Comic Related - Hulk Smash!

LIFE IN FOUR COLORS SPECIAL EDITION
By Bill Gladman

HULK SMASH!!!!

Just got back in from watching one very INCREDIBLE movie. The new Hulk movie was awesome. I was worried that it may not live up to the standards set by the recent Iron Man film…..but …WOW!

Somebody had a very good idea…..let’s base the Hulk films more on the T.V series. Everybody loved the T.V series, right. I know I did. And they followed that up with cameo appearances from both of the actors that made that series famous. Lou Foringno and Bill Bixby. That’s right Bixby is in this movie…watch for him.

Actually Bixby is in the film a lot as Edward Norton does a fabulous job tapping the spirit of Bill Bixby in this film. The chemistry between Norton’s Bruce Banner and Liv Tyler’s Betty Ross was right on. As was the casting of the entire film. That makes two that Marvel’s gotten right now.

When I heard about this “requel” going into production I was a little bummed to here that they got rid of Sam Elliot as General “Thunderbolt” Ross. He was my favorite part of the first film. But I’ve got to hand it to William Hurt (who I mistakenly referred to as John Hurt in another Life In Four Colors column…sorry about that William….don’t Hurt me…I can’t believe I went there.)…..anyway WILLIAM Hurt kicked much butt as the General and once again the chemistry between the General and his daughter, Betty. Perfect.

I don’t think anybody could have done that character better.

The new Marvel “Bronze Age” of films are no doubt made for die hard comic geeks, like myself….and c’mon…you too….wear that comic geek Banner proud. The movie was full of off the cuff comic book references that probably whizzed over more than half on the seated audience but kept bouncing off my chest like rounds of 50 caliber machine gun fire. References to other characters tied to Hulk history like Sam McGee, Leonard Samson, Samuel Stern, Jim Wilson, Nick Fury, the code name Mr. Blue, Stark Industries supplied weapons and files as well as memos from S.H.E.I.L.D. and a really quick reference to something that happened in Incredible Hulk #181…..not once but twice. Even a reference to the year the Hulk was created. And of course…the Stan Lee cameo. But if you knew nothing about any of those references…no big deal. Didn’t take away from your viewing pleasure in the least…..just enhanced others. Kinda like when a Star Wars fan gets all over excited because he knows the exact name and model of every space cruiser in a scene of knows who first forged Bobba Fett’s armor.

It’s a geek thing…you wouldn’t understand.

There were scenes in this movie that brought a tear to this old comic junkie’s eyes they were done so well. And a funny thing about it…I noticed that both my daughter and I were on the edge of our seats every time General Ross whipped out the next big weapon…worried about the Hulk. What were we thinking?

And of course the fight with the Abomination. The best comic book movie fight scene …period.

I don’t know if the general public will like the film as much as I did…or even as much as Iron Man….. but I hope so. I’d give the film four and a half pairs of purple pants out of five. You can feel the excitement building as each movie adds an extra layer to the film that came before. Robert Downing Jr’s cameo at the end of the film and his….particular way of choosing his words about a certain “super solider” formula and the word “ice” only adds to that building crescendo.

There were only two things I can think of that could have made this movie better (I mean besides having Bill Bixby and Jack Kirby sitting beside us enjoying the film along with Raichal and I)…..during the last scene of the film General Ross asked Stark a question that Tony leaves unanswered. Man it would have been SWEET if Samuel L. Jackson (as Nick Fury) answered it. Even if he spoke the answer off camera. Everybody knows the dude’s voice by now.

Secondly….I wished they had a cameo by the great Peter David…..as a milk man…anything. Peter would have done and we would have loved it.

And one final geek thing I loved…pulling into the theatre parking lot and seeing not one but two Marvel Heroes names on the marquee. It’s been a long time coming.

The Incredible Hulk….now playing at a theatre near you. Go see it. If you don’t….I’ll get very angry…and you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.

See you in the funny papers.