Looking over it, there's much more summary then analysis. You might wanna skip the summary part, though. There are three parts: Summary (with some comedy), Character analysis, and movie review.
Yea or nay on The Hulk? An obviously hyped out movie, The Hulk has gotten wide attention from the media, being celebrated on Access Hollywood and other entertainment shows. The Hulk had an advantage--the success of previously released successful comic-to-screen movies, including Daredevil (starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner), X-Men, and Spiderman. All three movies were blockbuster hits. But will The Hulk match up? Lining up outside of The Grove's Pacific Theatres are dozens of eagerly waiting fans with the green mutant in their minds. Whether or not you were a fan of the comic, The Hulk would presumably amaze us as the previously mentioned action hero movies. I fit under the non-comic book fan category. As I entered the theater, I had little background knowledge of the movie--some guy involuntarily turns into a big green monster, triggered by anger.
Summary Bruce what's-his-last-name is a scientist with more than meets the eye. We are first introduced to him when he is a baby. His mad scientist father in the opening scene had been studying cell regeneration and may have discovered the secret to immortality. But the government restrains his experiments because he's a wee bit too mad of a scientist. In a desperate attempt to continue his experiment, he injects baby Bruce with some makes-you-wanna-throw-up liquid. We see the preliminary, temporary effects of it as baby Bruce's skin darkens and later, as a toddler, he seems to accept cuts with no pain. But one day, mad scientist daddy loses his job and he gets madder. He activates the failsafe of the lab research building to self-destruct in 30 minutes, sounding the city-wide alarm. Then mad daddy come home like a lunatic and takes Bruce mommy to a room. From the silhouettes under the door and the shouting, he appears to be beating her. Kid Bruce watches the scene and big boy Bruce awakes from his flashback nightmare. Big Bruce is off to college and we find out that he has been adopted.
Bruce is now a scientist, who just happens to be rearching cell regeneration with his partner, Betty, whom he has feelings for. But because he is emotionally distant, their relationship hasn't gone very far. Betty's father, Ross, is some big-shot military guy and her friend, Glen, works for Ross. Their company, Atheon, wants to have Betty and Bruce's research to aid themselves. But Betty wants the opposite, never having had much of a relationship wither her father. She, too, has flashbacks of her childhood, in which her father leaves her alone in a small restaurant after the lab research building explodes.
After an accident in the lab, Bruce is exposed to high levels of gamma radiation. This triggers the greeness in him (remember the makes-you-wanna-throw-up liquid injected into him by mad scientist daddy?). This exposure to radiation is deadly, yet Bruce survives it without a scratch. In the hospital, mad scientist daddy makes a reappearance. After thirthy years in jail, he confronts his son. But Bruce, in disbelief and anger, rejects him. One day, Bruce gets angry and turns into the hulk *echoes* the hulk hulk hulk. He destroys the lab yadda yadda. The government then places Bruce on surveillance.
Betty visits mad scientist daddy, looking for answers. But he tells her that it's too late to save Bruce. Mad daddy steals her scarf and she leaves. We think that he's a scarf-obsessed creep, but he then feeds the scarf to his three dogs, and they angrily devour it.
When Glen visits Bruce, with government officials outside, Bruce is angered and again turns into the hulk. He escapes from his house and goes to Betty's house. Betty is terrified, but she remains calm. she knows that it is Bruce. Mad scientist daddy then releases his mutatated giant doggies to attack hulked Bruce. But hulked Bruce wins. He turns back into normal Bruce and he falls into the arms of Betty.
The military transports Bruce to his original hometown where he is isolated. The government, according to Betty, just wants to use him as a weapon. But Bruce turns into the hulk again. He jumps miles at a time. The government then declares war on the hulk. So they pull out their full forces, which, at first, is just a few helicopters equppied with guns and missiles. But they're no match for the hulk. With his mile-long leaps, he hops all the way to San Francisco. There, Betty cries out to her dad, pleaing to help calm down Bruce. And she does. Bruce shrinks back to his normal self and gives Betty a hug.
Now what happens next is fuzzy because I fell asleep. But when my eyes open, Bruce and mad scientist daddy are again in federal custody. In handcuffs, they are seated face to face where mad daddy talks about world power. Something about combining their forces. Then he gets more mad and takes a bite out of a thick, tasty wire. Ross then says to charge him or something, and mad daddy gets electricuted. Ross thinks it's working, but mad daddy just grows into a giant man, like a blue, electric, slim hulk. Then electric man takes Bruce, who has yet again turned into the hulk, into some forest-like area. They then take it to the lake where electric man almost takes control of the hulk but the hulk releases himself from electric man's bind. But it's too late. The military drops some big bomb on them and it wasn't pretty.
One year later, Betty is again chit chatting with daddy Ross and the hulk is alive in a foresty country. In a foreign language (Spanish?) he says, "You don't want to see me when I'm angry."
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Character Analysis Bruce is a traumatized man, missing a part of his identity. He had vague memories of his childhood and is haunted by recurring nightmarish flashbacks. He refuses to willingly talk about his childhood both because of fear and denial and because he simply doesn't remember much. His memories are better forgotten. He refuses to find out more about his birth parents. But he cannot erase the memeories from his partially pre-programmed mind. He thinks that he can control his anger, that he can control the hulk in him. But it's simple--he can't. Whether or not he has good intentions is unknown. At first, it would seem as if he is one of the good guys. But as the hulk gains more control of him, he seems to let go of these good intentions. He even says that it feels good to lose control.
Betty is a true protagonist. She has good intentions, and she is the only one who truly cares for Bruce. She risks her life to help him. Her relationship with her father is at first non-existent. As she mentions, her father had always left her alone as a child. She has since grown to be independent. She rejects him out of anger, yet she wants to have a relationship with him, as we see in her meeting with him at the restaurant. But tears cover her eyes as she realizes it was a business meeting. Fortunately, Bruce monster forces them to be thrusted into the same life. By the end of the movie, their relationship has seemingly been repaired.
Ross is at first the distant, greedy military leader. He wants only money out of his daughter. But as he actually talks to Betty, he learns to love her unlike previous years.
Glen is like Ross, except he is pure greedy. He even risks his life just to get a sample of the hulk. But he is unsuccessful. Better luck next time.
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Movie Review 7/10. The movie was full of flaws. As I sat through the opening scene, I had two things in mind--1) great visual effects! and 2) enough with the effects! Where's the movie? All the colors and swirls and details of these effects are intriguing to a point, the point where you would rather watch a Discovery Channel documentary then sit through the time-wasting visuals. And the opening scene isn't the oly time you'll see them. They are replayed throughout the movie. A theme that seems to be a recurring one (which I'll get to soon). The hulk is a big fat green joke that makes you laugh. He unrealisticly could take mile-long leaps. We see alot of repetitive things--the visual effects, Bruce's nightmares, the hulk being shot at by the military. Certain sequences are replyed so often, you woder how long the m,ovie would be without them. The movie had no real plot. At times, the story would go in circles. The dialogue was not enjoyable. The movie was simply making way for The Hulk 2. Will we see a part 2? Yes. The Hulk probably won't be as widely enjoyed as Spiderman, but it definitely will do almost as good because of the hype. But I expect the sequel to be much better. There may actually be a story to build on. So see it or skip it? My opinion is to see it. It's The Hulk. Enough said. You probably won't enjoy it, but hey, it's only 8 bucks.
