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The Incredible Hulk

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sonic polycounter lvl 18
It was ok. I absolutely insanely fucking hated many things, but the action was pretty cool and Norton did a good job. Liv Tyler has no emotion. I don't think she could fake happiness if someone was holding a gun to her head. I'm a Hulk fanboy (it's the only thing I'm a fanboy about), so just go in expecting it to be Spiderman 3 and not Iron Man level of quality and you won't be disappointed.
I fucking hated how they not only changed how he became the Hulk, but they didn't even explain it. My girlfriend was so confused and it felt like I jumped into something too quickly. Also, I hated how they downplayed the Hulk's power and anger so much. When he did the Hulk Smash thing I was expecting him to take out an entire fucking city block, but the building just cracked. And what kind of fucking chain can withstand the fucking Hulk pulling it on as hard as he can and the Abomination wailing on it? At the beginning he easily destroyed tanks and shit, but at the end he had trouble getting up after what seemed to be a moderate hit. Also, why does Liv Tyler never fucking smile or act happy? She did a horrible job.

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  • Rick Stirling
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    Rick Stirling polycounter lvl 18
    Was Incredible. Better than Iron Man.
  • headengine
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    headengine polycounter lvl 18
    I really really enjoyed it, much more than I thought I would have - my missus wasn't keen but afterwards she said it was 'great'!
  • ebagg
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    ebagg polycounter lvl 17
    It was fun, some good action, but the story was weak and the acting besides Ed Norton was weak. Again another hint towards the Avenger movie, that has me excited.
  • Asherr
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    Asherr polycounter lvl 18
    i'm torn between seeing the Hulk or The Happening tomorrow.
  • Rick Stirling
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    Rick Stirling polycounter lvl 18
    Asherr - you're either joking, or you've not seen a single review of The Happening .
  • Asherr
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    Asherr polycounter lvl 18
    nope, haven't seen them. whichever one i see this weekend i will probably see the other next weekend.
  • Rick Stirling
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    Rick Stirling polycounter lvl 18
    Pundits have already declared "The Happening" as worst film of 2008, with 6 months to go.
  • Armanguy
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    Armanguy polycounter lvl 17
    I hear tony stark makes an appearance is this true? or is it just a rumor?
  • Snowfly
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    Snowfly polycounter lvl 18
    For a straight up action movie it wasn't bad, but I liked the action sequences in Iron Man better. Looked good though, and I thought the villain was cool.
  • Neo_God
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    Neo_God polycounter lvl 18
    Armanguy wrote: »
    I hear tony stark makes an appearance is this true? or is it just a rumor?

    Yeah, he does, and I have yet to even see it, but they're already throwing Stark into some of the commercials.

    I plan on seeing this one sometime soon.
  • The Mad Artist
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    The Mad Artist polycounter lvl 13
    I thought it was great, but it's a shame so much got cut out, including this...

    Scene that got cut

    At least it'll be on the dvd.
  • pliang
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    pliang polycounter lvl 17
    Norton never fails to impress me....
  • sonic
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    sonic polycounter lvl 18
    Armanguy wrote: »
    I hear tony stark makes an appearance is this true? or is it just a rumor?

    Yeah, and it's awesome.

    Well it looks like everyone else confirmed it. I'm just a Hulk fanboy and I'd probably be disappointed with anything short of perfect. I hate being that way about it, too.

    Speaking of scenes that got cut, in the previews he was talking to the therapist about his anger. That wasn't in the movie. I wonder if it was created just for the previews?
  • The Mad Artist
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    The Mad Artist polycounter lvl 13
    sonic wrote: »
    Yeah, and it's awesome.

    Well it looks like everyone else confirmed it. I'm just a Hulk fanboy and I'd probably be disappointed with anything short of perfect. I hate being that way about it, too.

    Speaking of scenes that got cut, in the previews he was talking to the therapist about his anger. That wasn't in the movie. I wonder if it was created just for the previews?

    70 minutes got cut out.
  • dale22x
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    dale22x polycounter lvl 10
    70 minutes.....thats a shit load of monies
  • Ryno
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    Ryno polycounter lvl 18
    Was it actually better than the Hulk movie that came out like 2 years ago? Why the hell did they do it twice anyway?
  • sonic
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    sonic polycounter lvl 18
    Ryno wrote: »
    Was it actually better than the Hulk movie that came out like 2 years ago? Why the hell did they do it twice anyway?

