Movie Review Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016) 

Directed by Ang Lee

Written by Jean-Christophe Castelli

Starring Joe Alwyn, Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund, Vin Diesel, Steve Martin, Chris Tucker

Release Date November 11th, 2016 

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk stars Joe Alwyn as Billy Lynn, an Army Specialist who earned instant fame when his attempt to save a wounded soldier was captured on camera and went viral. Soon after Billy is back in Texas and he and his fellow soldiers on tour like rock stars complete with a Hummer limousine ride to their next gig, appearing at halftime of a Football game alongside Destiny’s Child (the film is set in 2003, before Beyonce left her friends behind).

The surreal nature of this rock star treatment is not lost on the men of Bravo Company. It is both intoxicating and repellent. They are joined by an agent, Chris Tucker, constantly on his phone attempting to sell the rights to their story and get the soldiers well compensated. Yet, they are also weary of the agent and the fame that threatens to rob them of the reality of what they experienced in war and all that they lost.

Surreal is a term that best fits Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. Director Ang Lee shot the film at the highest film rate ever used for a mainstream feature film. That said, most of the country will see the movie in standard definition that unquestionably robs the film of the effect Lee is searching for. Lee wants moviegoers to feel how awkward and strange this experience is for the soldiers of Bravo Company by tearing down the cinematic walls to make us feel like we are in these awkward spaces with the soldiers.

You might think, as I first thought, that the high frame rate was intended to make the war scenes more spectacular and realistic but that isn’t the case. The high frame rate actually is combined with the awkward and downright off-putting way that actors address each other by staring directly at the camera to strip away the artifice of film and further put us into the mindset of Billy as he is having these bizarre experiences, going from hand to hand combat in which he killed a man at close quarters to standing behind Beyonce on national television and on to having strangers tell him how his story can be bought and sold.

Forcing us to see Billy so clearly and look directly into the eyes of the people talking to him, as ungodly awkward as that is from the perspective of how movies are traditionally made, unmistakably alters the way in which we experience Billy himself and how we identify with him. From that perspective the casting of newcomer Joe Alwyn also plays a unique role. Alwyn is a blank slate for us to project our own Billy Lynn onto.

Alwyn’s co-stars underline that odd perspective. Steve Martin, Vin Diesel, Kristen Stewart and Chris Tucker are actors that we in the audience already have opinions of and expectations for. We see these performers in specific ways and having them look directly at the camera while they address Billy furthers the surreal nature of the story being told. Yes, it takes us out of the scene but the effect is very much the same thing that Billy himself is feeling, a feeling being displaced from reality,  a place where 

Vin Diesel isn’t the muscle-headed action star but your inspiring Sgt. Where Kristen Stewart is your sister and not the equally beloved and reviled star of Y/A Vampire blockbusters. And finally, it’s a strange place where Chris Tucker and Steve Martin aren’t trying to make you laugh but instead using their oily charm to try and make a movie of you.

I could be over thinking the room on this movie but my genuine belief is that the very things I found incredibly awkward and off-putting were actually the things intended to be awkward and off-putting because they were awkward and off-putting as much to Billy as to us. Yes, in real life, people are supposed to look you in the eye when they speak to you and you to them but not at the movies. When actors look directly at the camera in a movie it is usually intended as a gag. Here, it’s intended to break us away from our passive observance of what is happening on screen, to what is happening to Billy. It’s forceful and pushy and showy but I cannot deny the effect it had on me.

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is weird and surreal and wildly effective in how it connects us to the weird and surreal adventure that the main character is on. Billy Lynn is trapped on a bizarre rollercoaster of emotions from fear to anguish to unwanted celebrity, displacement from his family and deepened connection to his adopted Army family. It’s a never-ending whirlwind of extreme emotions that Billy is forced by duty and training to endure without comment, without overt displays of emotion. That Ang Lee captures that feeling and brings it to us in such a forceful way makes this movie rather brilliant, in an off-putting and uncomfortable sort of way. 

Movie Review Sense and Sensibility

Sense and Sensibility (1995) 

Directed by Ang Lee 

Written by Emma Thompson

Starring Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman

Release Date December 13th, 1995

Published May 14th, 2011

Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility helps me get over my childhood fear of period chick flicks.

