Gridlore smash puny movie!
Jun. 21st, 2008 05:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gridloreThe mall was wondefully cool, and pretty crowded with people who also seemed to be in need of a temperate atmosphere. window shopped for a bit, bought Priest's Nostradamus, and decided to see The Incredible Hulk.
Short review: A lot of fun, with nods to us Marvel Zombies and to fans of the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferringo TV series. Not as good as Iron Man, but worth seeing. 3.5 penguins
The CGI is very smooth, and much better than the Ang Lee Hulk of a few years ago. You believe in this Hulk. The movie acknowledges the earlier film, and dispenses with the origin story by summing it up in the opening credits. We start the story with Bruce Banner living in Brazil, on the run, and trying, quietly, to find a cure. Inevitably (since movies about day laborers in bottling plants tend to be boring.) the obsessed General Ross learns of his location, and goes after Banner.
This is where I began having problems. Never mind flying to Brazil in a C-130; we have a US Special Ops team in uniform running an op in broad daylight in a crowded city. Running around, shooting tranq darts with no regard for what might happen... sort of everything that breaks the rules of a covert op.
Also, a Royal Marine Commando on TDY to SOCCOM would wear his own dress uniform, no a US Army one (and he certainly wouldn't be wearing US awards and skill badges!) In fact, all the military uniforms in this film made me cringe. OK, every single time the US military was even mentioned, I squirmed in my seat. Because they got everything wrong. Uniforms, protocol, equipment, and evidently the best method for firing a pintle-mounted .50 is to have your driver race around like a madman. Oh, yeah, "fire discipline" is a dirty word. Checking your beaten zone for non-combatants or friendlies? Why bother?
Admittedly, these are details that will only bother me and other veterans. But if they screwed these things up, what else did they do that I missed but will eat at another viewer? Filmmakers: Get a copy of AR 670-1 if you are planning on having people in uniform.
OK, the good things. They got the rage and sheer power of the Hulk right. They set up for a sequel with one three-second shot. (Hint: Google Mr. Blue's real name. He's an established Hulk villain.) The acting is good, with the usual exception of Liv Tyler who has the emotional range of a .22 with decayed powder.
But a Hulk movie needs to be about the Hulk smashing things. Boy, this is where the film delivers. The combat scenes are chaotic, destructive, and one hell of a lot of fun. The climatic battle is better than the one in Iron Man. Even here, though, there's a problem. Hulk and Abomination fight right in front of the Apollo Theater; yet the crowd is mostly white. Help me out, New Yorkers.. does this make any sense at all?
One thing I really appreciated was how they got both the late Bill Bixby and Lou Ferringo into the film. Bruce Banner channel surfs past an episode of The Courtship of Eddie's Father, and Ferringo both voices the Hulk and appears as a pizza-hungry security guard. We also get the Purple Pants.
Short review: A lot of fun, with nods to us Marvel Zombies and to fans of the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferringo TV series. Not as good as Iron Man, but worth seeing. 3.5 penguins
The CGI is very smooth, and much better than the Ang Lee Hulk of a few years ago. You believe in this Hulk. The movie acknowledges the earlier film, and dispenses with the origin story by summing it up in the opening credits. We start the story with Bruce Banner living in Brazil, on the run, and trying, quietly, to find a cure. Inevitably (since movies about day laborers in bottling plants tend to be boring.) the obsessed General Ross learns of his location, and goes after Banner.
This is where I began having problems. Never mind flying to Brazil in a C-130; we have a US Special Ops team in uniform running an op in broad daylight in a crowded city. Running around, shooting tranq darts with no regard for what might happen... sort of everything that breaks the rules of a covert op.
Also, a Royal Marine Commando on TDY to SOCCOM would wear his own dress uniform, no a US Army one (and he certainly wouldn't be wearing US awards and skill badges!) In fact, all the military uniforms in this film made me cringe. OK, every single time the US military was even mentioned, I squirmed in my seat. Because they got everything wrong. Uniforms, protocol, equipment, and evidently the best method for firing a pintle-mounted .50 is to have your driver race around like a madman. Oh, yeah, "fire discipline" is a dirty word. Checking your beaten zone for non-combatants or friendlies? Why bother?
Admittedly, these are details that will only bother me and other veterans. But if they screwed these things up, what else did they do that I missed but will eat at another viewer? Filmmakers: Get a copy of AR 670-1 if you are planning on having people in uniform.
OK, the good things. They got the rage and sheer power of the Hulk right. They set up for a sequel with one three-second shot. (Hint: Google Mr. Blue's real name. He's an established Hulk villain.) The acting is good, with the usual exception of Liv Tyler who has the emotional range of a .22 with decayed powder.
But a Hulk movie needs to be about the Hulk smashing things. Boy, this is where the film delivers. The combat scenes are chaotic, destructive, and one hell of a lot of fun. The climatic battle is better than the one in Iron Man. Even here, though, there's a problem. Hulk and Abomination fight right in front of the Apollo Theater; yet the crowd is mostly white. Help me out, New Yorkers.. does this make any sense at all?
One thing I really appreciated was how they got both the late Bill Bixby and Lou Ferringo into the film. Bruce Banner channel surfs past an episode of The Courtship of Eddie's Father, and Ferringo both voices the Hulk and appears as a pizza-hungry security guard. We also get the Purple Pants.
