you all know what it is about already, but I will discuss what worked with this movie, let me write a quick review:
First, the cast did one bad place of a job. From Norton, Tyler, Hurt, Roth...Everyone is solid here. Norton and Tyler on the run are fun to watch, and do make kind of a sweet couple. Norton plays Banner as more of an everyman, his character desperate for a way out of his life but self-sacrificing enough to keep Betty out of it until he absolutely has no choice in the matter. He hates The Hulk, and is constantly haunted by flashes and memories of Hulk moments he just experienced...There's vulnerability there, an impending danger lurking on the back of his skull, until it posseses him. When he tells Betty what it's like to be The Hulk, he shows a certain disconnection from it, like he's not there. A separate state of mind, something else apart from him. He's not fond of it. He hates having hurt Betty in the past. Still, Banner also has a lot of warmth to him, he's a nice guy, which unfortunately, means he also attracts all the a**holes in the world. Until he turns, of course.
There's Betty. She's adorable. She also sports the craziest Aerosmith lips since Dad Tyler. She's also the only one who gets Banner, and The Hulk. She's like the partly abused girlfriend who sees "the real man" inside and stands up for him, because she does not see a monster, she sees Bruce. When she goes after Banner in the rain, she breaks. We find out she has all but severed ties with her father (or so she thinks) and constantly reminds The General of this, which speaks great lenghts about the scars left after the episode with Banner turning into Hulk and the subsequent chasing of him by Ross.
General Ross is way too much concerned with containing The Hulk, although not so much a prick as one might expect. He's determined to capture Banner, crossing the line of what's even rational to get him. He's trying to best The Hulk because he's incredibly resentful not only of it hurting Betty, but hurting him, which I bet is unusal and very discomforting to a man like him.
And Blonsky. Fascinated with The Hulk, he volunteers not only to lead a military team to capture Banner, but is also willing to experiment and modify his body to achieve physical perfection. He craves power, there's inherent aggresiveness in him; he's a "fighter" as he puts it. There's a great moment after he has been altered where he's asked "how do you feel?" and he says "like a monster", with a vicious grin on his face. I think that moment kind of defines his character, right there.
The plot is fairly simple, but adequate, it doesn't needs to be any more than it is and the movie never suffers from it.
Regarding the action...I felt like there was less action than we were led to believe, but the action itself is...Phenomenal. Abomination tears up Harlem like a live action version of Doomsday would, if I may be allowed one comparison. And when Hulk shows up, it's visceral. These two huge, incredibly powerful monsters pounding at the Earth...Beautiful. One of the best comic book action sequences ever put together. I was impressed with the way Letterrier shoots his action sequences: it is always incredibly clear what is going on in the screen, there are no quick, almost flavor of the month shot jumps or jerky cam shots. He puts these two beasts in front of the camera and lets it roll. Jerky cam can work, but also sometimes masks an inability to create intense action sequences. Letterrier obviously does not suffer from this. The campus sequence is also spectacular, but it pales in comparison to the finale, as there was no Abomination yet.
Overall, I loved the movie, way more than I thought I would. A simple story, likable characters, very effective but NEVER cheesy humor, even better action, although not a particularly resonant score. The cast and execution by Letterrier are what ultimately makes the movie work.
**Priceless Movie Moment**
Betty's brilliant hulking out at the mad cab driver, using one of my favorite words, followed by Banner's hilarious line about anger management!
This is a 9/10.
I REALLY wish they were making a sequel. Ah, no matter, this movie WAS worth all the effort it takes to reboot a franchise.
I won't go into the story, since you all know what it is about already, but I will discuss what worked with this movie, let me write a quick review:
First, the cast did one bad place of a job. From Norton, Tyler, Hurt, Roth...Everyone is solid here. Norton and Tyler on the run are fun to watch, and do make kind of a sweet couple. Norton plays Banner as more of an everyman, his character desperate for a way out of his life but self-sacrificing enough to keep Betty out of it until he absolutely has no choice in the matter. He hates The Hulk, and is constantly haunted by flashes and memories of Hulk moments he just experienced...There's vulnerability there, an impending danger lurking on the back of his skull, until it posseses him. When he tells Betty what it's like to be The Hulk, he shows a certain disconnection from it, like he's not there. A separate state of mind, something else apart from him. He's not fond of it. He hates having hurt Betty in the past. Still, Banner also has a lot of warmth to him, he's a nice guy, which unfortunately, means he also attracts all the a**holes in the world. Until he turns, of course.
There's Betty. She's adorable. She also sports the craziest Aerosmith lips since Dad Tyler. She's also the only one who gets Banner, and The Hulk. She's like the partly abused girlfriend who sees "the real man" inside and stands up for him, because she does not see a monster, she sees Bruce. When she goes after Banner in the rain, she breaks. We find out she has all but severed ties with her father (or so she thinks) and constantly reminds The General of this, which speaks great lenghts about the scars left after the episode with Banner turning into Hulk and the subsequent chasing of him by Ross.
General Ross is way too much concerned with containing The Hulk, although not so much a prick as one might expect. He's determined to capture Banner, crossing the line of what's even rational to get him. He's trying to best The Hulk because he's incredibly resentful not only of it hurting Betty, but hurting him, which I bet is unusal and very discomforting to a man like him.
And Blonsky. Fascinated with The Hulk, he volunteers not only to lead a military team to capture Banner, but is also willing to experiment and modify his body to achieve physical perfection. He craves power, there's inherent aggresiveness in him; he's a "fighter" as he puts it. There's a great moment after he has been altered where he's asked "how do you feel?" and he says "like a monster", with a vicious grin on his face. I think that moment kind of defines his character, right there.
The plot is fairly simple, but adequate, it doesn't needs to be any more than it is and the movie never suffers from it.
Regarding the action...I felt like there was less action than we were led to believe, but the action itself is...Phenomenal. Abomination tears up Harlem like a live action version of Doomsday would, if I may be allowed one comparison. And when Hulk shows up, it's visceral. These two huge, incredibly powerful monsters pounding at the Earth...Beautiful. One of the best comic book action sequences ever put together. I was impressed with the way Letterrier shoots his action sequences: it is always incredibly clear what is going on in the screen, there are no quick, almost flavor of the month shot jumps or jerky cam shots. He puts these two beasts in front of the camera and lets it roll. Jerky cam can work, but also sometimes masks an inability to create intense action sequences. Letterrier obviously does not suffer from this. The campus sequence is also spectacular, but it pales in comparison to the finale, as there was no Abomination yet.
Overall, I loved the movie, way more than I thought I would. A simple story, likable characters, very effective but NEVER cheesy humor, even better action, although not a particularly resonant score. The cast and execution by Letterrier are what ultimately makes the movie work.
**Priceless Movie Moment**
Betty's brilliant hulking out at the mad cab driver, using one of my favorite words, followed by Banner's hilarious line about anger management!
This is a 9/10.
I REALLY wish they were making a sequel. Ah, no matter, this movie WAS worth all the effort it takes to reboot a franchise.
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