Random Movie Review - Hulk (2003 film)

Now in all honesty, I never saw this film when it first came out and having now seen it, I'm glad I made that decision. Comparing this to the 2008 film, this one is just more about having various situations fall into place, that involve Hulk in some sense. But the question that I have to answer today is, is the film any good? Let's find out:

Towards the end of the 1960s (a time where some of our parents may have been born in), a scientist called David Banner (the mentally unstable father of Bruce Banner and is played by Nick Nolte) attempts to conduct some research into genetics and is attempting to mutate the DNA of soldiers to help boost their immune system to allow them to heal quicker than usual in battle. However, he is denied of doing this and so he experiments on himself. Time passes and he realises that his son now has his mutant DNA and tries to find a cure, but when a military force, led by Thunderbolt Ross (played by Sam Elliot) shuts down his research, he goes into a fit of rage, triggering a massive gamma explosion, which kills his wife. David is then taken to a mental hospital, while his son is adopted, under the impression that both his parents are dead. Years later in 2003, Bruce Banner (played by Eric Bana) is now a scientist at the University of California where the military have an interest in his research and send Major Talbot (played by Josh Lucas) to go and investigate. Unbeknownst to Bruce, his father (who he believes is dead) is given a janitor job at his lab, where he can keep an eye on him. Bruce's assistant Betty Ross (played by Jennifer Connelly) goes to see her father, but is disgusted by the fact that he wants to talk to her about business, rather than to reconcile their relationship. In a lab accident, one thing leads to another and Bruce becomes the Hulk (which is finally good because by this point, nearly everyone, would have lost interest in the film) and for the rest of the film, he must attempt to control the beast within him, while on the run from the military.

Overall, as with all fans of the green monster, I didn't like this film. Its OK with all the character development and so forth, but its a Hulk film and you hardly see the green monster until the 2nd half where he's given sufficient screen time, compared to his brief appearance in the first half. Also the CGI isn't that great as the Hulk in this film, kinda reminds you of Shrek in a way. If you want to make a film based on a comic book character, let the character have a lot of screen time, than no screen time at all and try to make his look to stay true to the comic books. The fans will then love it and all would be forgiven. 7/10