    Yes, it was a lot better. Having said that though, I felt that the other one did a better job of displaying the Hulk's power. In this one he seems pretty weak and he moves kind of slow and in the other one at the end he was running through the Grand Canyon fighting badass helicopters.
  • Armanguy
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    Armanguy polycounter lvl 17
    Just watched it, awesome movie action scenes were dope, this movie was 100 times better than the last one, im glad i watched it cant wait for the sequel :D

    edit: tony stark is the shit!
  • TomDunne
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    TomDunne polycounter lvl 18
    Ryno wrote: »
    Why the hell did they do it twice anyway?

    They're setting it all up for the Avengers/Ultimates movie! Iron Man and Hulk this year, Thor in 2010 and Captain America in 2011, so they can pull all of the big name actors (Downey, Norton, whoever else is cast) into the big Avengers pic at the end. If you've ever read the Ultimates storyline, it seems like Marvel is really setting it up like that, which is super awesome.
  • Armanguy
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    Armanguy polycounter lvl 17
    I just watched the happening and i suggest noone else waster there time or money >:(
  • stimpack
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    stimpack polycounter lvl 10
    i came outa that movie with such a boner for the hulk! that movie was spot on. Im glade they didnt get crazy stupid with the action like the last one. It was down to earth, and felt like it "could" happen. Tho i dont understand why so many damn people have a state of the art lab in there guest bedroom...... ps. was that guy brainiac? Im not a comic person, so i have no idea character storylines ect ect, was just curious.

    ps. this blew ironman away. I dont even remember ironman having action haha, it was kewl to watch him fly around, but that was about it.... oh and he helped 1 town, woopty do.
  • Wells
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    Wells polycounter lvl 18
    Definitively not as good as Iron Man, but still a good movie. The end of 'round two' was awesome.

    I'm glad they didn't completely negate the other Hulk movie, but just sort of picked up where that one left off...
  • hyrumark
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    hyrumark polycounter lvl 12
    So does the Hulk look any better in the movie than the trailers? I don't know if I could get past the bad CG. I still think he looks like he's made of shiny plastic. No sense of musculature at all...at least in the trailers.
  • EarthQuake
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    Aside from norton, the writing and acting was just completely horrible throughout, more of a renter than something you should pay full price to see in the theater imo.
  • gauss
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    gauss polycounter lvl 18
    Ang Lee's Hulk wasn't perfect, but was far better cast and thought out. He put a lot of intelligence into a "just a comic book movie"-- pushing against exactly the kind of thinking that continues to keep comics as a form in their marginal ghetto--whereas the only way I can describe the new Hulk movie is perfunctory at best. Exactly average.
    Zero chemistry between Norton and Tyler, Hurt on automatic, coasting over a script only slightly shored up around must-have fanboy bullet points.


    There's a direct comparison you can make which I believe sums up a lot of the differences between the two Hulk movies--the bit where he fights a combat helicopter.
    In Lee's Hulk, Hulk is menaced by Comanche helicopters and he takes them out against the scenic backdrop of the grand canyon, a full display of even fanboy-approved Hulk power. In the new film, Hulk takes out a single Apache on a college campus by throwing some metal at it, which then crashes onto Hulk who shields Betty from the explosion.
    To me the choice of and interaction with the helicopters says it all. The Comanche is a beautiful helicopter, a would-be up and coming design that never made it. An ambitious program that was mothballed because the Apache was doing the job well enough... It does the job, but you've seen it before.

    The new Hulk works better as a part of Marvel's aggressive movie strategy and, given the nature of fanboys, it's probably for the best anyway. Give them no sort of interesting characters or believable motivation so long as Stan Lee makes a cameo and a joke about purple tights is made, they're all happy. A few expected one liners.
    Like that execrable X-Men 3--fanboys are happy just to have a few scraps thrown in their direction, when the very least they should expect is the characters to be drawn faithfully, not as a best case scenario surrounded in a sea of mediocrity.

    Maybe I just admire what Ang Lee was trying to do with his Hulk movie because he had the balls to say that even a movie about a big green monster punching things really hard could have interesting characters and thematic resonance without neglecting the punching.
    That's what Nolan's done with his superlative reboot of the Batman franchise, but it looks like Marvel no longer seems interested in that kind of treatment of their properties. Just hire a second rate Besson acolyte and reboot.
  • flaagan
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    flaagan polycounter lvl 18
    Ang Lee's Hulk had a few amusing bits but was otherwise forgettable, this Hulk effing rocked.

