busting the blockbuster

It took a few days, but I got around to seeing two of this summer's big movies.



First, Incredible Hulk. Some of you may have heard that star Edward Norton had a deal with the studio that he would be involved in the development of the character,etc. He did an uncredited vamp up of the script, which is not an uncommon practice. Script doctors have been around for years. I'm not super familiar with the story line running through the comic, but I did watch the tv show so I had some idea of the basics. This knowledge was probably a good thing seeing as how the "origin" story gets told through a dialogue free montage during the opening credits. ??? Okay. It's a bit confusing even if you know what's going on.



Overall I'd say Hulk was an okay movie. I enjoyed Edward Norton and you get the sense that he was trying to bring depth to the character. I think this idea would have been better served to tell a true origin story rather than jump from the montage straight into the gist of things. It's hard to bond with Norton because we haven't been given much emotional ground to work with. Liv Tyler is her usual just sort of hanging out school of acting. I don't dislike her so much as I find her acting rather dull. She did have decent chemistry with Norton and their scenes together usually pulled out some sort of personality. The most interesting and lively actor on board was Tim Roth who pretty much knocks out everything tossed at him.



The effects all look really good. Using face capture technology to give us Norton's and Roth's faces on their appropriate big guys works well and helps keep some of the "reality" in the fight moments. Having said that, the big battle at the end was boring for me. It's dull after awhile to watch to CGI creations fight...or at least that's the case when it isn't an entirely CGI movie. I'm sure much of my disappointment comes from not being a big Hulk fan. If you're looking for a decent flick to pass a summer afternoon, I think you are pretty safe checking out this one.



Next up, The Happening. If you want to be "surprised," don't read the review, although there isn't much to give away.

I think M. Night needs to start directing someone else's material for a change. His last few movies have been disappointing, not for lack of visual flair, etc., but because the stories have fallen short. I was really excited by the trailer for The Happening. When I found out it was going to be an R rated flick, it made me even more curious.

Too bad it's a really boring movie.

The film starts out with a lot of promise. The opening is really creepy, but then we go to Marky Mark's science class. Like Liv Tyler, I don't hate Mark; I just don't think he's that great an actor. Sometimes good performances get pulled out of him, but mostly I think he's just sort of bland. In The Happening, his performance is not helped by some schlocky dialogue.

Zooey Deschenel (sp?), who I've enjoyed in the past, is out of place here. She usually does the quirky sort of girl thing, and not saying she can't or shouldn't branch out, she's not given much to do here so she's just sort of stiff through out. Most of the attempts at humor via Mark's character fall short, although there is a funny scene involving him and two teen age boys.

Much of what happens is predictable. Once you get past the initial moments of watching people die, the rest of the deaths don't seem to creep you out. Mostly, I think, because they are telegraphed to the audience. Some of the problem comes from showing many of them in the trailer, meaning that as soon as you recognized the scenery, you knew what was going to happen. That's the marketing department's fault I think. Still, sneaking up on the deaths in the rest of the film would have given them more impact. There were a couple that still jolted me thanks to the surprise element.

There isn't really the usual twist in this movie that there have been in others. Primarily because the rest of the country goes about trying to explain what is happening in the North East. The explainations are a bit lame and the twist I suppose is that it's The Earth itself knocking humanity on its ass. The idea almost seems trite in this age of heightened awareness about the effect we are having on the planet. Or maybe it's the execution of the idea that is lacking. I'm not sure. All I know is I was disappointed.

On other topics, I'm still recovering. One week from today is my big appointment to see how I'm doing. I swear it feels like it's going to be months before I'm 100%. It's difficult to explain to people, especially my friend's children, that I'm still not completely well, even though I'm joking around like normal and I don't have a visible injury. It's not like I'm going to flash this scar around. On the up side I suppose is the fact that I have been doing pretty well and haven't had any complications...knock on wood. Also, this recovery time has allowed me to kick ass on Lego Indiana Jones!

Here's a little something I found on-line that's Hulk related.