Movies are not living things; they don’t grow or change or evolve over time. Once a film is completed it will, generally speaking, be as it is forever. What does change? We do. We age and we mature and our intellect and tastes evolve over time. Our ever-evolving tastes and growing intellect can change the way we experience a movie.

It is with this in mind that I endeavor to look back 10, 20 and 30 years at some of the most well remembered movies of all time and see how my own evolving tastes affect the way I experience these movies. I invite you to join me on this unique journey and offer your own insights ever changing opinions.

Period Chick Flick

Were I to ask my 1995 self about Sense and Sensibility he would have dismissed it as a chick flick. I have no doubt that my naïve, headstrong younger self would have no time for period pieces. Choosing to seek out Sense and Sensibility today in all honesty was a random, flighty decision and not the academic pursuit of a mature film buff that I would have liked it to be.

Regardless of my curious motivations I’m glad I chose to watch this film. The story by Jane Austen transformed by the scripting of the intelligent and insightful Emma Thompson and elegantly captured by the astute camera of director Ang Lee is a cinematic feast.

No Place Like Home

The death of Mr. Dashwood (Tom Wilkinson in cameo) leaves his second wife and three daughters at the mercy of their well meaning but cowardly step-brother John (James Fleet) and his domineering wife Fanny (Harriet Walter). The new Mrs. Dashwood is eager to take hold of her husband’s inheritance, the estate on which Mother Dashwood (Gemma Jones) and her daughter have lived all their lives.

Seeing as neither Elinor Dashwood (Emma Thompson) nor her younger sister Marianne (Kate Winslet) have a suitor, or even a prospective suitor, who might rescue the Dashwood women from their circumstances they are quite lucky to have a distant relative who offers them a cottage on his land to live in.

Secrets and Love Triangles

It’s not that the Dashwood women aren’t desirable. Indeed, Elinor had recently caught the eye of Fanny’s brother Robert (Hugh Grant); an attraction Fanny made sure to interrupt. The mutual ardor between Robert and Elinor is something they both seem aware of but neither can bring themselves to speak of it. That Robert also has a secret that holds him back will be revealed as the story unfolds.

Once decamped to their new cottage home, and after they have weathered the good nature of their hosts the gregarious Sir John Middleton (Robert Hardy) and gossipy Mrs. Jennings (Elizabeth Spriggs), Marianne finds herself the object of the affection of two men; stoic and earnest Col. Brandon (Alan Rickman) and the dashing John Willoughby (Greg Wise).

Engaging and Entertaining

Romantic travails are the main subject of Sense and Sensibilities which doesn’t so much offer a plot as a group of characters and series of experiences. There is a good deal of waiting and wailing; horses and carriages; sewing and piano playing. What makes Sense and Sensibility engaging and entertaining is the witty dialogue and the charm of these wonderful actresses.

Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet have a tremendous sisterly chemistry punctuated by quick clever dialogue that sounds authentic to sisters. The fraught romances ring true to a period where feelings bubbled under masks of propriety and societal expectations. Yes, if certain characters were slightly more forthcoming it would alleviate a good deal of anguish but the characters sell the contrivance.

Elegant and Understated

Finally, Ang Lee’s elegant, understated direction perfectly captures the mood and romance of the period. As Roger Ebert points out in his more mixed review of Sense and Sensibility Ang Lee’s background makes him perfectly suited to give life to this material. Many people in Lee’s home country of China still live by a code of conduct very similar to that of Austen’s period.

There is a scene shortly after Elinor has fallen for Edward. He was supposed to visit the family in their new cottage but he does not come. Lee’s camera slowly backs away from Elinor as if to spare her from the piteous glare of the audience. The subtle suggestion of the camera to the audience that we should not witness Elinor in this way is very moving and evocative of a period where emotions were a great deal more guarded than they are today.

There are a number of subtle moments, like the one I just mentioned, throughout Sense and Sensibility. Lee’s direction is expert in its sensitivity and acute observation of these characters. There are flaws here; the film could stand a bit of a trim from the two hours and fifteen minute run time among other things, but that and other flaws are minor compared to the rich pleasures found in Sense and Sensibility.