    ... and it's funny that you should mention the new batman, gauss, cause I've tried watching that garbage a few times and cannot stand how utterly bad it is.
  • Asherr
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    Asherr polycounter lvl 18
    saw it this afternoon. thought it was very good, not Ironman good but good. maybe a bit heavy handed with the Captain America setup though.

    and aha! i thought they were setting up The Leader as a sequel villian.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leader_%28comics%29#Film
  • [Deleted User]
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    [Deleted User] polycounter lvl 18
    I thought it was vastly better than the previous Hulk movie. I don't really remember how the acting was in that one, but the action scenes were all pretty bad. The climactic battle scene of that one was between Hulk and a vaguely person-shaped collection of intangible CG effects. The other major action scenes mostly took place in the middle of the desert, away from anything for the Hulk to really interact with or compare to visually to exemplify his relative strength.

    In the new one, the action scenes were much cooler. He fought tangible things like
    gunfire and helicopters
    , and even with the
    sonic cannons
    , it was clear what was going on and how he was affected. Using the
    large pieces of metal as shields and weapons made his struggle even more quantifiable, by giving him something physical to interact with during that sequence
    . And even during the fight with
    Abomination
    , it was clear what was going on at every point. And the environments all had plenty of stuff for him to smash and throw around. And you could see the
    slight change in size and musculature as he raged to various extents (it was pretty subtle, but there was a definite difference between his size in the earlier scene with Betty and right after the big fight. His fingertip was almost the size of her head in the latter.
    So even if he may have been slightly less powerful than in the other movie, I think his strength was demonstrated more effectively in this one. And the whole idea of him
    ripping a police car in half and punching Abomination with it
    is awesome.

    I think they did some nice things with him as a character too. The climactic battle sort of
    doubled as a development in his fight with himself, as he started to show signs of having gained more control over himself mentally as the Hulk so he could use his power more effectively. To me, that was the more important thing about when he
    said "Hulk Smash!" because it marked the first time he chose to speak in Hulk form
    .
  • flaagan
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    flaagan polycounter lvl 18
    fly.. whole audience cheered when that last *spoiler* you mentioned happened.

    Ash.. aha! I was wonder wtf they were letting onto with that scene, thanks for clearing that up!
  • adam
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    adam polycounter lvl 19
    Wait, flaagan, you did NOT like Batman Begins???
  • Tumerboy
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    Tumerboy polycounter lvl 17
    I didn't read the thread, because I still haven't seen it. . . partly.

    I went to see it yesterday, and it got to the scene with
    Emil Blonsky in the hospital, after his miraculous recovery
    when the film crapped out.

    Now, normally, you wait 5 minutes, while they fix it, and keep going, which is shitty enough. But for us, we waited 5 minutes, and they came over the PA and said, "Well, it's busted, go home." They refuned our money, but it's amazing how frustrating it is to have only seen HALF a movie. . .
  • sonic
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    sonic polycounter lvl 18
    gauss: I can appreciate what Ang Lee was TRYING to do, but he failed miserably. It was more of a soap opera with the Hulk in it to me than it was a well developed movie. I think Iron Man is a perfect example of a drama combined with badass action.


    Can't we all just agree that Liv Tyler sucks ass? If she would have been replaced by someone with some kind of emotion, the movie would have been MUCH better for me.
  • gauss
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    gauss polycounter lvl 18
    sonic: he failed for the fanboys, maybe--not to downplay that, since failing in the eyes of those that love the character most is a failure indeed--but as a film (not spectacle) it's far, far better. the new hulk was entirely rote. i'm surprised even the fight scenes are getting so much praise here.

    oh and i think liv tyler is basically fine as an actress but she had very little to work with here, either with the script or direction. perhaps most importantly, while edward norton is pretty great in most anything, they really just had no chemistry together, which is critical.


    flaagan wrote: »
    Ang Lee's Hulk had a few amusing bits but was otherwise forgettable, this Hulk effing rocked.

