The phenomenon of the comic book film continues to evolve and astound with this latest installment which, for me, held greater anticipation than perhaps any other film this summer. Hulk is a curious installment in the Marvel series for several reasons. First off, it doesn’t really follow the story pattern of the typical Marvel superhero story where the hero gains superpowers and then uses them to defeat his enemy, save the girl and fight crime. In Hulk, we take a slightly altered and much less deliberate and obvious story path that focuses more on the characters and their backgrounds rather than moving relentlessly towards the next action sequence. Secondly, Hulk is the first of the Marvel films to be directed by someone who would be considered a serious director. Granted, Brian Singer (X-Men) has The Usual Suspects on his resume and Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) is worshipped among the cult horror crowd but with Ang Lee (who directs Hulk) you’ve got a guy who’s fresh off the Oscar wagon and who is respected among even the harshest critics as one of the stylistic geniuses of our time. The result is a comic book film that could pass as an emotional drama if it weren’t for the poorly animated beast showing up every once in a while to break things. Yes, unfortunately the big green guy is one of the less impressive CGI creations I’ve seen in a major release and it has garnered droves of criticism from the nerd legions, but in the context of the action scenes it really is a forgivable flaw. Those who are looking for amped up action will definitely find it in this movie as the Hulk smashes and pounds his way through research labs, military bases and major cities. But the more impressive parts of this film and really the scenes the director spends more time on are the dramatically relevant scenes. Yes, this is a new concept for a superhero film to put emphasis on the story but when you have a story as rich and complex as this, it really seems to work. For those who, like me, never read comic books, the story here follows Bruce Banner (played by Eric Bana), a brilliant genetic scientist who is working on a top secret government project that allow soldiers bodies to automatically repair themselves from almost any injury turning them into that much overused movie concept, say it with me, Super-Soldiers. Bruce’s partner on the project Betty Ross (played by the gorgeous and talented Jennifer Connelly) is probably one of the best things about this movie. Most superhero movies would have stopped at making her a partner that Bruce had a crush on and then who becomes a damsel in distress for the Hulk to save. Ang Lee is far too sophisticated a filmmaker for that; he sets it up so that Bruce and Betty once dated but it didn’t work out because Bruce was too emotionally distant. We will come to discover that Bruce’s emotional suppression is a necessary trait he evolved in his youth to keep his inner demons from escaping and doing harm to others. Nick Nolte plays Bruce’s father David Banner who was also a military scientist until his experimentations on humans got him incarcerated. David’s experiments on himself altered his DNA and when Bruce was conceived, the mutation was passed on. Now whenever Bruce gets angry or feels in danger, a green chemical flows through him and morphs him into a giant, rage-filled monster of a man. There’s a lot more logic and science to it than I can give without boring you but I assure you that when Ang Lee tells you all about it you won’t be bored. Filmmaking is all about telling a story and Ang Lee has developed a way of telling this story that is stylistically unique and I dare say a bit brilliant. Attempting to draw upon the comic book device of using different cells or boxes to show actions that are taking place simultaneously or to show different angels of a character’s face at the same time, Lee uses throughout the movie a type of split screen technique that I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything quite like. It does serve to evoke some of the comic book feel to the film but it is also quite functional as Lee uses it to tell some of the very long and intricate exposition to this story. The result is a film that feels more like a comic book than any of the other Marvel films and yet never has to compromise the fluidity that makes it fun to watch as a film. Like I said before, the action scenes are quite impressive despite the less than satisfactory CGI Hulk but most of this brilliant storytelling is done outside of the action sequences with the use of a smart script and a highly qualified cast (there are also some great supporting performances from Sam Elliot as Betty’s military father and from Josh Lucas as a greedy corporate opportunist). Now some people aren’t happy about this. My colleague from the Crimson White, Graham Flanagan, for instance, feels that Ang Lee’s emotional, character-driven story slows the plot down and keeps us from enjoying more action sequences. But is it always better for summer movies to be brainless? I mean, I understand the appeal of mindless summer fun but criticizing a movie for being too ambitious and intelligent is just backwards. We should be tolerating summer movies for being brainless, not praising them for it. In the end, filmmaking is all about making people feel something through the images on the screen. We shouldn’t criticize someone for trying to make us feel a real emotion rather than empty excitement. If you think I’m crazy and all you really want is hard-hitting action and eye-candy, wait for Charlie’s Angels and Terminator. But if you don’t mind being exposed to some intelligent storytelling and brilliant, stylish filmmaking in between your servings of action then Hulk is the movie for you. I recommend it for being the first comic book film with the complexities of a Shakespearean drama.