reelz.com goes green with the 'Hulk' filmmakers.
Remember that 2003 Hulk movie directed by Ang Lee with Eric Bana as Dr. David Banner, Jennifer Connelly as Betty Ross and crazy Nick Nolte as, well, crazy Nick Nolte? Well, forget it.
2008's The Incredible Hulk, which hits theaters nationwide on June 13th, has been called everything from a series reboot to a pseudo-sequel to Ang Lee's movie and just about everything in-between. In truth, the closest comparison that can be drawn is probably to the '80s/'90s Batman flicks and 2005's Batman Begins. The Incredible Hulk is an all new exploration of the fabled green beast and the (hopeful) start of a new franchise for one of Marvel Comics' most popular characters.
reelz.com was part of a select group of online press that were recently invited to spend the day with Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier and producers Kevin Feige and Gale Anne Hurd. We watched four scenes from the movie and then got the chance to fire questions during a lengthy Q & A session with the Hulk filmmakers.
For a group that was fairly skeptical going in, the scenes that we watched did a nice job of convincing us this might just be the Hulk movie fans have been waiting for. As a big fan of the old TV show, I was thrilled to see more than a few references to the classic Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno show, albeit with far more advanced visual effects.
The first of the four scenes we watched was the movie's opening credit sequence. But you can't skip this one to get your popcorn. No, if you miss the opening and you aren't already a Hulk aficionado, you might find yourself playing catch-up for the rest of the movie.
Designed by Kyle Cooper from Prologue, the opening sequence is a high-octane montage sequence that quickly gives you insight into Hulk's origin and Bruce Banner's plight dealing with the consequences of his experiment gone wrong.
"This sets the pace because it's really a chase movie," offers director Louis Leterrier. "It's like my other movies (Transporter 1 and 2); non-stop [he makes machine gun noises]... Whether it's action or drama, you don't stop. Action doesn't wait for drama and drama doesn't wait for action... With this little opening sequence you'll understand."
The first of the four scenes we watched was the movie's opening credit sequence. But you can't skip this one to get your popcorn. No, if you miss the opening and you aren't already a Hulk aficionado, you might find yourself playing catch-up for the rest of the movie.
And with that, we are given an opening sequences which primarily features Edward Norton as Dr. Bruce Banner, William Hurt as General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross and Liv Tyler as Betty Ross. Showcasing quick shots within a montage, we see Banner strapped to a chair that looks very much like the one from the original TV show. When the experiment goes awry, Banner goes on the run from General Ross and his team. The sequence ends with Banner waking from a dream drenched in sweat. He reaches up from his bed to stop a ticking metronome.
"That last shot of him grabbing the metronome is the first shot of the actual story," says producer Kevin Feige. "We meet him in Brazil."
Cleverly mixed within the fast-paced opening sequence are references to a few other Marvel heroes. "Kyle and myself are super Marvel geeks," admits Leterrier. "There are lots of little things like the Nick Fury memo, the known accomplices...."
The weapons shown in the opening scenes have Stark Industry logos, a nice nod to Iron Man/Tony Stark.
So again, the question of where exactly this new movie falls is brought into question. Kevin Feige attempts to give a more concrete answer: "[It's an] independent origin that is not explored in a whole lot more detail than what you just saw [in the opening]. It just sets the scene for this chase. He's already the Hulk, he's been on the run for a long time..."
"Louis has a great thing throughout the movie... The movie doesn't say 'five years later, two months later, two weeks later.' The locators are cards that are 'days without incident.' Banner's whole life is tracked from the last time he 'Hulked-out' and his attempt for it to be as many days as possible between these events. When we meet him, he's been holding it at bay for 100 or 150 days..."
Unlike the first movie, this new Incredible Hulk makes no bones about paying homage to the TV series. Leterrier enthusiastically discusses the homage: "It was very important for me to tip my hat to the TV show because that's what brought me onto this project. I loved it... Of course we enhanced the technology, but it pretty much looks like the TV show..."
Feige adds, "You will learn that [with] the experiment, he's attempting to tap into strength within all humans."
"It was something under Ross' supervision," says Hurd. "Now Bruce Banner is on the run and Ross has not given up his search to find him."
"It's like the myth of Sisyphus," says Leterrier. "I love this idea of that guy who tries to rebuild his life and find a cure and then something happens and he "Hulks-out" and he has to go back to zero every time..."
The next scene we view is the first action scene from The Incredible Hulk and the first time Banner turns into Hulk in the movie. It takes place in the streets of Brazil. Banner has been located by the relentless Emile Blonsky (Tim Roth), who has been tasked with capturing Banner by General Ross. The chase leads into a bottling factory. Besides Blonsky and crew, Banner has unwittingly stumbled into some trouble with some local thugs. When they pin him in the factory and attack him, he attempt to warn them with the words "Me Angry... Very Bad." The thugs laugh at this, albeit briefly, because before they can finish their dirty work Banner's first transformation into Hulk has taken full effect.
