Perceiving a Comic Book Cinema in Ang Lees Hulk :: Movie Film Ang Lee Hulk Essays

Ang Lee's film Hulk (2003) is based on a character whose origins lie in the world of Marvel comic books. In both versions, Bruce Banner is a repressed and unassuming scientist who, as a result of an accident involving gamma radiation, transforms into a massive green engine of destruction, known as the Incredible Hulk, whenever he becomes angry. The Hulk is the rampaging male id, unleashed by modern science upon a world unprepared for its limitless, primal fury. But as interesting as a literary analysis of the character might be – and the Hulk is rife with such possibilities – this is not where Lee's Hulk breaks any new ground. Indeed, by such standards, it is a mundane – if not, actually, a rather awful – film. But what Lee's film does that is extraordinary is its attempt to, not simply adapt the content of the comic books, but in some way translate the experience and aesthetics of the comic books onto the movie screen. In doing so, he alters the condition s of the filmic apparatus enough to warrant further examination. However, the scene under examination in the textual analysis begins fairly conventionally. This scene is relatively early in the film, before the events that unleash the Hulk occur. Bruce Krenzler/Banner (Eric Bana) comes into the office he shares with colleague and ex-romantic interest Betty Ross (Jennifer Connely) at the nuclear biomedicine laboratory. Inside, he finds that Adam Talbot (Josh Lucas), a defence contractor who is one of the film's villains, has come to pay them a visit. Talbot's presence is understood to be intrusive, as he is placed in the centre of the frame, marginalising Bruce and Betty to the the periphery in their own office (shots 1c, 3, and 5a). Furthermore, Betty's over-the-shoulder look back to Bruce as he opens the door in shot 1c seems guilty. There is something of the caught-in-the-act to the staging of Bruce's entry to the office. This establishes the tension of a romantic triangle between the three characters, which never fully emerges as a plot point, but remains as a subtext throughout the portions of the film that deal with Talbot. Betty has to leave rather quickly to attend to some generic science (shot 5), but Talbot lingers a moment to have a "man to man" conversation with Bruce. There is some obvious tension between Talbot and Bruce as he makes overtures toward acquiring their research for military applications (and the ensuing financial benefit of selling the technology). Perceiving a Comic Book Cinema in Ang Lee's Hulk :: Movie Film Ang Lee Hulk Essays Ang Lee's film Hulk (2003) is based on a character whose origins lie in the world of Marvel comic books. In both versions, Bruce Banner is a repressed and unassuming scientist who, as a result of an accident involving gamma radiation, transforms into a massive green engine of destruction, known as the Incredible Hulk, whenever he becomes angry. The Hulk is the rampaging male id, unleashed by modern science upon a world unprepared for its limitless, primal fury. But as interesting as a literary analysis of the character might be – and the Hulk is rife with such possibilities – this is not where Lee's Hulk breaks any new ground. Indeed, by such standards, it is a mundane – if not, actually, a rather awful – film. But what Lee's film does that is extraordinary is its attempt to, not simply adapt the content of the comic books, but in some way translate the experience and aesthetics of the comic books onto the movie screen. In doing so, he alters the condition s of the filmic apparatus enough to warrant further examination. However, the scene under examination in the textual analysis begins fairly conventionally. This scene is relatively early in the film, before the events that unleash the Hulk occur. Bruce Krenzler/Banner (Eric Bana) comes into the office he shares with colleague and ex-romantic interest Betty Ross (Jennifer Connely) at the nuclear biomedicine laboratory. Inside, he finds that Adam Talbot (Josh Lucas), a defence contractor who is one of the film's villains, has come to pay them a visit. Talbot's presence is understood to be intrusive, as he is placed in the centre of the frame, marginalising Bruce and Betty to the the periphery in their own office (shots 1c, 3, and 5a). Furthermore, Betty's over-the-shoulder look back to Bruce as he opens the door in shot 1c seems guilty. There is something of the caught-in-the-act to the staging of Bruce's entry to the office. This establishes the tension of a romantic triangle between the three characters, which never fully emerges as a plot point, but remains as a subtext throughout the portions of the film that deal with Talbot. Betty has to leave rather quickly to attend to some generic science (shot 5), but Talbot lingers a moment to have a "man to man" conversation with Bruce. There is some obvious tension between Talbot and Bruce as he makes overtures toward acquiring their research for military applications (and the ensuing financial benefit of selling the technology).