The Road to the Avengers: The Incredible Hulk (2008)

I feel I must start with full disclosure, I liked the  Eric Bana Hulk movie. I thought they took the story and humanized the Hulk as well as giving him an interesting villain to battle which had nothing to do with the comic books. Normally, that's the kind of thing that would piss me off, but I've never been a fan of the Hulk comics so I didn't mind if they strayed away from them. I was also a fan of the 80s Hulk television show and watched it and the live action Spiderman movies every chance I got. It's okay that they were cheesy because I was just a dumb kid and didn't know any better. When I learned that they were making this movie, I learned at the same time that Ed Norton was replacing Eric Bana and that they were going to reboot the story. I was skeptical about why they would need to reboot a movie that I thought was pretty good. I don't know how the first one did at the box office, but I thought pretty well since they were immediately talking about a sequel. At first I thought it might be a money issue, but I can't imagine that Norton made less than Bana for their respective Hulk films. Throw in the other big names that started getting attached to the sequel and I knew something was up, just not what. Then the rumors started that based on the success of the X-Men, Spiderman and Iron Man movies that they were looking to put out an Avengers movie. I could see at once the wisdom of leading off with Iron Man, but the Hulk, no matter who was starring in it would not have been my choice to promote the Avenger's Line. I would have gone with Captain America and then a movie about Dr. Henry Pym in anyone of his heroic guises along with his wife in one of her guises, or was there only one as the Wasp?
This all sounds like I am leading up to saying that I hated this movie, but I didn't. On the contrary, I thought it was quite good. William Hurt was great as General "Thunderbolt" Ross. He was the blustery kind of General that expected to everyone do everything his way whether under his command or not. Liv Tyler's Betty Ross was the weak point but I thought she did an adequate job. Actually, I can' think of anyone who could have done better with the lines she was given and the way that she was portrayed in her professional capacity, where she was made to look like a sidekcik at best. Had their been more in the role, they would have needed a better actor. I don't know anything about the comic book version of the Abomination other than what he looks like and that he's a gamma-irradiated freak. I thought Tim Roth's portrayal of Emil Brodsky was appealing.
What I really paid attention to this time around, it being my second full time through the film, were the small details. There are several references to S.H.I.E.L.D. before the little Tony Stark cameo at the end. It will be interesting to see how the other 3 movies that precede the Avengers show the presence of S.H.I.E.L.D. The first Iron Man movie is literally crawling with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. I'm guessing upon rewatch of Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America I'll quite a few as well.

The Incredible Hulk on IMDb

Robot and Frank (2012)

I've been waiting all of these years for Cyclops to team-up with Dr. Betsy Braddock! Somehow I thought more mutants and super villains would be involved. This story of a new kind of Sentinel had a lot less of things blowing up than I thought it would and virtually no enslavement of the mutant or any other population. I would have loved to have on camera just one shot of Frank posing and screaming, "Hulk smash!"
This is a cute and touching film. You already knew that from the trailer, I suspect. It certainly won't disappoint you in that respect. And just like that I'm implying that it'll let you down in another way. This is not a cutting edge film - sci-fi as a laser lense on society. This is a small film that tells a small story without any surprises. But, and that is a big but - even a wide-ass but if you will - this is a good film. There's some social commentary, but it's mostly human interest. Frank Langella is charming, almost adorable as Frank, a retired cat burglar. James Marsden plays Frank's son, Hunter and Liv Tyler plays Frank's daughter, Madison. They love their dad, but aren't close to him. As he's getting older and starting to have some problems living on his own, they both step up to try and take care of him in the way they think is best. Add in Susan Sarandon as Frank's librarian, Jennifer and you have a lovely ensemble.
The movie is really made by the robot, voiced by Peter Sarsgaard. If I had any complaints about his performance, and I don't, it would be that at times I found myself thinking, "is he trying to sound like Kevin Spacey sounding like a robot, or is that just me?" The robot has no face to read the expressions on, so all lines are deadpan - some straight and some humorous.
This film is as titled, all about Frank and his robot companion who comes to be his friend. While this film never calls into contention what it is to be human on the human's side, it does ask what helps us lead a fulfilling life. As humans do we need interaction with other humans, or will interaction with human facsimiles, whether they be robot or the internet or whatever, prove as fulfilling, and if not will they prove at least ot be adequate. I think about this a lot. I have several people I count as dear friends that I have never met - we only know each other through the internet. Chatting or emailing with them is not the same as with a 'face-to-face' friend. Even the most casual ftf friend leaves behind images and imporessions that I can access whenever I want, especially when communicating online. I can remember what she looks like, the time he through in my bathroom, etc. and it makes the emails and chat more real. But what about the friends whom I've never met or even seen a "real" picture of? I certainly can't augment my interactions with them in quite the same way, but they don't seem less human, nor does the interaction seem less genuine or less fulfilling. What if I found out my friend Jane, who I have only seen as her zombie fae avatar, were really a sophisticated AI? Would I feel ripped off? Would I stop emailing or chatting with her? What if I did stop the interaction and then she kept emailing me asking what was wrong? To be honest that's more than I get from most of my ftf friends. Yet, I think I would somehow feel dirty and misused. At first. Then, I would try out the AI - test it to see how it would respond to anything I could think of. In all likelihood, I would probably eventually go back to the interaction, because I find it worthwhile, but maybe not in quite the same way any longer. When I think of how many hours, likely thousands, I've spent playing solitaire on the computer just because I can, because it's interactive, because it's low impact, I think maybe I already have a robot companion.
If you want your heart strings tugged at gently, watch this film. It will make you smile. It will make you a little sad at place. It will remind you that good movies do not need an action hero or explosions or gratuitous t & a.

Robot & Frank on IMDb