The Incredible Hulk Review

We are greatly anticipating The Avengers 2 coming up in a couple of months and I think I should go back and review some of the movies that have lead up to it. The Incredible Hulk (2008) was the second installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was meant to act as both a reboot and a sequel to Ang Lee's Hulk movie from a few years prior which itself wasn't involved with the whole Avengers cross over storyline movies. The Incredible Hulk not only helped get us psyched up for the eventual Avengers movie, it was also cram packed with references to the old TV series and comic books.

Picking up after the events of the Gamma Bomb experiment gone wrong, Dr. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) travels the globe looking for a cure. The Gamma radiation he was exposed to transforms him into a powerful, uncontrollable raging "Hulk" when angered. Banner strives to keep this primal alter ego under control, but as the target of an international man hunt lead by General "Thunderbolt" Ross (William Hurt) it is difficult to contain. When Banner meets Dr. Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson) who believes he can cure Banner of his transformations, Banner travels to Culver University in Virginia to meet Sterns. This risks encountering Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) a past love interest of Banner's, whom he has avoided to keep her from the dangerous Hulk. In desperation, Ross calls in power-hungry soldier Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) to help capture Banner. Blonsky undertakes some transformations himself trying to keep up with the Hulk and slowly begins to change into a more bestial creature himself.

While Ang Lee's Hulk movie was alright, it ended up being too stylistically cerebral and artistic, vying for dramatic depth for a movie about a gigantic green rage monster; too much talking and not enough smashing. The Incredible Hulk doesn't really ignore that origins storyline, and starts off with Bruce already able to transform if he loses control of his emotions. The opening credits recap the back story with a prologue using the cast from this movie before it gets going. You don't really need to see the previous Hulk movie to get into this one.

The Incredible Hulk caters to fans of the 1970's and 80's TV series and comic books. Most notably, Lou Ferrigno has a cameo as a security guard. He's way more muscular than he ever was actually playing The Hulk in the TV show that made him famous. Ferrigno actually voiced the Hulk for the movie. One of the students who witnesses the fight at Culver University is named Jack McGee, which is the name of the tabloid reporter who attempts to track down the Hulk in the same TV series. Some of the theme music from the series was used in this movie. In one scene Betty buys Bruce some purple pants, a nod to the comics where the Hulk is almost always seen wearing purple pants. Paul Soles briefly appears as "Stanley," the pizza shop owner; he provided the voice of Bruce Banner in the 1960's Hulk animated series. The name of the character may also be a tribute to the Hulk's co-creator Stan Lee. You should also watch for Iron Man, Captain America, and S.H.I.E.L.D references.

Edward Norton made a fantastic Bruce Banner. Not only did he play the character amazingly well, he also offered rewrites of the script which were included in the final production. Norton is a Hulk fan and really wanted to do it justice for the fans and help tell a solid story. He and director Louis Leterrier both felt that just because they were making a superhero movie it doesn't mean it should exclusively appeal to thirteen-year-old boys. They see superheroes as the new Greek Gods and wanted give the story dramatic suitable dramatic action. Much to the chagrin of fans of The Incredible Hulk, Norton did not reprise the role for Banner in The Avengers. Leterrier's first choice for Banner had originally been Mark Ruffalo, and Ruffalo did take on the role for The Avengers and was signed on for future appearances. They are different takes on the same character, but both do a simply amazing job.

I just love what The Incredible Hulk does with color. Bruce wears a lot of blue and the Hulk is represented by green. Bruce's eyes turn green as he begins to transform into the Hulk, signifying which of the two personalities are dominant at the moment. In one scene Bruce and Betty are lying in different beds, troubled by their thoughts. Betty's head is surrounded by the color blue in this shot, suggesting that her thoughts are on Bruce. The shot switches to Bruce, who is surrounded by the color green, suggesting he is troubled by and thinking about the Hulk. The camera rarely holds still; there's no shaky cam (thank goodness) but the camera is in constant movement panning through sets alongside the action. This gives it a sense of urgency and motion which complements the manhunt chases which is, at the most basic level, what the movie is about.