    ... and it's funny that you should mention the new batman, gauss, cause I've tried watching that garbage a few times and cannot stand how utterly bad it is.

    ahahaha... cheers, man. some statements provide the best arguments against their own credibility :D
  • TomDunne
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    TomDunne polycounter lvl 18
    sonic wrote: »
    gauss: I can appreciate what Ang Lee was TRYING to do, but he failed miserably. It was more of a soap opera with the Hulk in it to me than it was a well developed movie. I think Iron Man is a perfect example of a drama combined with badass action.

    QFT. I think Lee's movie had its heart in the right place, trying to take the comic genre somewhere new, but the story just didn't work. I don't want to watch the Hulk having parental issues with dear ol' dad; good effort, but it didn't work for me.

    This rendition of the Hulk did mostly work for me, because the 'chase' aspect of the character's history is what has always been most appealing. The first third of TIH was my favorite, with Banner hiding in Brazil. Unfortunately, that highlights the one real problem with the Hulk - Banner is interesting, but the Hulk is not (fun to watch, but "Hulk smash!" isn't exactly good drama.)

    The reason Iron Man was so successful (along with, say, Batman Begins or Spidey 1) is that the character you pull for is always there. I can get excited about watching Batman swooping over rooftops or Iron Man fleeing from fighter jets, because I'm rooting for Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark. With the Hulk... you just feel pity for Banner, if that. He doesn't even remember what happens, and it really makes tying the action sequences and the drama kind of hard. He's not a badass, he's a victim. The scene with Hulk and Betty in the cave really made me roll my eyes - kinder, gentler Hulk just doesn't feel right.
    Can't we all just agree that Liv Tyler sucks ass? If she would have been replaced by someone with some kind of emotion, the movie would have been MUCH better for me.

    Eh. She's okay, but I don't think the Betty Ross role has much meat to it anyway. Gwyneth Paltrow nailed her Pepper Potts performance, but I don't know that she could have made Hulk much better. I had a bigger problem with Tim Roth as a 39-year old SAS/Marine. Good actor, but I'm not quite buying him as a stone cold killer, you know?
  • gauss
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    gauss polycounter lvl 18
    personally I'd be up for Iron Man: Tony Stark Gets Drunk and Insults Hos for Like Three Hours.

    zero special effects budget, but still wildly entertaining.
  • blankslatejoe
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    blankslatejoe polycounter lvl 18
    fly_soup wrote: »
    said "Hulk Smash!" because it marked the first time he chose to speak in Hulk form
    .
    I thought he said 'leave me alone', in the first fight/ hulk appearance. It struck me as odd, since it wasn't a hulk-smash line.
  • Peris
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    Peris polycounter lvl 17
    I just got back from it. What a forgettable movie. Norton's acting is great and he puts down a great character, but it doesnt save the movie. The CGI was hit and miss, and the action very boring and uncreative.
  • Mark Dygert
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    I don't think she could fake happiness if someone was holding a gun to her head.
    Now THAT would be acting!
  • Josh_Singh
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    Josh_Singh polycounter lvl 18
    vermilion wrote: »
    The reason Iron Man was so successful (along with, say, Batman Begins or Spidey 1) is that the character you pull for is always there. I can get excited about watching Batman swooping over rooftops or Iron Man fleeing from fighter jets, because I'm rooting for Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark. With the Hulk... you just feel pity for Banner, if that. He doesn't even remember what happens, and it really makes tying the action sequences and the drama kind of hard. He's not a badass, he's a victim.


    I know what you mean. There is a reason the hulk theme from the show is one of the saddest pieces of music I have ever heard. The evoloution of hulk stories has always facinated me. On the surface, it's Dr.Jekyl Mr. Hyde, but some of the writers of late have made it much more. I always thought of Dr. Banner as having a disease. He is a victim, he will never live a normal life. But also in the ultimates, Hulk is more heroic than banner is, and they seem to hate one another. There was a good line in "Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk" where Banner goes to the himalayan mountains to seek wisdom from buddist monks. He finally finds the Dali Lama or whatever, and the wiseman asks banner "Do you turn into hulk, or does the hulk turn into you".
    Those are the fun stories, where they realize they are one in the same, and it's okay to be two sides of the same coin. So in the next panel of that comic, Logan walks into the Holy buddist temple, (Because he's been tracking Banner) and there is the Hulk, living the good life with like 12 naked women crawling all over him, hahahah Priceless.
    Anyhoo, haven't seen the movie yet. But if it pleases the fan boys it's a success imo.
  • Tumerboy
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    Tumerboy polycounter lvl 17
    Another thing that breaks the drama and action apart, and makes me lose interest in "the hulk" is the fact that the CG hulk, looks NOTHING like Norton. I mean. . . I understand he undergoes a drastic change and all, but if you want me to believe it's the same guy, you need to make it look like the same guy.
  • BoBo_the_seal
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    BoBo_the_seal polycounter lvl 18
    Tumerboy wrote: »
    Another thing that breaks the drama and action apart, and makes me lose interest in "the hulk" is the fact that the CG hulk, looks NOTHING like Norton. I mean. . . I understand he undergoes a drastic change and all, but if you want me to believe it's the same guy, you need to make it look like the same guy.

