Movie Monday: Ang Lee's Hulk

I've been trying to watch this movie for a good long while now, but only just got a chance last weekend when Katie and I were able to escape to the family cabin.

I can't remember if I already talked about it, but I really liked last summer's Hulk movie starring Edward Norton as Bruce/Hulk. So, going back in time to watch the Ang Lee/Eric Bana version I thought that it would have to be pretty horrible considering they rebooted the franchise after this one chance.

I was wrong. I don't know if I liked this version better than the new one, but it was definitely on par with it. I really enjoyed that Ang Lee was able to spend a lot of time not just focusing on Hulk smashing, but instead giving Bruce a reason for being and doing. I'll admit that it was a pretty cheezy and comic-booky backstory, but hey... it was a comic book movie. This allowed the movie to go more in depth into the character of the story, but it also kind of made the action suffer. The other thing that I really liked was the way that it really looked like a comic book. Lee would position scenes so that it looked like different panels onscreen, and the different focuses and colors really made me feel like I was watching a comic book.

The only thing that I really disliked about this movie was the battle at the end. I can buy that Hulk's dad has gotten powers too - even that his powers of absorption are kind of cool, but becoming a water-man and trying to drown Hulk? Come on. That was the good thing about the new version. Since they didn't really waste time trying to make it a thoughtful movie, the action scenes were huge and destructive (that and it had Tim Roth, who I've come to love thanks to Lie to Me).

Basically, I kind of like that there are now two versions of Hulk. This way if you want an action-packed flick, you can watch the new one and if you want a more comic-booky movie, you can go with the old version.

What about you? Have you seen them both? If so, which is better?