I really liked The Incredible Hulk. It was well written, well acted, paid homage to many of its source materials and predecessors, and was just plain fun. I don't think it was the best of the first wave of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's movies, but it was very much enjoyable. There are a few particularly violent moments during fights between Hulk and Abomination that made me cringe; that might be a red flag for parents who intend to watch this with young kids. It still remains safely in the PG-13 realm. If you haven't seen this movie yet, I recommend it. I've already got a copy sitting safely on my shelf among other favorites.

There is currently not a plan for another solo Hulk movie, though he will be appearing in other Marvel movies. If Hulk were to get another solo movie, what storyline would you like to see made? There's some good potential for the Planet Hulk story line now that we've got space epics thanks to Thor and The Guardians of the Galaxy. I'd also like to see Hulk's nemesis, The Leader, make an appearance. Comment below and tell me what you think!

Nowhere Boy Movie Review

I’m much more into movies than I am into music. Sure, there are some individual songs I enjoy, but there aren’t bands or singers that I am particularly a fan of. The exception is The Beatles; they’ve done more individual songs that I like than any other music group I can think of. So, when I heard about Nowhere Boy (2010), I was excited to see a movie about the formation of the one band I can honestly say I’m a fan of. I haven’t been this let down by a movie since I saw the 2003 Hulk that everyone tries to pretend didn’t happen.

Young John (Alex Ambrose) is a bright, but sharp-tongued boy living in the coastal town of Liverpool during the 1950’s with his Aunt Mimi (Kristen Scott Thomas) and Uncle George (David Threlfall). John’s father walked out on the family when he was five years old and he was given to Mimi to be raised, even though his mother, Julia (Anne-Marie Duff) was still alive. While Mimi’s strait-laced nature runs counter to John’s more reckless personality, they still love one another. Their world is turned upside down when George passes away. After the funeral, John meets his mother for the first time since he was a small boy. Her bubbly personality is more in line with John’s and she encourages his love of music and writing. But the renewed relationship with Julia brings up a number of unanswered questions, causing tension between Mimi and John. As Rock & Roll becomes the sound of the day, John falls in love with the bold new music and makes a friend who is interested in forming a band, Paul McCartney (Thomas Brodie Sangster).

Nowhere Boy features kind of a parental love triangle between John and the two dominant women in the first part of his life. It’s not a sexual thing, by any means. John is torn between Mimi who has exercised tough-love and acted in John’s best interest, and Julia who is an affectionate and empowering figure but can’t offer John the stability he craves. I was expecting a delightful movie about the formation of The Beatles, about events that inspired John’s marvelous lyrics and music, his struggle to get recognized, perhaps events that instigated his philosophy of peace and love, and the sparks that came from John and Paul as their talents resonated with one another. That is the sort of thing the trailer promised, after all. Even the movie poster alludes to that sort of a tale. But Nowhere Boy is more about a rebellious, foulmouthed, lascivious teenager in the 1950’s growing up in a broken, dysfunctional family and dreaming of being wanted by millions of women the way Elvis was. Certainly, every famous figure has to start somewhere and eventually become the person they are known for, but by the end of the movie I didn’t like this version of John Lennon any more than I like any other presumptuous and rude teenager I might run into on the street.

The fact that the movie differs so much from my expectations isn’t what made it bad. Because of all the interpersonal conflicts between family members and friends, Nowhere Boy seemed more like a well filmed and acted soap opera. Yes, Ambrose played a great John Lennon. Thomas did an excellent job playing his loving, but rigid aunt; it’s hard enough to show tough-love to a child, but I imagine it’s even more difficult to act it out. The sets were fantastic, and lots of the movie was shot on location in Liverpool. But for all the good acting, sets, and decent filming, the movie itself was painfully melodramatic.

The name “The Beatles” is never actually mentioned in Nowhere Boy. There are some allusions to The Beatles, but they’re so subtle that they are easy to miss. The movie opens with a dream sequence of John running from unseen screaming fan girls which is similar to the opening scene in The Beatles’ first movie A Hard Day’s Night. John rides his bike to school and passes a sign that reads “Strawberry Fields.” That’s about it, and they happen within the first five minutes of the movie. There’s no Beatles music in Nowhere Boy, but there is a lot of 50’s Rock & Roll music that John fell in love with; Elvis, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and Dickie Valentine to name a few.

