More trailer trash: ‘The Incredible Hulk’ and ‘Speed Racer’
-
- April
- 21
After reading Entertainment Weekly’s Summer Movie Preview issue this weekend, I got a little trailer obsessed.
I’ve already shared my thoughts on “Indy 4” (oh, hell yeah) and “Righteous Kill” (eh, not so righteous looking). But I wanted to take a minute out to look at two more of the summer’s biggest expected blockbusters—“The Incredible Hulk” and “Speed Racer”—both of which, by the way, have LoHud connections. Tenuous LoHud connections, but still enough for me to post the trailers.
Watch the video and join the debate after the break.
First, “The Incredible Hulk.” Now, I may be the only person on the face of this earth who though the first “Hulk” movie, in 2003, directed by Larchmont’s Ang Lee, was downright brilliant. Employing the cartoon panel story-telling mechanism was clever, and I thought the director captured the kind of superhero-comic book sensibility, something that—for all their brilliance, the Spider Man and Batman films never did (and, by the way, I’m talking about the Christoper Nolan and Tim Burton Batman flicks, NOT, I repeat, NOT, Joel Schumacher’s cinematic abortions). Apparently it only earned $132 million domestically, which means it was some kind of flop. Then Marvel Comic and director Louis Leterrier (“The Transporter”) had to come in and decide that the only solution for a sequel was to reboot the entire franchise.
Which wouldn’t have been all bad. As mentioned above, Nolan’s reinvention of “Batman” was a thing of IMAX beauty. And casting Edward Norton as the new Hulk was pretty clever (not that I had anything against Eric Bana, who, as we all know, has done wonders for getting young Jewish boys laid ever since Munich). Still, upon watching the trailer, it was clear: This movie looks awful. Bizarro Tim Roth Hulk squaring off against regular Ed Norton Hulk? Please.
It looks so awful, in fact, that Entertainment Weekly reports that Norton isn’t doing press for the movie. A $150 million monster of a summer flick, and the star ain’t talking. That doesn’t bode well.
Anyway, take a look at the trailer for “The Incredible Hulk” (due out June 13) and see if you agree. Then take a look at Ang Lee’s original “Hulk” below and tell me that, based on the trailers alone, that it doesn’t look like a helluva better movie.
Movie #2 is “Speed Racer,” made by the Wachowski brothers (of “Matrix” fame) and starring Pound Ridge’s Susan Sarandon as the eponymous Racer’s mom. This one is set to come out in just a few weeks, on May 9. Chances are you’ve already seen the whiz-bang special effects already on your home television. Although the Wachowskis appear to be just as media-shy as Norton and Co., so not all that much is known about the plot of the movie. But I say that, just based on the look and feel of the movie alone, the brothers have come much closer to capturing the comic sensibility—something that’s clearly lost on the Hulk gang.
My prediction:
“The Incredible Hulk”: $85 million
“Speed Racer”: $230 million
Take a look at the “Speed” trailer and let me know if you agree.
This entry was posted
on Monday, April 21st, 2008 at 3:58 pm by Ted Mann.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
| 
Click here to check out Suburbarazzi's Star Map
Catch up to the times bud. Norton has already squashed those rumors and if you read the reaction from the New York Comic Con from everyone who saw the footage and got a chance to hear once again those rumors squashed it was the highlight of the entire convention.
So awful? LOL
http://io9.com/381860/incredible-hulk-smashes-all-expectations-to-become-highlight-of-comic+con
Here’s the link. This is fresh news instead of exaggerated media drama.
