comment #1

Gaydos says ...

HELP ME, GENRE

To clarify, you don't hate genre films, just comic book genre films?

I can think of many comic book genres films that I don't hate, not sure of any I love (but I'm not thinking that hard, it's Monday and I'm working).

But if the comic book genre is your least favorite genre, as it appears, what's your favorite genre?

comment #2

Jeremy Smith says ...

I dunno, Jeff. Sounds like a conventionally satisfying superhero flick. No intellectual heavy-lifting required. Were you expecting something more?

comment #3

berkguru says ...

Hope it kicks ass! My Marvel stock has gone up $12 in the last few months.

comment #4

Rothchild says ...

It was well received last night.

comment #5

Griff says ...

The trailer put me off. Either somebody made a conscious decision to make the Hulk look like a CGI creation pasted onto film of the real world, or their budget was in the toilet. That being said, I have another thought about the Hulk, artistically. Did they really mean to make him look like a Zombie (see the dead eyes), just one as wide as a Mack truck?

comment #6

Balthazar says ...

From the trailer, this looks like more of an homage to the 1970s series, including generous use of The Lonely Man theme. That definitely piques my interest.

comment #7

gruver1 says ...

Wells to Gaydos: I'm partial to the shrinking genre known as "really well made" movies. If you insist on a broadly recognized genre, I would say I'm partial to screwball comedies, British WW II Movies, '70s crime movies (The Outfit, etc.), Joel Silver crime movies from the'80s and early '90s. But there isn't a single genre that hasn't been degraded or polluted by lack of talent and ineptitude. I've always found all graphic-novel movies to be simplistic, more concerned with the look than the logic or the character-driven aspects, using the same old themes over and over, etc. The exceptions: Batman Returns, the X-Men movies, etc.

comment #8

The Bandsaw Vigilante says ...

Eh...as far as I'm concerned, it's just a matter of gritting my teeth, bearing down, and getting past this one until July 18 finally rolls around.

No big thing.

comment #9

MASON says ...

It's surprisingly good. A lot of folks last night were saying it's better than Iron Man. Marvel is two for two this summer.

comment #10

Arran says ...

Kevin Smith and Harry Knowles liked it...they're non-biased, right? RIGHT?

comment #11

thorsen1nk says ...

I'll be interested to see if this gets critical raves, given the shitfit Norton threw because he didn't get a say in the final cut. So if this version is good, what does that make his version.

It's also interesting this is tracking so well given the fact Norton's done ZERO publicity for this thing and Iron Man came out so recently it's still in the top 10.

comment #12

Roman says ...

Tapley is not to be trusted. After all he liked trash like Batman Begins and puke like Iron Man.

comment #13

romeoisbleeding says ...

I like the fact that Marvel is 2 for 2 this summer. I wish I had bought stock too. One thing though. while you can say both The Hulk and Iron Man are Super Hero movies they are very different and I don't think they can really be compared. Both excellent movies but with very different tones and vision.

comment #14

romeoisbleeding says ...

I like the fact that Marvel is 2 for 2 this summer. I wish I had bought stock too. One thing though. while you can say both The Hulk and Iron Man are Super Hero movies they are very different and I don't think they can really be compared. Both excellent movies but with very different tones and vision.

comment #15

Rich S. says ...

It looks like for this film they actually improved it by dumbing it down and having the Hulk break stuff. Get rid of the psychobabble and have Hulk Smash. I especially like the scene in the short preview they released where he rips the car in half and bashes the Abomination with it. Fingers are crossed.

comment #16

berkguru says ...

70s movies do kick ass

try watching Kramer vs. Kramer and not tearing up at least 3 times - impossible

comment #17

Josh Massey says ...

Discussing '70s movies, you highlight Kramer vs. Kramer? Really?

(Sorry, I just saw it for the first time last month, and became incensed that it beat All That Jazz. It was a TV movie with better actors).

comment #18

quitstaringatme says ...

I hate to be "that guy", but Wells, you seem to dislike the superhero genre, not "comic book" genre. Keep in mind, A History of Violence, Road to Perdition, and Ghost World were all based on comics as well.

comment #19

berkguru says ...

show me a better movie about being a parent

comment #20

berkguru says ...

can easily pick 30 off this list but Cuckoos nest is #1:

http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/movie-pages/movie_70s.html

comment #21

BurmaShave says ...

Not to mention BEING THERE and APOCALYPSE NOW.

comment #22

btwnproductions says ...

It's...OK. The fanboys squealed with delight at some of it at tonight's Manhattan screening at Sony Lincoln Square but I'd say overall reaction was mild-to-middling. The Hulk talks ("Smash!" "Leave me alone!") and fights the equally verbose Abomination ("Is that all you got?") in Harlem, but the CGI is underwhelming and the action choreography and editing typicallly incoherent for the superhero genre. The chemistry between Edward Norton and Liv Tyler is zilch.

I'd say biz will be even or less with Ang Lee's picture. It doesn't have IRON MAN's zip or little flourishes. Note that Downey, Jr. shows up at the very end of the picture (not a well-kept secret, this) and you can safely bail at the first sight of the closing credits.

comment #23

Dan Revill says ...

Wells - Batman Returns or Begins?!

comment #24

Private Ryan says ...

