Hulk Smash… Straight To Your Heart
Following the success of Iron Man, Incredible Hulk ushers in a new era for comic movies. Unlike Marvel’s previous rush to sell of comic properties just to get movies out their, this time Marvel uses level heads and its own entertainment department to monitor and create a new series of movies. Iron Man and Hulk are only the beginning, as plans for Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America, and the Avengers movie wrap the films into a cohesive storyline.
Incredible Hulk had a lot to offer, not just as a remake/sequel of the previous Hulk movie, but also in terms of this new Avengers 3-year movie plan. The problem, as many have discussed, with previous Marvel films was the untrained in movies Marvel giving their comics to movie people, who then hijacked the projects for their own agendas (see X3). Hulk was the biggest such mistake as film director Ang Lee turned Hulk into a psychological sob story with crazy comic panel shots, when all we needed was a typical popcorn flick.
This new Hulk movie was a perfect blend of humor, drama, and action; focusing more on action and putting a little drama in while still recognizing that the film is based on an unrealistic, larger than life story. To the first film’s credit, the CGI for that Hulk does appear to be more realistic, but of course a beautiful film can still be, and was, a box office blunder.
The film did well to expand on the Hulk’s mythology and root the film deeply into a larger universe. Leonard Samson and The Leader (Samuel Sterns) made appearances so they could be worked into a possible sequel, and the references to Stark Industries (Iron Man) and the super soldier serum (Captain America) open the door for the other films to be a part of a successful series of films.
This comprehensive film plan Marvel is executing may change DC’s outlook on how they release their future films, as they had planned to do a Justice League movie with different actors than those who played them in their titular movies - meaning no Christian Bale as Batman. Now that Marvel’s got their act together, I look forward to their future films, even if some of their recent comic gimmicks make my blood boil.
Matt Knicl: My name is Matt Knicl. I'm a U of I alumn and one of those unemployed English majors Garrison Keillor likes to make fun of. I've been reading comics since high school and one day I would like to write them. My goal is to expose readers to what is out there in the world of comics and using my English powers, show what is worth reading or not. I can be reached at buzz.comics@gmail.com.
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Buzz Magazine
Matt Knicl
My name is Matt Knicl. I'm a U of I alumn and one of those unemployed English majors Garrison Keillor likes to make fun of. I've been reading comics since high school and one day I would like to write them. My goal is to expose readers to what is out there in the world of comics and using my English powers, show what is worth reading or not. I can be reached at buzz.comics@gmail.com.
Capes & Cowls » Blog Archive » Hancock (Capes & Cowls » Blog Archive » Hancock) says:
(Posted July 5th, 2008 at 6:35 pm)
[…] the traditional super hero “plug n’ chug” formula that even the new Iron Man and Hulk fell into - hero + villain = fight + resolution. It’s great that Hancock attempted to subvert […]