Before we start talking about the Hulk movie from 2003, we have to look at the state of Marvel movies in the late 90s and early 00s. Blade struck gold in 1998, X-Men did even better in 2000 and Spider-Man showed that this was not a fad in 2002. We had three awesome movies based on Marvel properties in a short space of time and Hollywood could not keep up.
How to Stream or Download Hulk
To stream or to download Hulk, click on the Download button at the end of the review. Check out also what we think about a later film about the same superhero – The Incredible Hulk (2008).
The Movie Review
The following year though things change a bit. 2003 though would see things not go quite as rosy with Daredevil at the begging of the year and then this Ang Lee led Hulk Movie in June. I think that Eric Bana as Bruce Banner is some pretty good casting and he does a decent enough job.
I actually really like Sam Elliot as General Ross and until I watched the movie recently, I completely forgot he was in it! The best character for me in the movie is the beautiful Jennifer Connolly as Betty Ross. The villain of the movie is Bruce’s father, David (Nick Nolte) who is a major reason why Bruce turns into Hulk.
These days there are some people who say that they love this movie and appreciate what Ang Lee was trying to do. I get that he was trying to make this more of a story-driven movie than a straight-up action one, but this movie needed way more action than we got. The plot in all honesty is just not all that interesting at all and I would go as to say it is flat-out artsy-fartsy and boring.
There are a few very well-done action sequences, the best scene in the movie is when Hulk fights these mutated dogs, it is very entertaining and I wish there was more of this stuff in the movie. The rest of the movie feels like it moves at a snail’s pace and you are just waiting for the next time Hulk gets to go wild and smash things. The movie clocks in at over two hours and you certainly feel those two plus hours I can tell you that.
I can appreciate that they were more trying to tell the story of Bruce Banner and the trauma that he suffered and the relationship with his dad is messed up. Even with the big fight at the end with Hulk taking on his mutated dad, it just all feels very flat. It is like you are just sitting through all the boring dialogue to get to Hulk smashing stuff and at the end of the day, it just does not feel worth it.
I watched this movie in the theatre when it was first released and did not like it. I then bought the DVD when it was released to give it another chance and liked it a tad more. Going back after all these years and watching it again, especially after what superhero movies have become makes me realize that this is just not a very good movie.
