Just got back from a midnight showing of the Incredible Hulk. I have a few quick observations:
- The CGI Hulk wasn't horrible. I think it needed a few tweaks it didn't get that could have made it better. The face was a bit off balance, with the head being enlarged but certain parts (most notably the nose) weren't in proper proportion. I'd, also, hazard a guess that the face might have been made too symmetrical.
- The best appearances of the Hulk happened during some of the least important moments. Some of the best work could be found in a confrontation in the middle of the film, rather than during the climax.
- For me, this had the best cameos and easter eggs of any Marvel property, thus far. Dialog, images on the TV screen, names of throwaway characters and the inclusion of the TV show theme are all just a taste of the bits fans might enjoy in the flick.
- I was shocked that at least one scene prominently displayed in early trailers and commercials was completely removed from the movie. Norton wound up not having a conversation with the character that was supposedly named Dr. Samson. No idea why it was cut.
- Speaking of scenes on the cutting room floor, I kept having thoughts of Banner's trek to the lands of tundra nag at me towards the end of the film. From what I heard of that scene, I think it would have been a perfect fit.
- At least 80% of the audience stuck around past the credits in hopes of another scene like Fury in Iron Man. I guess that shouldn't be so surprising, since 12am showings bring out the die-hards, but it still seems to bode well for what Marvel Studios is doing.
- While it may not have done the job as well as Iron Man, the film did a decent job of blending in some humor.
- Oh, I found it interesting that the climax happened in Harlem. If I knew a bit more about the layout, I'd probably have been looking to see if any collateral damage was done to Clinton's office.
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Being that Norton's rewrite was said to have shoehorned the Doc Samson character into the film and the ensuing backlash from the idea that Norton was constantly edging himself into the editing room and potentially screwing with the final cut, I would wager the therapy session scene was cut due to those reasons.
ReplyDeleteTwo great things that came from this movie were: the idea that you can do a sequel to a movie everyone hated (not me, but it is the internet, so the blowhards = "everyone") while not dwelling on the first movie or disregarding it completely, and that with its huge opening we are set for more good comic book movies. The fact that Marvel now has more control over their own movies -- that is to say, they don't have to ask permission from Sony in who they cast for the role of Venom (Topher Grace, really?) -- will only work as long as their product makes money. Because, like it or not, Batman and Robin made tons of money, and that told Hollywood that its story was the kind of thing to model comic movies after. So, you have your Daredevil, your Punisher, and so on. Hopefully, from here, we will have more movies like Batman Begins, Iron Man, and Hulk.
The one problem I had with TIH was that Liv Tyler was as limp as a drug fiends dick.
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