With all the melodrama and gratuitous unjustified profanity, Nowhere Boy was not a pleasant movie to watch. It was all about uncomfortable family drama that was interrupted by brief moments of John’s interest in forming a band so that more women would want to sleep with him. It’s those fleeting moments in the movie that we’re reminded that this is a movie about John Lennon, and not just some insufferably difficult teenage douche bag. Both the real Paul McCartney and Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono, said that the real John was much more loving than the angst-ridden teenage rebel in this movie. You might enjoy Nowhere Boy if you really like John Lennon and don’t mind seeing an unflattering depiction of him. I don’t recommend seeing Nowhere Boy. Neither the story nor the characters were engaging enough to keep me interested; I teetered between sticking it out and just shutting the movie off.

If you could have a really good movie made about a famous musician, who would it be? Frankly, I’d like to see a good movie about John Lennon sometime. Apart from that, I think a movie about Queen would be both messed up and fun. Who would you pick? Comment below and tell me why!

The Avengers Movie Review

Ever since the post credits scene at the end of Iron Man (2008) where Nick Fury discusses “The Avengers Initiative”, Marvel fans have been anticipating an Avengers movie. There was a five-movie build up to this event, including two Iron Man movies (2008, 2010), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Thor (2010) and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). Having already built a fandom around these characters, we have high expectations for Joss Whedon’s Superhero mash-up, The Avengers (2012). Even with our expectations set so high, they are still exceeded by this movie.

S.H.I.E.L.D. is a global peacekeeping espionage organization, with  Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) as its director. Exiled Norse god Loki (Tom Hiddleston) infiltrates S.H.I.E.L.D. and steals The Tesseract, and item of immense power that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been protecting. Loki has formed an alien army and will use the limitless power of the Tesseract to open a portal across the galaxy to bring them here and destroy Earth. Fury instigates The Avengers Initiative to gather the superheroes he has contacted over the past several years to help S.H.I.E.L.D.  protect Earth should the world stand in dire need. These heroes include Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) who can transform into The Hulk; genius billionaire playboy Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and his mechanical battle suit he which dons to become Iron Man; Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), who is the iconic World War II symbol Captain America; the Norse god Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returns to Earth to aid in stopping his adoptive brother Loki; and two S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) codenamed Black Widow and Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) codenamed Hawkeye.  But The Avengers are divided over how to approach Loki and the revelation that S.H.I.E.L.D. plans to harness the Tesseract to develop weapons. The team of superpowers must overcome their differences and combine forces to stop the immanent global threat.

Traditionally, the term “Epic Film” meant that a movie had a large scale, huge cast, sweeping scope, high budget, and often a run time that exceeds two hours. Some examples include Schindler's List (1993), Ben-Hur (1959), and Saving Private Ryan (1998). Recently, movie studios decided that dividing up an Epic into multiple shorter films makes the franchise last longer and earns the studios more money. That’s part of the reason for The Lord of the Rings to have been divided up into three movies, and the whole reason Quentin Tarantino’s epic Kill Bill (2003, 2004) was divided into two films. The five movies leading up to The Avengers were overlapping stories culminating in this one movie. With the dramatic combination of superpowers and a huge scale, I think it’s arguable that The Avengers and its related films could be considered an Epic by the traditional meaning of the term.

There were a few things I was worried would happen with The Avengers. I was concerned that the movie would rely on the assumption that the viewer has seen the five movies leading up to it and throw our heroes at us without bothering to develop them as characters. I was worried each of these characters were simply going to accept each other and rush off to fight the villain without question. I was also worried that only one or two of our heroes were going to get a bulk of the screen time. That would have been some seriously sloppy writing. I am deliriously happy to say that none of that happened! Joss Whedon co-wrote and directed The Avengers, and he is well known for his multi-character driven stories.

Each of our heroes has dynamic personalities and values; they don’t always see eye to eye, and they don’t trust each other. There’s a three-way fight early on between Iron Man and Thor. Each one exhibits some amazing feats, and even when Captain America tries intervene, you can’t decide who to root for most. Seeing these superheroes fight and their personalities clash makes them all the more interesting. Each character is developed enough for us to be emotionally invested in them; we know what they are capable of, we know what their strengths and weaknesses are, and we want to see them pushed to their limits! We are not left disappointed.