    NOOOO!!!! Heh I think that is what I didn't like about the last Hulk. There is no need in making him look too much like banner. If anything I'd like to see him even further away from his human counterpart.

    I loved this Hulk! The Hulk looked a lot better on the big screen than he looked in the promos. This movie worked really well for me. Banner was nicely developed with Norton in that role and the action was always delivered when the Hulk showed up. The fight scenes were a lot better than the Ang movie.

    I saw both this and the Happening this weekend. Happening was pure garbage. The Hulk completely redeemed this weekend's movie watching.

    - BoBo
  • IronHawk
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    IronHawk polycounter lvl 10
    yeah I really enjoyed it. Norton did a fantastic job and I'm looking forward to see where they take this. Tyler can only play an emotionless elf thats the only part i've seen her do somewhat well.
    Did anyone else notice the security guard was lou ferigno. LOL. Loved that part.
  • Justin Meisse
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    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 18
    I liked it but at times it became a little too campy
    especially Samuel Sterns
  • sonic
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    sonic polycounter lvl 18
    IronHawk: he was the security guard in the Ang Lee Hulk movie too... nice cameo :p
  • ScoobyDoofus
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    ScoobyDoofus polycounter lvl 19
    I saw it the other day. It was pretty good, but not nearly as good as Iron Man. I enjoyed it but I'm with Gauss. I prefer the more meditative approach to the character. The Hulk/Banner is a tragic char. He's like a werewolf. You SHOULD feel pity for him, its not his fault. His is a sad story. Not just "skinny guy turns into monster...buildings get smashed, fights army" If you want that, go play Rampage.

    Besides which, I think Liv Tyler is about 6 steps down from Jennifer Connelly, not only as an actress but also in terms of looks/attractiveness.

    Also...as much as I LOVE William Hurt, he was on Auto Pilot for this role. Decently cast, but poorly performed. Sam Elliot was pitch perfect in the 1st one IMO.

    I'm an unabashed Norton fan. Love his work, and he was great here, but I would have preferred a more straight forward sequel. I realize...different studio, IP rights, etc blah blah prevented that from being really possible.

    My major issue with Ang Lee's Hulk was the unnecessary combination of his father, The Absorbing Man, and Zzzax (3 Hulk antagonists). It was reasonably clever shoehorning, but made for a poor climax.

    I know some people found Ang Lee's Comic Book editing theme jarring or annoying in the first film but I LOVED it. He took a chance and did something very different which you dont see often, if ever in a major studio film. Bravo.

    All that said, I would still recommend this movie in theaters to any Hulk fans. Worth at least a matinee admission price.
  • TWilson
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    TWilson polycounter lvl 18
    I can't wait to watch this film. I heard they yanked some of the fight moves that we put in the game. Like the iron fists made out of car. I think its in the trailer?

    congrats to the animation team at radical if its true!
  • Cheez
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    Yeah he "gloves up" with a cop car. Pretty rad.
    I appreciated what Lee was trying to do with his Hulk film. He added some really interesting shades to the character (the psychology of The Door from Banner's childhood, the tethers between the fathers and children), sported some really well directed action set pieces. But ultimately its a beautiful failure due IMHO to really poor pacing, utter and total lack of humor, and a gonzo ending.
    What I'll give this Hulk is that it sticks to a very basic B movie formula, keeps the story and action moving at a nice clip and inserts humor as needed. My only major complaint was that, as with Iron Man, the "boss" fight at the end felt totally forced, like they ran out of story and said, "Fuck it, make with the fighting"
    Not as good as Iron Man or Batman Begins, but a fine entertainment.
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