Saw HULK tonight at Toronto's premiere screening at the new AMC complex (appropriately located mere feet from where the climatic fight scene was shot!). Anyway, in this case Tapley is right on the money. The film rocks hard, delivers intense action in spades, and features a very affecting Norton performance. After the chemistry between Paltrow and Downey Jr., I have to say Tyler and Norton aren't far behind. Fantastic stuff. And the crowd full of geeks was totally into and went into a frenzy for the last scene of the film and its audience-pleasing cameo. Wells, we've met at TIFF a couple times. Saw you in the audience for Starter For Ten at the Ryerson, etc., and I'm a carry-over from Mr. Showbiz. And for what it's worth, I'm far from a fanboy!

comment #25

btwnproductions says ...

One good thing about THE INCREDIBLE HULK: 104 minutes long.

comment #26

btwnproductions says ...

Indeed, it does look a lot like Harlem, Toronto, and not Harlem, NYC...

comment #27

Richardson says ...

Did Wells really say that the only way he would believe he would like the movie is if he read his own review and it was positive?

comment #28

D.Z. says ...

But more importantly, is Hulk better than Transformers?

comment #29

D.Z. says ...

So I guess I got it mixed up, and it's gonna be the the Mummy 3 which bombs for Universal.

comment #30

MovieBob says ...

"Comic book" isnt' a genre, it's a designation of source material. If Hulk belongs to a genre, it'd be "action" or "monster movies" specifically.

comment #31

bb says ...

'Did Wells really say that the only way he would believe he would like the movie is if he read his own review and it was positive?'

Ummm, yeah kind of. He did leave room for somebody else that hates the entire genre.

comment #32

The Playlist says ...

I guess I would have to call myself a genre hater, but the Hulk was pretty damn impressive. I wouldn't have thunk it at all. I'm all for smart, well-crafted films regardless of genre (but I do have my biases, like everyone else), so one has to admire what the Hulk delivers and what it aims for.

comment #33

Spacesheik says ...

Harry Knowles is full of it. He loved GODZILLA, ARMAGEDDON and now INDIANA JONES 4 (he was ecstatic about it). Never trust a Harry review. He loves practically everything - well maybe with the exception of Rene Harlin's EXORCIST THE BEGINNING.

I do trust the reviews coming into AICN though - they were spot on abotu INDY 4 and they seem spot on about HULK (mostly raves)

comment #34

Rich S. says ...

Harry Knowles said in his review of Attack of the Clones that he loved it "desperately." Case closed.

comment #35

Kristopher Tapley says ...

Well I'm not COMPLETELY in the tank. I don't think anyone could find room to love "The Punisher" (either version) or "Fantastic Four," while "Superman Returns" (which I recall you liking quite a bit if I'm not mistaken) fades considerably the further I spin away.

Regardless of that, I'm not sure a personal love of comics and graphic novels should leave one's opinion suspect because it is positive. If anything I should say it'd be the reverse. Comic fans are the biggest skeptics in the world when it comes to Hollywood tooling around with their babies, and I frankly expected "Hulk" to be a giant miss.

At the end of the day, I kind of think you're going to have a soft spot for it. But I certainly wouldn't die of shock if I'm wrong.

comment #36

Edward says ...

If the CGI in the finished film is better than it looks in the trailer, then maybe, it might be decent.

comment #37

Gaydos says ...

Gaydos back to Wells: Good man. I'm not with you on those Joel Silver things, but otherwise we are brothers in genres.

Assume you've seen "Five Fingers" by Carole Reed, which is one of the great suspensers.

On the subject, I did an AFM panel a while back with several filmmakers including Ridley Scott and when I observed that the major change in Hollywood was that there used to be a place for SMART genre films but what had replaced them was STUPID genre films, I had a row of filmmakers nodding in agreement, most enthusiastic of all was Ridley. He tries damn hard to keep the smart genre film tradition alive, which may be why I like "American Gangster" so much and loved "Black Hawk Down." I can't imagine him doing a dumb comic book movie. Knock on wood.

Have you read the Peckinpah interviews book that just came out? Sweet.

comment #38

adaml says ...

I'd personally love to see comic book movies banned for a year and see if the summer slate is any better because of it. I am a total hater - in fact I think the only one I liked was the first X-Men.

comment #39

Richardson says ...

"'Did Wells really say that the only way he would believe he would like the movie is if he read his own review and it was positive?'

"Ummm, yeah kind of. He did leave room for somebody else that hates the entire genre."

True, he did, but then he followed that up by saying that no critic other than him has the balls to not like comic book movies.

comment #40

Kristopher Tapley says ...

"in fact I think the only one I liked was the first X-Men."

Yep, I'd say that makes you a hater.

comment #41

D.Z. says ...

Kristopher: The Thomas Jane Punisher was fine. It's just that there was bias in favor of non-action movies featuring frumpy middle-aged women who read from encyclopedias.

comment #42

Edward says ...

The Thomas Jane Punisher was anything but fine. Stupid comes immediately to mind.

comment #43

Richardson says ...

I thought that the first half hour or forty minutes or so, the "origin" sequence, felt exactly like a 'Punisher' movie should feel. At the end of that, I completely bought that this guy was motivated to become a sociopathic vigilante. (which is not to say it's not "stupid"; I think that's inherent to the character.)

But then it got bogged down in trying to be too jokey, and the tonal shift didn't work at all. Travolta didn't help matters, either. I like the Garth Ennis stuff, but they should've either made the whole movie that or saved it for the sequel; the half-and-half didn't help the movie at all.

comment #44

Richardson says ...

Edward - you shouldn't bother responding to DZ when he makes posts where the sole purpose is to criticize Quentin Tarantino movies. (Which accounts for something like 75% of his posts.)

comment #45

btwnproductions says ...

5 FINGERS is Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Good movie, but not Carol Reed's.

comment #46

Gaydos says ...

btwnproductions: THANK YOU! I got my heroes mixed up.

comment #47

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