THE FULL TEXT OF EDWARD NORTON’S E-MAILED STATEMENT
“Like so many people I’ve loved the story of The Hulk since I was a kid, so it was thrilling when Marvel asked me to write and help produce an altogether new screen incarnation, as well as play Bruce Banner. I grew up reading Marvel Comics and always loved the mythic dimension and contemporary themes in the stories, and I’m proud of the script I wrote. In every phase of production, including the editing, working with Louis Leterrier has been wonderful…I’ve never had a better partner, and the collaboration with all the rest of the creative team has been terrific. Every good movie gets forged through collaboration, and different ideas among people who are all committed and respect the validity of each other’s opinions is the heart of filmmaking. Regrettably, our healthy process, which is and should be a private matter, was misrepresented publicly as a ‘dispute,’ seized on by people looking for a good story, and has been distorted to such a degree that it risks distracting from the film itself, which Marvel, Universal and I refuse to let happen. It has always been my firm conviction that films should speak for themselves and that knowing too much about how they are made diminishes the magic of watching them. All of us believe The Incredible Hulk will excite old fans and create new ones and be a huge hit…our focus has always been to deliver the Hulk that people have been waiting for and keep the worldwide love affair with the big green guy going strong.’‘
Issuing a studio-approved press release is a far cry from doing real promotion for a movie. From the tenor of the EW piece, I sure got the impression that Norton isn’t happy with the result of his Hulk movie and would just as soon distance himself from the project.
I guess we’ll see for sure how good it is come June. Still, you got to admit, that scene of Roth-Hulk vs. Norton-Hulk in the street—with the two Hulks flying through the air like Roger Clemens Macy’s Parade blimps—looks absolutely ridiculous.
Bunch of Ang Lee haters over there at i09.
awwww man why do some pple hates hulk juss because the special effects r unfinished and the trailer wasnt good enough.people likes iron man movie more because of the trailers WOW big deal its not always about the trailer that tells the movie its how the movie connects with audience and how well its put togother
iron man special effects is good because its iron its not flesh and human like the hulk how hard can it be to do special effects on metal look at it that way.and iron has alot of promotion and the hulk hasnt even started promotion yet and it
only has one trailer and we dont evn have tv spot done for it yet and one more thing ur forgetting hulk is more popular than
iron man hulk is only 2nd to spiderman as marvel stated soon aftr iron comes out then hulk will begin promotion and tv spot s all over and iron man will be out dated when hulk buzz begins. look wat happed to cloverfield it was the most anticipated movie and when it came out it dint evn touch $100 million dollar mark all bcuz of word of mouth a key to sucessful film is word of mouth. and also not forgetting movies that r yet to be promoted box offie powerhouse will smith’s “HANCOCK”, “JOURNEY TO CENTER OF THE EARTH 3D”, eddie murphy’s “MEET DAVE”, jack black’s “KUNG FU PANDA”, “CHRONICLE OF NARNIA PRINCE CASPIAN”, “THE DARK KNIGHT”, “HARRY POTTER HALF BLOOD PRINCE”, “HELL BOY 2”, and vin disels’s BABYLON A.D
That’s not a bizarro Hulk. That’s The Abdomination, which is a real character in the comics and IS the Hulk’s nemesis. And I just hope they didn’t dumb down the high standards set by the Ang Lee film, which, we all must admit, was too highbrow to sell.
Do you honestly believe that Marvel would take another chance with one of the most prized iconic heroes ever? Ted, if yo are a true Hulk fan, you would realize the 2003 version was too much fluff pyscho babble crap. I don’t want mindless action nor do I want to feel like I’m laying on a couch at the therapist. You guys are funny. Ang Lee is a great director, just not a Marvel-ous one.
Oh and to the writer of the article, getting all your facts in order before you jump on the ” Norton feud with studio” fest, because you come off as being ignorant in the true sense of the word (lack of knowledge). Being a columnist, reporter is getting the news, but it is getting it right. If you wanted to start a negative and opinionated campaign, you accomplished your goal, but to no avail. The true Hulk fan is not mad at Ang Lee’s attempt, but the fact that it was so over top serious it took away from the true sense of the Hulk himself. The action was overshadowed with so much psycho analysis that a shrink would get a headache. Anyway, the current movie shuld be judged after you see it and I know you will. Then come back and write a real article that is generated by your thoughts and not influenced by articles written by others. Even after you are made aware of the facts you dont respond to it, perhaps embarrassed your lack of research. Its one thing to be informative and innovative but you were neither. You just came across as someone trying to stir the pot and it backfired. Btw, I enjoyed the 2003 film for what it was and disliked it for things you wouldn’t understand unless you are a Hulk fan and it’s obvious you are not.
Well..cos in cgi… doin metal is way too easy than doing something organic… ever wondered why transformers looked cool but still oscar went to golden compass for vfx?
tat was a much tougher job!!