From its 1962 comicbook origins in The Incredible Hulk by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, director Ang Lee's classic movie Hulk (2003), updates and reinvents the story of how scientist Bruce Banner is transformed into a giant rage monster, and becomes a new antihero for the 21st Century.
As a neurotic human changes into an unstoppable beast, Hulk offers a study of dysfunctional family relationships alongside tank-busting, helicopter-crashing mayhem, that results in a final confrontation of cosmic proportions. A unique aesthetic spectacle, and an extraordinary makeover for Hollywood blockbuster cinema, Hulk is an impressive screen adaptation of a comic-book rediscovering the enduring legacy of a green-skinned 'superhero' without a costume.
This book reviews the movie's narrative complexity and its varied genre elements – including science fiction, tragic drama, action thriller, doomed romance, and modern fairytale – and studies the mythological references, realised by an artistically innovative editing style and ground-breaking visual effects.
