Thursday, February 26, 2009

Movie Journal: Hulk

Hulk is what I like to call a "flawed masterpiece". It may be rough around the edges in parts, but boy does it have it's moments.

As you may already know, Hulk chronicles the rise of The Incredible Hulk. The events leading up to this are portrayed in rapid succession as a science division of the US government attempts to develop human regeneration for soldiers on the field of battle. The theory was that this ability could be inserted as a genetic trait, which would be activated by physical stress: a gunshot wound, for example. But the thing about genetic engineering is that if you alter even one trait, the results are highly unforeseeable. Dr. David Banner discovered this, and was in the process of developing a cure when the government shut him down for failing to follow procedure. The true disaster takes place years later, in the form of David's son, Bruce Banner.

Bruce Banner, though having no knowledge of who his real parents were or what they did, ends up a scientist working in the exact same field as his father did. He(played by Eric Bana) works together with Dr. Betty Ross(Jennifer Connolly) to develop therapeutic regenerative traits using gamma radiation. Eric Bana was very well cast for his part and does an exceptional job. Jennifer Connolly, on the other hand, takes on the role of Dr. Ross almost perfectly. It's not like she did a perfect job because she was perfectly cast or born for the role, but rather because she knew exactly what she was supposed to do. She was able to see something deep and facinating in that character that no one else saw, and then portray it outstandingly. And I expect nothing less from an actress of her calibur.

Yes, if I were to list all the things that made this movie great, one of the topmost ones would be "Jennifer Connolly". At the same time, every other major actor reflected their character notably. This, tied together with ingenious editing, managing to carefully and intricately capture the feel of the comic in outstanding cinematography, alone makes this story worthwhile.

Unfortunately, especially in areas well into the movie, you may find your belief to be suspended at times. Still, giant mutated french poodles aside, Hulk is a faithfully artistic comic book adaptation, and while it does have it's share of flaws it is still a must-watch.

8 out of 10

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