Underrated big-budget Hollywood summer action flicks.

[Kid_A]

Every summer has loads of huge "event" movies, most of which end of sucking donkey balls (Van Helsing, anyone?). But there are some really don't deserve a lot of the criticism they get from critics.

I think "Hulk" and "The Matrix Reloaded" are perfect examples. Both of those movies have really smart scripts that encourage the audience to think while they're watching rather than just turn off their brains and watch stuff blow up real good.

Critics criticized both were criticized for being too "brainy", but a lot of those same critics also complain about other movies being too "dumb". :wtf:

"Hulk" and "Matrix Reloaded" are extremely smart movies, and that's why they're good. They're proof that you can make a cool movie with awesome special effects that won't make the audience feel retarded for watching it.

I'm sure there are other really good summer action flicks that didn't deserve the criticism they got, but those two are only ones I can think of right now...

[JuniorPlankton]

1. Matrix reloaded a smart movie?

You must a very low threshold for "smart". :)

[Kid_A]

4. Seriously? Any movie with Cornel West I think can qualify as "smart".

But wasn't smart about that movie?

[LSdemocrat]

2. The problem is that the studio completely misleads the public with its ads

Especially in the case of the Hulk, which was completely marketed as a typical big-budget summer action movie with non-stop action with a relatively simple plot.

The actual movie was something entirely different. The action was fairly limited and focused more on a character study of the Hulk and his origins, which would have been fine if the studio had decided to publicize it that way, but they didn't. When the public saw a movie that was completely different from what they were expecting, they were disappointed, explaining why the movie completely bombed at the box office.

Personally, I really didn't care for the movie. Many aspects of the movie went by completely unexplained, seeming to try to set up a sequel a little too intentionally. I didn't find the action particularly engaging, and I especially found the last action sequence to be completely ridiculous (perhaps why some people call the movie dumb).

[bkcc]

3. I have to disagree with you about your choices.

"The Hulk" is one of the worst pieces of garbage that was ever committed to film.

And here's why:
While it was beautifully shot, you just do not make an art-house film about a vicious green monster that smashes everything in sight. It was a film made with no thought given to the audience might be.

Think about it: the Hulk is a character with an audience already built in. The target of the film is comic book fans (both past and present). Why, why, why would you then focus over 4/5 of the film on the emotional damage of each of the main characters, with no thought given to the Hulk? It would be like making a movie about Sherlock Holmes that focused on the etiqutte of Victorian-era tea parties.

That having been said, "The Hulk" would have been more enjoyable if we'd never heard of the character. As it stands, it's just a nearly unwatchable film.

I don't feel as strongly about the "Matrix Reloaded," but it really pales in comparison to the first film.

[Kid_A]

5. Sure, "Reloaded" pales in comparison to the first one, but it's still good

And I TOTALLY disagree with your take on "Hulk". I think it's awesome that they made an art-house comic-book movie. If the studio wanted a run-of-the-mill rampage Hulk movie, they would have hired Michael Bay. But they hired Ang Lee, which tells me that they wanted to take the character in an interesting, more unexpected direction, and I commend them for taking that risk.

But "unwatchable"?

[bkcc]

6. Yes. "Unwatchable."

I'm not into shoot-'em-up, blow-up-everything summer movies. I prefer dramas and art-house films, but this was totally the wrong choice for the Hulk.

The Hulk is a 15-ft tall, rampaging monster. What in that description makes you think the character would be a great candidate for a slow-moving drama in which people talk about their broken relationships?

I think they hired Ang Lee to make them a movie that incorporated the excitement and electricity of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." What they got was closer to "The Ice Storm."

And, since you brought it up again, "Matrix Reloaded" was okay. But only okay. Its failures were many, most notably cinematography and lack of an editor. Did we really need a 10-minute rave in Zion? Or a 15-minute speech discussing the intricacies of reality at the end of the film? The answer is no.

What made the first movie so cool was the film noir feeling, the darkly lit sets, and the sense of not knowing. The second film tried to imitate that, but really didn't pull it off. However, it was miles better than "Matrix Revolutions."

[Kid_A]

7. OK, my point is this:

I can't see how people can criticize "Hulk" and "Matrix Reloaded" for having the qualities that they criticize other films for not having. I can understand why some people were been disappointed by "Hulk", but I think the direction took made perfect sense for the character. Bruce Banner has always been a sort of "Dr. Jekyll" character, and the movie took that concept of duality and explored it more deeply. Rather than go the easy route and tell the gamma radiation origin from the comic, they built upon it and added a deeper backstory to Bruce Banner to explain why it is that he turns into the Hulk. If they had made a brainless "HULK SMASK!!" movie, while it would have been more successful, the same critics who panned it for being too smart would have complained that it was too dumb.