Written by Greg Johnson
Directed by Sam Liu
Runtime 81 min.
3 out of 5
An ancient prophecy. An exiled hero. One battle after another.
Hulk has been banished into space by the Illuminati. The reason? He’s simply too dangerous, too powerful and too unpredictable. Upon landing on the planet Sakaar, Hulk is taken captive and is forced to compete as a gladiator for the people’s entertainment. With no choice but to fight, Hulk must battle his way free, and not only for himself, but for an entire kingdom under the rule of an unpleasant emperor. Is Hulk the one foretold to come to usher in an era of peace?
I don’t know, man. This flick wasn’t really my thing, to be honest. It was a kind of Star Wars meets superhero thing that, while kind of interesting, didn’t really thrill me as a superhero fan.
But first, the pluses:
Loads of action. Hulk is fighting people pretty much all the time in this movie, and not only simply fighting them, but having to struggle against those nearly as powerful as himself. You don’t often see him doing that.
The sci-fi aspect was different and by having the story not take place on Earth, you got to see something that isn’t presented all too often in superhero flicks and/or cartoons.
The minuses (for me):
Hulk was the smart Hulk in this movie. Not the genius-level one, but he formed complete sentences, had genuine feelings, and wasn’t a big ball of rage like in Hulk vs. I’m a fan of the latter. I like the Hulk-smash Hulk. Not quite stupid, but certainly simple-minded, and an all-out force of meta-nature. Seeing him pretty much be a big green human wasn’t really my thing. I know others like that version of Hulk, which is fine, but I like the other one better.
The pacing was slow as well, with flashbacks that seemed to bog it down versus add to it. I know why they had them, but they didn’t really add to the tale and those scenes could’ve been simply mentioned versus shown.
Art’s subjective, but the cartooning style of this flick wasn’t up my alley. Whatever. It’s a minor point.
Wish I could say more about it, but this Hulk outing didn’t grab me like The Incredible Hulk or Hulk vs.
However, if you’re a Hulk fan, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it for that reason, and if you like the more intelligent Hulk, you’ll have a good time for sure.