Movie Review Lust, Caution

Lust, Caution (2007)

Directed by Ang Lee 

Written by Hui-Ling Wang, James Schamus

Starring Tony Leung, Tang Wei, Anupam Kher, Joan Chen, Wang Leehom

Release Date September 28th, 2007

Published February 14th, 2008 

It is an odd note of history, lost to most Americans who aren't taught this in school, and still a stinging point of contention in mainland China. The fact that Japan had, prior to World War 2, overrun the Chinese mainland and were essentially running large portions of the country that has since risen to superpower status. It is almost unfathomable to the modern mind that this goliath with a population of over 1 billion people was once dominated by their tiny island neighbor. This makes Ang Lee's exceptional Lust, Caution not only an opulent, sexy spy thriller but also an important history lesson.

In hindsight it makes sense. In the mid to late 30's China was a peaceful nation coming of age. When Japan invaded and brought modern weapons and government, some of the loose confederacies of traders and politicians saw an opportunity for power backed by their modernist neighbor and this partnership brought Japan to China. This was the impetus for a Chinese nationalist revolution that would eventually lead to full fledged communism. This is where Lust, Caution picks up. A group of college educated Chinese theater students decide to perform patriotic plays to inspire their countrymen to rise against Japan and their Chinese conspirators.

At first, the group is merely idealistic but as the reality of the violence committed against their countrymen sets in, the group becomes galvanized and talk of political assassination becomes more than just talk. Setting up in Shanghai, in a wealthy district where top Japanese officials and their Chinese co-conspirators live and prosper, the group poses their best actress, Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei), as the bored wife of a wealthy trader. As Mrs. Mak it will be her job to seduce and destroy Mr. Yee (Tony Leung) , a well protected member of the Japanese collaborationist government. It is Mr. Yee who deals, often violently, with those who oppose Japanese involvement in China.

It doesn't take long for Mrs. Mak to get Mr. Yee's attention and soon the two are lovers. Circumstances force the group to break up and Wong Chia Chi flees. Three years later Kuang (Wang Leehom) finds her and offers her the chance to finish the job. She will reassume the role of Mrs. Mak and once again fall into Mr. Yee's bed. The plan works once again but with their relationship rekindled can Wong/Mrs. Mak separate her feelings for her country and her lust for Mr. Yee.

Lust, Caution is a lush, beautifully crafted period piece with the great hook of a spy thriller. Sexy, intriguing and exciting, it's some of Ang Lee's finest direction. Coming off the languid western visuals of Brokeback Mountain, Lee continues to dazzle with eye popping visual delights that deepen the film experience without distracting from it. What Lee has yet to escape is his penchant for lingering just a little too long on scenes after their natural ending. Lust, Caution, like Brokeback Mountain and the Oscar nominated Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, would have benefitted from a tighter edit. That however, is a minor quibble over a film that is far better than most other films in the market.

The aspect of Lust, Caution that has garnered the most attention are the lengthy, athletic sex scenes that earned the film an R-rating. Indeed the scenes are very sexy and some have speculated as to whether the scenes were simulated or real. If the rumor is that it took more than 100 hours to film the many vigorous scenes of love making, let's hope some simulation took place otherwise poor Tang Wei may never walk right again. The scenes are graphic but not terribly overdone. The scenes are sexy with an edge of aggressive violent S & M that underline the tense secrets of these two complex characters.

Though the sex separates Lust, Caution from true comparisons with classic Hollywood thrillers, there is something very old Hollywood in the ways Lee builds the tension in Lust, Caution. As the film builds to its shocking climax you may be surprised how invested you are after having been kept waiting for most of the film's 2 hour 50 minute run time. Lee pulls off the astonishing trick of holding us in place with pretty pictures and erotic sex and then in the final act he amps up a truly tense spy thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat till the stunner ending.

Lust, Caution was a hit at the Cannes Film Festival and was Lee's second winner in a row at the Venice Film Festival. Now finally on DVD Lust, Caution is a must see for fans of fabulous film making and seductive intrigue. It is entirely in Shanghainese and subtitled which I know turns off a lot of you. Trust me when I tell you that investing the time in reading along with Lust, Caution is worth it.

