Hulk
I only went to see Hulk because of Peter Bradshaw’s review in the Guardian. Before that I had pretty much dismissed it as cookie cutter action film territory. It wasn’t really. Conversely, a lot of the red tops have dismissed with statements like “Lee has tried to create a cerebral action movie” (The Metro), but I don’t think that covers it either.
It’s difficult to nail it down, but I think the best way to explain it is “sophisticated”, a label only really The Matrix (not Reloaded) shares. It’s no normal blockbuster, but it has all the raw grunt, more in fact. Hulk’s smashing is ace, it really captures the total frustration. We’re not asked to contemplate the world as it is/was/might be. Some people think that is the case, but I think it’s just standard action plot fill, ignored in every other exploder, so why not this one?
Where X-Men 2 dissappointed my younger sister, this one will succeeded. It has all the childlike cool it could want and that’s a good thing. And the ending is pure cheese genius. Absolute genius.