Every good hero needs a good villain; the nastier and more devious the villain, the more interesting the conflict. Loki returns after his defeat in Thor. He wants revenge and he wants to strike Thor where it would hurt the most: by enslaving Earth which Thor has come to love. Once the manipulative Loki sets his plan in motion, you can’t imagine how he could possibly be stopped. He is an outstanding villain who uses power and leverage to get what he wants. When he kills, he makes it meaningful and personal. He lies, manipulates, and is positively cruel to others. You just love to hate this villain, and you want to see him get it in the end.

The Avengers doesn’t shy away from showing us the kind of high end superhero action we want to see. We’re given gorgeously clear action that is over the top and amazing. We are held at the edge of our seat for a lot of the movie. Every character gets some great dialogue and humorous lines. The visual effects are brilliant. There is one scene later on that has a long, sweeping shot where the camera snakes around and over buildings showing us our heroes smack down enemies in their own distinct style in one dynamic swoop. There is so much energy and excitement packed into the camera work, the script, and the characters you can’t help but get caught up in the movie.

To summarize this movie in one word, it is “satisfying.” It shows us what we were expecting to see, and then goes several steps beyond that. You will applaud and cheer for your favorite heroes. You will be captivated by the action. You will be highly satisfied with this movie. There are a couple of minor parts of the story that seemed a bit too easily resolved; but you can forgive it because it pales in comparison to the good qualities in the film. The Avengers is fun, funny, exciting, and so satisfying. You really must see this in the theaters if you’ve ever liked Marvel superheroes or superhero movies at all. It’s an epic movie that you really should be a part of. You don’t necessarily need to see the five movies that built up to The Avengers, but you’d be doing yourself a disservice by missing them. Go see it in theaters as soon as you can, and then buy a copy of it on Blu-ray when it’s available. You can bet I will.

If The Avengers were to assemble again for another movie, what Marvel villain would you love to see them pitted against? Comment below and tell me why!

Movie Review: Captain America: The First Avenger

Marvel Studios has been busy as a bee since 2008, introducing a variety of Super Hero characters. Each character has their own movie, and some even have multiple movies. We have two Iron Man movies, a Hulk movie, a Thor movie, and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) has appeared in all of these movies to varying degrees. There’s even a third Iron Man and a second Thor movie in the works. Any comic book geek with knowledge of the Marvel universe could see what was coming after the post-credits scene in Iron Man (2008).  Nick Fury showed up telling Tony Stark (Iron Man) that he’s not the world’s only super hero and wanted to discuss the "Avenger Initiative". The last of The Avengers team that hadn’t shown up yet was Captain America. I didn’t think Captain America’s story would be hard to do, but it might be tricky to do well. But after seeing how well a Norse god became relatable, I felt confident and ready to see Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).

The year is 1942; World War II is in full swing and the United States has entered the fray. Thousands of young men are volunteering to join the army to serve their country. One among them is Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), a short, ninety-five pound asthmatic with a heart of gold who has just been rejected yet again for military service. Rogers’ life changes dramatically after encountering Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) at a recruitment center. Dr. Erskine is impressed with Rogers and recruits him for the top secret “Project Rebirth.” After proving his extraordinary courage, intellect, and morals, Rogers undergoes a Super Soldier experiment conducted by Dr. Erskine and Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) that transforms his weak frame into a body at the peak of human strength and potential. Dr. Erskine is immediately assassinated by an agent of Nazi Germany’s secret research department, HYDRA, which is operated by Johann Schmidt, also known as The Red Skull (Hugo Weaving). Schmidt has been using an object of remarkable power called the “tesseract,” believed to have come from the Norse God Odin’s throne room, to create space age weapons and supply Nazi Germany with an unlimited energy-source for world domination. Rogers is deemed too valuable to be put on the front lines and is misused initially as a propaganda mascot. However, when his comrades who had previously enlisted need his help, Rogers springs into action to aid them and truly becomes Captain America, the hero, not just the symbol. This is where Captain America’s war against the Red Skull truly begins.

