St. John On The Incredible Hulk

Hey, hey peeps!

We are almost at the end of another great week and rather than Blog my usual recap of the major events in world news and politics (According to Hollywood) - I will get right on with my review (Well, not exactly)...
Last weekend many (Literally millions of you packed into theaters to see the new Hulk movie; The Incredible Hulk) (Marvel) and the Box Office receipts are proof with more than $55 million scored over the course of last weekend. Congratulations, you have just initiated another sequel.

As well over the week, I had a chance to view the HULK - not with the crowds, of course. The theater still indeed managed to capture quite a few people who also were attempting to avoid the weekend stampede.

The Comic Book Movie Cake Recipe
Below is a list of ingredients you will need for a frivolously delicious confection:

+ Add One Part Bad Guy who wants to take over the World/Universe (British Highly Recommended)
+ 2 parts Conflicted Ordinary Guy with Super Powers (Due to strange mishap - chemical in nature)
+ 1 Dozen Steroids (To be used during physical transformation)
+ 1 cup Female (More attractive than ordinary guy, but somehow always remains hopelessly devoted)
+ 12 Pounds of World Cataclysmic Pending Doom
+ 1 Pinch of Stan Lee.

Fold in loud action sequences (CGI Only). Add a cube of Military Butter. Bake for 90 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven, cool, frost with marketing hype and sponsor tie-ins = Comic Book Movie Cake. Serve to masses. Brilliant.

A Big Green Cake
So, what started as what I had hoped would be "A Mindless Bender", became a rather cerebral event of personal interest of confirmed observation.

As I have mentioned in the recent past, "All comic book movies are the same", and after seeing The Incredible Hulk, I still largely believe this revelation.

Even more, I have more than enjoyed many debates with the men of life (One in particular), about the basic formula that manages to unfold over and over on the screen. Just as ingredients of a recipe for a cake, thus too are comic book movies - sure you can change the frosting and the color of the cake, however after it comes out of the oven, it still tastes like a cake...

In this case, the cake was a big grostesque green mess.

Hulk vs. The 'Incredible' Hulk
Many of you had seen the previous version of the Hulk (Hulk) in 2003, otherwise known as the Ang Lee vision. In the previous version, we had lead character Dr. David Banner played by Eric Bana and lead Jennifer Connelly.

In the previous incarnation, the movie attempted to explain the history and family life of Banner (Less like the television show). In this particular vanity vehicle version, written by Edward Norton (After about 10 script re-writes) also stars the flavorless Norton as Dr. David Banner (Dare I say, also Produced by Norton?), the focus was little less on the sentiment and more about the loud, smash, and roar.

Hulk Roaaar!
With the given success (Although less than Lee's version which had an opening weekend of more than $62 million), it is highly probable that we may have another comic franchise on our hands.

Having said, on a personal note, I appreciate the fact that audiences are readily accepting "Everyday" types as alleged superheroes (Michael Keaton as Batman, Tobey Maguire as Spiderman, Brandon Routh as Superman (Brandon is the exception), and Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man).

Quite frankly, I would like to see more stunning leading men and for the continuation of The Incredible Hulk franchise, may I suggest Josh Hartnett or James Franco play Dr. Banner? Of course, my other favorite big man Vin Diesel as Hulk - Paint him green and there you have one Hunk, I mean Hulk...See me, I have some ideas...

Hulk Smash!
Meanwhile, through the course of the movie, I was having a moderate internal dialog that went something along the lines of the following:

"Wow, I have not watched the Hulk since I was a small child - no wait, I did see the Hulk (Ang Lee's version in 2003). Yeah, I think I liked that version far better. Eric Bana is/was hot, Edward Norton just not...."

Sounds reasonable, right?

Well, the dialog quickly became Hulk speak: "Me watch Hulk. Hulk Smash. Hulk lose temper too much. Hulk need anger management. Why Hulk head so small compared to rest of body? Hulk Smash. Hulk not superhero on TV. Hulk Roar. Hulk fight bad guy. Hulk misunderstood. Hulk sad. Hulk Lonely. Hulk need She-Hulk companion. Hulk not so bad."

Furthermore, may I say the above summary relatively describes the entire movie. Alright, please do not arrive at the conclusion that I did not like the movie - it was great fun...As much fun as one would expect from a Comic Book Movie.

Hey, Avi and Stan - I know it's your rival DC, but I am waiting for a Super Friends movie!



*The above image The Incredible Hulk is the property of Marvel Studios.