BEFORE: No, that's not an incomplete title - this is a direct-to-DVD animated film that I picked up, and since it's on my shelf, it counts as a movie and it goes on my list. The connection to last night's film is animated green superheroes - and the mention of Loki in "The Mask" turns into a nice little accident.
THE PLOT: Two stories featuring Marvel's anti-hero The Incredible Hulk and his encounters with the X-Man Wolverine and the god known as Thor.
AFTER: After watching this, I'd wager that the idea to merge the two stories into one DVD release came after realizing that neither story was strong enough to release on its own. Both shorts continue the annoying comic-book practice of dropping the viewer/reader into the middle of the story (the "splash-page" effect), then back-tracking to explain how we got there. You know what? People are usually willing to allow for a story build-up, you comic writers don't need to trick us into reading further into the book...
I once had an interview at Marvel Comics - I can't really call it a job interview, since there was no position I was applying for - but a friend wrangled interviews for himself and me, and I ended up in a meeting with Tom DeFalco, who was editor-in-chief at the time, and also the (hack) writer of two Marvel comics, Fantastic Four and Thor. This was a blatant conflict of interest, since as editor-in-chief he was the boss of his own editor, who therefore couldn't properly critique his stories - so they were crap.
I remember him saying something about how "action equals story", and months later I realized this was the point in the interview where I should have corrected him. Obviously there should be more to a story than just action - character development, motivations, story arcs, turning points - but who can blame me, since this guy's comics were ALL action. I think he really believed that if you just include a couple killer fight scenes, you've got yourself a comic book. Technically yes, but it's only part of what you could be doing in the medium.
I bring this up because the first story here, "Hulk vs. Wolverine", is all action and no story. Yes, it's a fanboy's dream to see Hulk battling Wolverine, but do they have to BOTH be mindless berzerkers? The story is loosely based on the storyline of Incredible Hulk #181, the first meeting of the two characters. Most people don't know that Wolverine started out as a minor villain in the Hulk's comic - since the Hulk is sort of an anti-hero, it was easy to turn Wolverine into a hero when he proved to be popular. But after the requisite fight scene, both heroes united to fight the evil Wendigo - who doesn't appear in this film, since cannibalism is a tough sell for a kid's film...
Instead we see the remnants of the Weapon X program, namely Sabretooth, Deadpool and Omega Red, who've never worked together in the comics, to my knowledge. There are also flashbacks to Wolverine's creation in the Weapon X labs, similar to the scenes in Marvel Comics Presents #73-84, the first peek at his origin tale. But there are so many flashbacks here, it's hard to assemble any kind of narrative timeline - another problem common in today's comics. It seems that no one can tell a story in proper sequence any more, or else that's seen as too boring somehow.
I'm assuming this was intended a loose tie-in with "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", which I'm planning to watch next week. My father-in-law was watching that movie tonight while we were visiting, but I tried my best to tune it out, so I wouldn't see the ending of that film before I see the beginning...
The second story here, "Hulk vs. Thor" has a bit more weight to it, as Loki, Thor's evil step-brother, brings the Hulk to Asgard at the time of the Odinsleep, when Thor's father takes a week-long nap to rejuvenate his power, and the realm is momentarily vulnerable to trolls and frost giants. But again, we're dropped into the middle of the story instead of the beginning. (Doesn't anybody here know how to play this game?)
Loki's compatriot, the Enchantress, separates Bruce Banner from the Hulk, and Loki tries to control the mindless beast in order to defeat Thor and thus attack Asgard. But the Hulk, minus Banner, turns out to be more than even a god can control, and Thor and Loki have to find a way to re-unite the man and the monster, and back to Midgard (Earth to you non-Norse people)
More Hulk to follow later today - I'm doubling up by dropping these shorter animated films in as extras in the countdown, because I want to get ahead in the count - since I'll be away for 5 days in July at Comic-Con.
RATING: 5 out of 10 flagons of mead
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