I also had a haiku about The Italian Job, but in retrospect I think it's a shameful donkey show attempt to try to outdo Jon's mass of reviews. I'll have to fight him eye to eye. Take this.....
Happy Un-Father’s Day!
A Review/Ponderance of The Hulk by Mike Meyer
Ahh sweet sweet baby back irony! What a huge wink to the world when you…less than a week after Father’s Day….release the biggest “I hate daddy” movies of the century. Not since Al Capone and Valentine’s Day.
So, the film itself. I liked it. Didn’t love it, but it didn’t completely piss me off either. Marvel has a hard time doing something 100% wrong. Every single film they’ve put out in the last year has never been below par or really even par. Even lighter fare like Daredevil still accomplished on a small level what the behemoths like Spiderman, X2, and even The Hulk are doing on the Uber Hollywood Puppeteer level.
Ang Lee and his beautiful indie sensibilities really gave this movie something other than just epidermal action action action. He really attempted to how and why the Hulk emerged and acts the way he does. In fact the development of Bruce Banner, the Hulk, and the relationship between the two is the rudder of the film, steering the action and ultimately making it more important than the story itself. What results is a film about dealing with human emotions, trauma, and the catalysts of both, not really about a 15-foot tall bounding green toddler. But not to fret, Ang Lee also uses his keen eye for action and fight composition to give some serious bang to the action sequences. There is one scene in particular…won’t give too much away…it involves the Hulk and some dogs…that will be make you cheer with it’s satisfying brutality.
Some people have voiced that the film gets a little too arty at times. I’ve heard complaints that Ang Lee gets a little carried away with decadently long shots of rocks and slow fades of gnarled trees and extending Hulk “bouncing sequences”, but these at least establish metaphors and do attempt to make physical some change in the characters (if that’s what you’re into.) Story too long for you? You’re not the only one, but I applaud them for at least trying to give people action and a thick story. My biggest complaint about The Hulk was the editing. Taking a nod directly from the Fox show 24, The Hulk utilizes to a sickening extent, interwindow cutting where the action is dispersed into 2, 3, or 15 different windows all happening at the same time. This was done obviously to try to cinematically emulate a comic book, a decision that became the movies most prominent flaw. For a few scenes it proved effective, but for about 80% of the movie it was as grating as it was distracting and unnecessary as it occurred in almost every cut. They didn’t need to spruce this movie up like that. It was fantastic as is. In the end, all this method accomplished was take the audience out of the moment while showcasing a lot of non-descript B-roll footage.*
Having said all that, the true testament to the film’s strength is it was able to shine regardless. All the interwindow cuts and weird composites and wipes, still couldn’t prevent this gem from twinkling. It’s a story about a stirring anti-hero seriously coming to terms with his identity by throwing a few tanks and killing mutant dogs. If that’s not the essence of cinema, then I may as well turn in my club card.
To see tasteful and very effective use of interwindow cutting, see The Boston Strangler (1968).
Happy Un-Father’s Day!
A Review/Ponderance of The Hulk by Mike Meyer
Ahh sweet sweet baby back irony! What a huge wink to the world when you…less than a week after Father’s Day….release the biggest “I hate daddy” movies of the century. Not since Al Capone and Valentine’s Day.
So, the film itself. I liked it. Didn’t love it, but it didn’t completely piss me off either. Marvel has a hard time doing something 100% wrong. Every single film they’ve put out in the last year has never been below par or really even par. Even lighter fare like Daredevil still accomplished on a small level what the behemoths like Spiderman, X2, and even The Hulk are doing on the Uber Hollywood Puppeteer level.
Ang Lee and his beautiful indie sensibilities really gave this movie something other than just epidermal action action action. He really attempted to how and why the Hulk emerged and acts the way he does. In fact the development of Bruce Banner, the Hulk, and the relationship between the two is the rudder of the film, steering the action and ultimately making it more important than the story itself. What results is a film about dealing with human emotions, trauma, and the catalysts of both, not really about a 15-foot tall bounding green toddler. But not to fret, Ang Lee also uses his keen eye for action and fight composition to give some serious bang to the action sequences. There is one scene in particular…won’t give too much away…it involves the Hulk and some dogs…that will be make you cheer with it’s satisfying brutality.
Some people have voiced that the film gets a little too arty at times. I’ve heard complaints that Ang Lee gets a little carried away with decadently long shots of rocks and slow fades of gnarled trees and extending Hulk “bouncing sequences”, but these at least establish metaphors and do attempt to make physical some change in the characters (if that’s what you’re into.) Story too long for you? You’re not the only one, but I applaud them for at least trying to give people action and a thick story. My biggest complaint about The Hulk was the editing. Taking a nod directly from the Fox show 24, The Hulk utilizes to a sickening extent, interwindow cutting where the action is dispersed into 2, 3, or 15 different windows all happening at the same time. This was done obviously to try to cinematically emulate a comic book, a decision that became the movies most prominent flaw. For a few scenes it proved effective, but for about 80% of the movie it was as grating as it was distracting and unnecessary as it occurred in almost every cut. They didn’t need to spruce this movie up like that. It was fantastic as is. In the end, all this method accomplished was take the audience out of the moment while showcasing a lot of non-descript B-roll footage.*
Having said all that, the true testament to the film’s strength is it was able to shine regardless. All the interwindow cuts and weird composites and wipes, still couldn’t prevent this gem from twinkling. It’s a story about a stirring anti-hero seriously coming to terms with his identity by throwing a few tanks and killing mutant dogs. If that’s not the essence of cinema, then I may as well turn in my club card.
To see tasteful and very effective use of interwindow cutting, see The Boston Strangler (1968).
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