It begins with a shot of the eyes turning green, which is straight out of the old show. Once he becomes the Hulk, as you might imagine he makes very quick work of the thugs. Blonsky's team throws every piece of artillery they can at the Hulk, but nothing makes a difference. Throughout it all, Hulk is really just trying to get away. When Blonsky refuses to admit defeat, the Hulk takes a piece of machinery and hurls it at Blonsky, who makes a near escape from being crushed.
All in all, the scene is quite cool looking and slick. The computer-generated work on the transformation is almost completely seamless. The action is intense and the level of chaos and destruction of Hulk's wrath seems genuinely frightening. Watching the scene, you can notice an immediate change in the demeanor of a room full of press still not entirely sold on the movie.
Leterrier on Blonsky: "He's like a super-commando soldier -- this guy's never gone up in the hierarchy because he loves being there and being an action man... He's at the end of his physical ability. This scene shows that. He's smart but he's not so powerful any more..."
"He loves being in the chase," adds Feige. "He loves being in the hunt. He's quite effective, as you'll see, but by the end [of the clip] he catches a glimpse of something that showcases a power he wants to tap into... Of course it's the Hulk..."
The final scene we are shown involves a cameo from the most famous incarnation of the Hulk, Lou Ferrigno, who portrayed the man in green for five seasons of the television show. Ferrigno plays a security guard who encounters Banner on one of his odd jobs.
But Ferrigno also got a chance to give the Hulk a voice this time around.
"Louis offered him on the stage of New York Comic-Con to come in and do the voice," Feige says with a laugh.
"A few days after that he came in and recorded a few lines that, along with having been processed by Dave Farmer who is a great sound guy that did most of the vocalizations for King Kong, Lou is now the credited voice of the Hulk... He was great at it... He'd been practicing... He lost his whole voice..."
After years playing a character who offered little more than a grunt, Ferrigno must have found lending the Hulk his lungs to be a bit cathartic. "He was really excited that, in the movie, Hulk does speak, says Hurd." (Laughs)
So now that we've spoken about all the references to the TV show that fans will appreciate, what about those who didn't know or didn't like the show -- the comic faithful?
"You start with the basic theme of the TV show because the comic today is very convoluted," says Leterrier. "Banner has stepped out of Hulk and everything... So you start with the TV show which is very simple and everybody could access the thing... Very crowd pleasing, and that's how I related to the Hulk the first time I saw the Hulk in France... They couldn't have done that [stuff from the comic book] back then on a TV show. Even now they couldn't do it on a TV show... So it starts as more of homage to the TV show and slowly transforms..."
"Two years ago, when we first started, to inspire myself I took out some of the best drawings and panels from the comic books and put them up in my office. I said, 'Oh it would be nice if we did that or that...' Kevin walked in and he said, you should be proud because that's in the movie, that's in the movie... Literally 95 percent of the stuff that I said, 'That would be amazing to have in the movie one day.' And not only did we have that, we invented new stuff that was never in any comic or TV show."
In order to prove once and for all that The Incredible Hulk has plenty to please fans of the comic who might be worried that the new movie is too grounded in the old TV series, the filmmakers offered to show us one last scene. They took us to another mixing room where a group was still working on footage.
The scene we are shown is the first portion of the finale's climactic battle between the Hulk and his equally large and powerful arch nemesis, Abomination. The scene unfolds with Banner on an airplane ready to jump. Betty Ross is there with him, trying to convince him that it might not work. The plan is that Banner will transform into Hulk before landing and then be able to stop Abomination.
We are shown only the first part of the battle between Abomination and Hulk, but it is breathtaking! Some of this was seen in the first trailer, but many of the rough effect shops that were evident in that first viewing have clearly been cleaned up. What we now witness takes the gigantic robot battles in downtown Los Angeles from the end of Transformers to the next level. The destruction is constant and impressive. At one point, the Hulk smashes a cop car in two and uses the two halves as weapons to pound Abomination from both sides. Just as we start to get into the fight, the screen goes white. That's all the filmmakers are willing to show us for today.
After that scene, the mission of the day has been accomplished. Our appetite to see the rest of the movie has been sufficiently wet. June 13th now seems too far away to wait for the rest!
Check out Part Two of our Incredible Hulk edit bay visit later this week for a full question and answer session with director Louis Leterrier and producers Kevin Feige and Gale Anne Hurd.
Continued in Part 2...