Movie Review Taking Woodstock

Taking Woodstock (2009) 

Directed by Ang Lee 

Written by James Schamus 

Starring Demetri Martin, Emile Hirsch, Eugene Levy, Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Groff

Release Date August 28th, 2009 

Published August 28th, 2009 

The cultural touchstone that is Woodstock has been examined and reexamined in many different forms. Books, TV shows, movies, documentaries, records, have been used to cover every possible angle of this iconic moment in recent American history. So, it is quite notable that director Ang Lee and his writing partner James Schamus have found something of a new angle for their take on Woodstock.

In Taking Woodstock the festival of peace, love and music provides the background for the self exploration of Elliott Teichberg, played by comedian Demetri Martin. Using the concert as the backdrop for a character based story isn't new but the character and the approach to him is something kind of revelatory.

In early August 1969 the organizers of Woodstock found themselves run out of Wallkill New York. Locals pulled the group's festival permit. Luckily for them a young man named Elliott Teichberg happened to have a festival permit and as chairman of the chamber of commerce in tiny Whitelake New York, he had the power to keep it.

A partnership was forged that would change history. Elliott was not meant to be in Whiteside. His parents Sonia (Imelda Staunton) and Jake (Henry Goodman) have run a failing resort in the area for years while Elliott has moved to New York City. When it looked like the place was finally going under, Elliott moved back home.

He became a part of the town and the youngest chamber of commerce chairman in history when he took the risk to bring Woodstock to Whiteside and with it a life changing experience that he could never have envisioned.

I am making Taking Woodstock out to be a little bigger than it is. It's big for Elliott but the story's scale is exceptionally small. Tiny, well observed moments of Elliott Teichberg finding out little things about himself, taking small but escalating risks and dragging his parents, especially his stingy, entrenched mother, along as well.

Some, maybe most, will find Taking Woodstock to be slow, even meandering. For me, the pace was slow but my interest never seemed to wane. Taking Woodstock is a gentle, immersive experience that floats along on a cloud of marijuana smoke and good vibes.

Comic Demetri Martin perfectly captures Elliott's lost soul innocence and longing. He has a wonderful playful spirit hidden behind a nebbish reserve. When he lets loose it's a gentle catharsis perfectly pitched to Ang Lee's waves lapping against the shore pacing.

Yes, Taking Woodstock is slow but it is intended to be slow. It's intended as a gentle study of a gentle man. In that it is highly successful and for me a warm wonderful moviegoing experience. I don't recommend this one to fans of Transformers 2, but for those who enjoy their movies with a little more leisure, Taking Woodstock is the movie for you.

Movie Review Gemini Man

Gemini Man (2019)

Directed by Ang Lee 

Written by David Benioff, Billy Ray, Darren Lemke

Starring Will Smith, Clive Owen, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Benedict Wong 

Release Date October 11th, 2019 

Published October 10th, 2019 

Gemini Man stars Will Smith as Henry Brogan, the world's foremost assassin. We meet Henry in the midst of a mission. Henry is perched on a mountain top waiting for a train. Henry's task is to kill a potential terrorist who is aboard this high speed, moving train. Henry is going to attempt to assassinate his target from 200 yards away while the train is moving. It's a shot only a few people in the world can make and Henry Brogan does not miss. 

Unfortunately, Henry doesn't actually know who this target was. The information given to him by his intelligence handler says the man was a scientist working to create weapons for terrorists. In reality, the man was working for the American government. The assassination of this man has put Henry on someone else's hit list. Henry was set up and to stay safe, he will have to go on the run and try to find the people who set him up. 

Opposite Henry and looking to take him out is Clay Veras (Clive Owen). Veras is Henry's former commander and the man who set Henry up. He's now also in charge of capturing or killing Henry now that he's a fugitive. Veras has a small army at his command as an independent military contractor but he's not going to use it. Instead, Clay has something more unique in mind. 23 years ago, Veras extracted Henry's DNA and set about creating a clone of his best assassin. The goal was to raise a new Henry, one with fewer flaws and no conscience. 

Gemini Man was directed by Ang Lee and produced by Michael Bay from a script by David Benioff (Game of Thrones) and Billy Ray (Shattered Glass). The premise of the film is clever and with Ang Lee at the helm, Gemini Man has a sheen of professionalism and a genuine narrative energy. The look of Gemini Man is crisp and expensive with strong cinematography and the unique look of an Ang Lee movie with his odd angles and use of closeups. 

