Hulk Vs. Reviews

Sometimes I think that most studios think comic book nerds just want really cool action sequences with only the most tenuous of connective tissue to tie it all together. As a comic book fan, I find that continually insulting. Hulk Vs both insulted me and gave me what I always want in these films. I don’t mind action sequences, but the best comic storylines known something that a lot of these films don’t: in order for one to be truly dazzled and care about what is going on, we must be given characters that we care about. It’s also helpful to know what’s going on in a frame at any given moment and to be able to distinctly make out who is where and doing what.

Hulk Vs offers up two short films of comparable length (about six minutes difference between them). In one Hulk throws down with Thor in Asgard, and in the other Wolverine and Hulk fight in the Canadian wilderness and throughout the Weapon X program. The Thor segment was the more entertaining and engaging of two since it offered up a coherent story, complicated character dynamics and more filmic animation. But I have learned that I am in the minority on preferring this one. Turns out that since things required you to pay attention to dialogue and be at least briefly familiar with either the comics or Norse mythology; people complained that there were too many characters with little to no explanation given as to who they were and how they related to each other.

Allow me to summarize this segment: Loki, Thor’s half-brother and main adversary, and the Enchantress, Thor’s love-hate villainess, conspire to bring Bruce Banner to Asgard during Odin’s period of rest. Every year Odin rests for a week, and during this week a great battle rages as Asgard’s various political enemies attack en masse. Thor, Odin’s son and the god of thunder, protects the realm. The Enchantress crafts a spell in which she separates the Hulk from Banner and allows for Loki to control the Hulk. During one of the battles, Thor manages to briefly defeat the Hulk and break the spell. So now we’ve got Banner and the Hulk separated, a loose Hulk tearing through Asgard, Loki forced to team-up with Thor to stop the Hulk, a trip through Hell so that the goddess of the dead can reunite the two fragments of Banner’s soul. See? Not that complicated. Sure, I’ve left out that the Warriors Three, Sif, and a few other characters pop-up, but you get the general idea. It’s an exploration of Banner’s psyche, and it feels more properly balanced as a whole.

The Wolverine segment starts off just fine, but then we’re forced to endure the umpteenth reinterpretation of his origin story, in a short film which is entitled Hulk vs. Wolverine, I don’t want to see Wolverine’s origin story unless it immediately correlates to the reason for their battling. This doesn’t. Sure, Weapon X turns out to be the main group of baddies, but Wolverine’s origin is unnecessary and proves that this segment distinctly lacks the proper connective tissue between battle scenes. Lady Deathstrike, Deadpool and Omega Red feature great character designs, but the fact that they can constantly regenerate their hacked-off limbs grows old after a few fight scenes. And this has got to be the worst looking Sabretooth I have ever seen in an animated property.

I appreciate how each short film takes its own look at Banner and the Hulk’s complicated psychological bond. In the Thor segment Hulk represents a pure, vengeful id. The wrath, venom, violence and anger that Banner so frequently represses in his day-to-day life come screaming out once they’ve been separated from each other. It’s Banner’s desire to remain calm that makes the Hulk disappear. When separated nothing can stop them but forcing them back together as a whole. And in Wolverine’s segment, the Hulk is a wild and angry toddler. He’s Banner’s demon-child run amok, and only gains more power and energy the more and more they harm him or try to fight.

The animation in both of them is very nice, but Thor’s is more lush. Wolverine’s, at times, looks too Saturday-morning-cartoon. And the vocal work is solid across the board, but special kudos should go to Fred Tatasciore as Hulk, Steve Blum as Wolverine, Graham McTavish as Loki, and Nolan North as Deadpool (who easily steals the entire show whenever he’s onscreen).

All in all, Hulk Vs isn’t a bad offering from the Marvel direct-to-DVD series, but it’s uneven nature plays to both the best and the worst of comic book adaptations.