Ferrous Hominid Redux

Yesterday was a fun day.

My daughter, young Galadriel Tanqueray Onassis, came over for bruch which consisted of biscuits & gravy, roasted potatoes and sausage patties.

While we feasted on this delicious repast, we watched the first Iron Man.

All of this was the lead up to seeing Iron Man 2 in IMAX at the AMC Independence Commons where we were joined by our friends Average Jane and The Saders.

For me, the movie certainly lived up to the hype. It has me really looking forward to Thor, Captain America in 2011 and The Avengers in 2012.

It's looking more and more like the impetus for the Avengers coming together will be to battle The Hulk who is being controlled by Thor's arch nemisis Loki.

My biggest concern about The Avengers movie is that they are going to have to shoehorn a lot big name stars playing bigger than life, pivotal roles into a story that gives everyone enough screen time without compromising the plot and keep the whole package under 3 hours.

The idea of The Hulk being the main "villain" conjurs the spectre of Edward Norton returning to the Marvel franchise. Internet rumors from 2008 indicated that Norton and the studio were in such conflict over the movie that it almost didn't get released.

There are those that would argue that that wouldn't have been such a bad thing, but I'm not in that camp. I liked The Incredible Hulk. It was certainly an improvement over Ang Lee's Hulk.

But I digress.

After rewatching The Incredible Hulk last night I realized that just because The Hulk will be in The Avengers, that doesn't mean anyone will have to deal with that-very-talented-but-pain-in-the-ass Edward Norton.

Edward Norton played Bruce Banner, not The Hulk. The Hulk was complete CGI. I don't think Norton even did any motion capture work as The Hulk.

So as long as The Hulk stays angry and doesn't go back to Bruce Banner, the creative oyster that needs to produce the pearl called The Avengers should be able do so without the terminally abrasive grain of sand that is Edward Norton.

We've Seen "Iron Man". We've Seen "The Incredible Hulk". Next Up...

Harvey Dent. I drink your whiskey!



This is not your father's Batman.

The Incredible Hulk

I took my daughter, young Galadriel Tanqueray Onassis, to see The Incredible Hulk today. She used to complain about me dragging her to super hero movies, but I think Iron Man was the turning point for her.

She was really looking forward to seeing the Hulk and is also looking forward to The Dark Knight.

I can review this movie with just two words.

HULK SMASH!

This was everything you could want from a Hulk movie. Forget about all of that Ang Lee/Eric Bana/Nick Nolte/hulk-dogs crap. This is the balls. Everything that Hulk got wrong, The Incredible Hulk has set right.

I won't go into a lot of minutia trying to be a movie critic. That's not my thing. I'll just toss out some of the things that delighted me.

William Hurt as General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross.


I'm starting to like William Hurt again. I had pretty much written him off after Lost In Space. But I started liking him again after History of Violence. He totally sells General Ross at every level. I think he does a better job potraying General Ross than even the comics did.

Ed Norton is a better Bruce Banner than Eric Bana.

The whole thing worked for me. The crossovers to other franchises with the Stark Industries weaponry and the electronic eavesdropping by S.H.I.E.L.D.

I am just digging the shit out this Cinematic Marvel Universe that is being created, which seems to be mining the Marvel ULTIMATES story line.

MINOR SPOILERS!

I loved the scene between Tony Stark and General Ross. I also love that they don't make you wait until the end of the credits for it.

The events in the movie are over and General Ross is sitting at a bar tossing down back-to-back tumblers of bourbon telling the bartender to "fill 'er up" as soon as the glass hits the bar.

In walks Tony Stark making comments about the stench of stale beer and failure.

Stark: "I hear you have an unusual problem."

Ross (with an pricelessly ironic expression on his face): "You should talk!"



Now, was this a battered General Ross, exhausted from dealing with the whole Hulk/Abomination thing being Ironic to Tony Stark about his Iron Man situation?

Or was this a chain-drinking, bourbon-swilling General Ross being snarky to Robert Downey, Jr.?

It works on both levels and I love it!

I LOVE this Hulk.

I can't wait for this Avengers movie they are setting up. I mean, my God, just look at the quality of the actors that could conceivably be in the same movie. Robert Downey, Jr,; Gweneth Paltrow; Terrence Howard; Ed Norton; Liv Tyler; William Hurt; all in the same movie with the added presences of Iron Man and The Hulk. And we haven't even touched on the actors who might be portraying Thor or Captain America and their supporting casts.



This could be incredible.

It fucking better be.