Late period Will Smith movies showcase Smith's choice to appear dignified at the expense of his charismatic energy. He's still a movie star handsome but less lively and energetic as in his earlier work such as Bad Boys or Men in Black. No longer chasing jokes, Smith is now more eager to appear youthful in action than in spirit. It's a tradeoff that doesn't resonate with me but I understand it. While I might prefer the more lighthearted version of Smith, his late period self-seriousness does lend gravity to the sci-fi lite aesthetic of Gemini Man. 

In Gemini Man we see a youthful Will Smith CGI recreation and it's relatively convincing outside of a couple of rubbery, early 2000's shots. The narrative of the young Henry Brogan, nicknamed Junior by Owen as his surrogate father, is rather apt for who Will Smith is now. It's as if the current Will Smith had had his charismatic, live wire energy bred out of him in order to create a more perfect action star, badass persona. 

Gemini Man is convincing enough in its technology and that lends a strong helping hand to the action which is legitimately pulse-pounding. I was genuinely excited throughout Gemini Man by the big action set pieces, especially chases through Cartagena, Columbia, and Istanbul, Turkey in which young and old Will Smith match each other move for move with the older Smith able to repeatedly out-wit the younger version despite the younger version having superior physicality. 

Strangely, Gemini Man is light on the identity aspect of the story, the one you might expect to drive the plot more. Despite this being an Ang Lee movie with a script by a pair of writers who know a little about crafting characters, Gemini Man appears to be far closer to the vision of Jerry Bruckheimer rather than three authorial voices. The action of Gemini Man is far more at the heart of the movie than any examination of the notion of battling oneself to find peace. 

The theme of identity is so subtle as to only be implied just by the premise. Gemini Man rarely slows down long enough for Henry to think much about what it's like to face a version of himself that is trying to kill him. I appreciate the subtlety to a point. That said, there appears to be a scene missing that might deepen the subtext into something more memorable. Instead, the character of Henry Brogan appears to find it notable that he's facing a clone of himself but not enough for him to spend much time thinking about it. 

The script appears to take the easy way out rather than go into depth about the moral quandaries of being a professional killer. Instead, the movie appears to prefer the moral question of whether cloning is right or wrong, a quaint notion that feels like something from a movie in the 1990's. I'm not saying the argument over genetic cloning has been resolved but it hasn't been top of mind since Dolly the sheep was a thing. Thus why it feels quaint and more than a little bit of a cop out to be the moral crux of Gemini Man. 

It occurs to me now that I am nearing the end of this review that I have not once mentioned actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead who plays the female lead in Gemini Man. So forgettable, underwritten and unnecessary is the character of Danny that I barely remembered to mention her. That's not a commentary on Winstead's performance, she's solid. Rather, it's a commentary on how bereft of interest in female characters that the filmmakers are. 

At a loss to do anything with the character of Danny, since she is not a romantic interest of either Henry or his clone, the filmmakers turn her into a plot convenience, she's there to move things along as needed, or as a nod to the modern aesthetic of the tough chick, the strawman of modern feminine empowerment. Through the character of Danny the filmmakers are saying "Hey look, she can beat up a guy. See, how progressive we are? She may not have complexity but she can do what the boys can do so we can consider ourselves progressive by association." 

That said, I don't hate Gemini Man. It's legitimately well made with a terrific pace and gripping action. Ang Lee is a pro director and the fast paced action kept my attention while the Will Smith characters invested me in their story. I don't think there is much more to Gemini Man than cheap thrills but as cheap thrills go, it's better than many other action movies. Will Smith is still an actor I am eager to watch in a lead role and I still enjoy his personality, even as he has dialed back on the aspects of his personality that I have always found most appealing. 

Gemini Man is worth seeing on the big screen, if there isn't something you are more interested in seeing. It will also be a solid bit of distraction on Blu-Ray, DVD or streaming early next year. 

Movie Review: The Hulk

The Hulk (2003) 

Directed by Ang Lee 

Written by James Schamus, Michael France, John Turman 

Starring Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott, Nick Nolte, Josh Lucas 

Release Date June 20th, 2003 

Published June 19th, 2003 

I don't know much about the comic book version of The Hulk. My only exposure to the big green guy is the goofy live action TV version in which Bill Bixby turned into a green-painted Lou Ferrigno. I'm not familiar with the comic book mythos, his origin story, his powers, and especially his heroic purpose. I'm sure the comic has a dramatic force to it, something that the Incredible Hulk seeks, a goal he hopes to achieve. It is that goal that is missing from Ang Lee's The Hulk, a listless superhero movie without a real hero.

