TNMC Recent Reviews

We saw Louis Leterrier’s “The Incredible Hulk” (Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson, and very brief appearances by Lou Ferrigno, Stan Lee, Bill Bixby, and Robert Downey Jr.)

A version of this movie was made by University of Illinois grad Ang Lee in 2003; so why, pray tell, should there be another version a mere five years later?  Well, two reasons.  First and foremost, because this version was much better.  It is still the same basic story: Bruce Banner, a scientist, becomes infected with gamma radiation, and when he becomes angry, he turns into THE HULK, an incredibly strong and destructive monster.  Naturally, he would prefer to avoid this transformation.  But, the Army, which helped to invent the phenomenon in the first place, would like to harness it for a weapon.  All sorts of merry mix-ups occur as Dr. Banner tries to cure his condition, and the Army tries to exploit it.

Add in the complication that Banner’s love interest is the daughter of the General that was in charge of the experiments, and who is most intent on turning Banner into his secret weapon, and you have drama galore.

Unlike the 2003 version, this movie was short on conversation and philosophy, and long on ass-kicking violence.  Not everyone would see that as an improvement, I realize, but I do.  Add in a SECOND hulk, when another Army officer (Tim Roth) decides to fight fire with fire, so to speak, and you have apocalyptic battles up the ying-yang!  Yowza!!

I should add that, even though I enjoyed this movie, I consider it a waste of talent.  Why did they need to cast Edward Norton and William Hurt?  These are two brilliant actors, and do excellent work in this flick, but I would rather see them making quirky, performance-driven movies, while roles like these go to actors who are better at merely looking good as the special effects unfold around them.  Just like I hate to see Nic Cage make action flicks, when his talents would be better invested in quirky efforts like “Red Rock West” and “Raising Arizona.”  But, again, maybe that’s just me.  Although their talents were wasted here, they certainly both did a good job.

I said there were two reasons why this movie should be remade.  The second is that the studio is clearly setting up a series.  I don’t think I’m giving away anything too significant, but Robert Downey Jr. appears as Tony Stark.  Yes, the same Tony Stark from “Iron Man,” and he is intent on recruiting The Hulk for some longer-term purposes.  I suspect that we are witnessing a large-scale franchise in the making.  But the results of that remain to be seen.  I wait with bated breath…….Jake

We saw Timur Bekmambetov’s “Wanted” (starring James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, and Terence Stamp) this week. This is a wild roller-coaster ride of action, violence, sex, and special effects that I have to heartily endorse. There is also a lot of humor, although I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a comedy.

A loser dweeb office drone hates his life. His boss abuses him. His girlfriend cheats on him. And he’s broke. Then he gets recruited by a beautiful sexy babe to join a super-secret society of assassins, and is trained in the deadly arts. Since he is the long-lost son of their best agent, who was recently killed, only he can stop the rogue agent who is trying to destroy the entire organization.

The story is pure cheese, and the morality is pretty suspect as well. But the special effects were breathtaking. Many of them were reminiscent of Matrix-type “bullet time” effects, if they had been directed by Sam Raimi. There were also lots of great car chases, fights on top of elevated trains, death-defying leaps, etc. What’s not to love?

The only downside was seeing Terence Stamp in a serious role, one week after seeing him in “Get Smart.” Made it difficult not to laugh out loud in all the wrong places!