My biggest concern with this movie was that the character Captain America would be portrayed as a gung-ho, pro-America, nationalist, which seems to be the extent of modern day patriotism. Thankfully, this was not so. Captain America: The First Avenger (directed by Joe Johnston) has something to say about patriotism and where the true strength of America lies. This aspect of the character and plot was not played up quite as much as I was expecting, but it was not belittled or avoided as I had feared. Steve Rogers did not join the military out of a sense of vengeance or bravado as many of his comrades had. He joined out of a sense of justice and a desire to protect the oppressed. This was depicted in an exchange between pre-Super Soldier Rogers and Dr. Erskine. Erskine asks, “Do you want to kill Nazis?” to which Rogers replies without hesitation, “I don't want to kill anybody. I don't like bullies; I don't care where they're from.”

We’re shown the other side of war where patriotism can be used as propaganda. Initially Steve Rogers is given a rather eccentric costume after the Super Soldier experiment so that he can help promote the war and sell it to the American public. He is given an embarrassingly simple script to recite about buying war bonds while a line of dancing women are singing pro-America jingles. This ends badly with Captain America throwing a fake punch at a stage actor portraying Adolf Hitler. Rogers is clearly uncomfortable with this and desires to take a more active and useful role in stopping the Nazi bullies. This really is the type of simplified gung-ho nationalist-like patriotism that the character Captain America is not about and I appreciated that they made this distinction in the movie.

In most movies, especially superhero movies, they spare no time in having the newly empowered hero confront the villain and dive headlong into the action scenes. Not so in this movie.Captain America: The First Avenger really spends time developing the Captain America character. This really is an origin story that develops the character at his heart; the movie is more character driven than action driven. There is an action “montage” rather than lots of fighting scenes. This was used to depict Captain America’s multiple successes and shield-smacking victories before getting into the bigger, more plot-specific battles. But don’t worry; when the action arrives it’s really good; I was on the edge of my seat for many of the scenes. There were even a couple of moments during the action scenes that were unexpected and a bit shocking, such as a henchmen meeting a grotesque demise by a propeller.

All the characters were fun and well developed. Steve Rogers’ flame, Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), was interesting, pretty, confident, and independent. Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) was gruff, practical, logical, and helped push Rogers’ to his best potential. Howard Stark (who is the father of the not yet born Tony Stark; Iron Man) is a lady killer, arrogant, creative, and resourceful. All these characters play off of each other really well. No one character is given a bulk of the humorous lines which was a somewhat mediocre device done in Thor (2011).

My only real complaint was the Red Skull. Every good hero needs a good villain; the nastier and more devious the villain, the more interesting the conflict. The Red Skull seemed to be lacking in purpose. He seemed to simply want to take over and destroy the world for the sake of taking over and destroying the world. It was almost as though all the lackluster qualities of a generic throw-away villain were stuffed into what is ordinarily an iconic super villain from the Marvel Comics universe. I have heard Red Skull is supposed to possess a superior intellect and inventive genius, as well as being a highly gifted subversive strategist and political operative. We did see some creative genius as he made ray guns and all manner of sci-fi gadgets with 1940’s technology. But you don’t get a feel for his intellect, political machinations, or strategic plotting. The Red Skull as a character is just about the only major character that seemed flat, generic, and undeveloped. He fills the role of “nasty, ugly villain” quite well, but his depiction in this film just seemed cliché. I can overlook this shortcoming a bit since Captain America is the main focus and there needed to be a struggle over which he could prevail. Such a struggle allows us to see what Captain America is made of and ultimately understand his part in the upcoming Avengers movie.

As opposed to the excruciating Captain America movie that came out in 1990 (trailer here) which, with good reason, no one seems to remember, Captain America: The First Avenger really was a fun movie with a good, fairly solid story. The movie demonstrates the message that patriotism is not about strength. It is about compassion and justice. Patriotism is not about how loud you cheer for your country or how many bad guys you kill. It is about how much you are willing to sacrifice to protect the helpless. Those are real patriotic American values. I enjoyed this movie enough that I intend to get a copy of it on Blu-Ray for my personal collection when it becomes available. This movie will be pretty intense for younger audiences, but it might be worth the effort to show them once they can handle some intense action scenes. Captain America is a hero of good morals and character that would be good to help them model in their own lives.