The film version of Hulk's origin begins with Bruce Banner's father David (Nick Nolte, looking worse than his recent mugshot). David is a military scientist working on some potion that, according to the military, is too dangerous to test on humans. Undeterred, David Banner tests the potion on himself. We are not certain what was accomplished until David and his wife have their first child Bruce, who has inherited his father’s altered genetics. David soon realizes he made a terrible mistake, but before he can find a cure for his son, the military shuts him down. So David blows up the facility and returns home where something really bad happens. It's clear to the audience, but young Bruce blocks the memory.

Flash forward and Bruce, in the person of Black Hawk Down's Eric Bana, is working as a scientist on a military base. With his ex-girlfriend Betty Ross and another classmate, Bruce is unknowingly working on the same project his father had begun years earlier, an experiment that uses gamma rays to heal injuries without surgery. What Bruce doesn't know is that his father is back from prison. David Banner has taken a job as a janitor in the lab, not only to see his son but to take revenge on the man who shut down his lab, General Ross (Sam Elliot). Oh, and the General is also Betty's father.

When Bruce's experiment goes bad, he is accidentally sprayed with gamma rays unleashing his heretofore unknown alter ego. Seeing his son for the first time as the Hulk, David Banner sees an opportunity to get his revenge on General Ross. He will manipulate his son's alter ego into destroying everything. That is the basic plot as I understood it, though there is also a quick bit with a military contractor named Talbot (Josh Lucas) who wants to harvest the Hulk's DNA to create super soldiers. However, that is an ineffectual afterthought in a plot full of afterthoughts.

Initially, when I heard director Ang Lee was going to make a so-called art house super hero movie I was excited about the possibility. I was thinking Jekyll and Hyde, a little Frankenstein, maybe even Freud. Unfortunately, I got some of what I was hoping for and I didn't like it. Lee lost the real idea that drives super hero movies and that is escapism. Lee's Hulk is so tortured that I'd rather see him in counseling than a movie. There is this protracted plot point about Bruce's repressed memories of childhood. Specifically about the day his father blew up the army lab. Though we in the audience know exactly what happened, Bruce has blocked it out. The director drags it out so far that we are left screaming the memory at The Hulk. The frustration of waiting for Bruce to unclog his memory lasts almost to the very end of the film.

One of the many problems with The Hulk is its casting of Eric Bana as Bruce Banner and the CGI face of the Hulk. Bana, who was so charismatic and exciting in Black Hawk Down, appears to have had his personality removed. This is likely due to a script that rushes him along even while he sulks like a tortured artist. Bana never communicates anything other than painful exasperation throughout the entirety of The Hulk. Maybe he was attempting to mimic the audience.

My major problem with The Hulk is that there really isn't much of a plot. The Hulk isn't the least bit heroic, save for his fight to save Betty from some vicious genetically-enhanced dogs. For the most part, I was sympathizing with the film’s supposed bad guy, Sam Elliot's General Ross. The General does what any right thinking person would do when a giant superhuman begins going around smashing things and hurting people, he tries to kill it.

Then there is the CGI effects that bring the Hulk to life. Ugh! Sadly the concerns that fans had after the poor showing in the Super Bowl commercial back in January were confirmed. The Hulk never looks like anymore than a video game character. Bana's dull facial expressions on the CGI mug don't help much. It's impressive that a CGI character could be so well integrated into the real life backgrounds but I was far more impressed with the CGI realism in Shrek, where the technology really seemed to be at its peak. Would I have been happier with a big green painted professional wrestler as The Hulk? No, it was dopey looking on the 70's TV show and it would be even dopier now, but this CGI is only slightly more satisfying. 

What The Hulk truly lacks though is dramatic purpose. The film is so wrapped up in Bruce Banner's psychology and Hulk's CGI appearance that they seemingly forgot to give the character something to strive for. Is he looking to cure himself of the Hulk? Does he want to be a superhero? Does he strive to control his new self in order to become a hero? I never understood the reason why I should care about The Hulk. And thus I didn't.