5 reasons why Hulk no smash
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
Released today on DVD, The Incredible Hulk was meant to be a dramatic do-over of the 2003 Hulk feature film. Marvel hoped the first Hulk would match the record-breaking success of its previous year’s Spider-man, but Ang Lee’s cerebral, angsty take on the raging green giant was an underperformer. Despite its $137 million budget, Hulk earned $132 million theatrically in the United States (and $245 million worldwide).
As a “reboot” sequel, Incredible brought in French action director Louis Leterrier, pumped up the premise as a combination of monster movie and manhunt flick and enlisted a new cast, with Edward Norton replacing Eric Bana as the Hulk’s anguished alter ego, Bruce Banner. Incredibly, the financial results were practically identical: Leterrier’s film had a $150 million budget and made $134 million in the U.S. ($261 worldwide) — and that’s not factoring inflation into the equation. Here are five theories as to why Incredible failed to pump up the box office.
1. Memories of the first film scared people off. Ang Lee’s Hulk contains some thrilling, fascinating set pieces. The scenes of the Hulk bounding across the Southwestern desert, battling tanks and helicopters, feature a weird lyricism matched by few movies of any kind, let alone comic book films. Unfortunately the film, which lasts well over two hours, is surrounded by sluggishly-paced scenes, weird Oedipal plotting that seldom makes dramatic sense and superfluous, “24”-style split screens and effects that replicate comic book panels for no good reason. Making a follow-up to a movie nobody liked was bound to be a risk, although Incredible opts to ignore Lee’s continuity and pay affectionate homage to the old “Incredible Hulk” TV series.
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