The first thought that crossed my mind during the opening scenes of the Incredible Hulk was Bill Bixby. Though the memory is almost gone, it was the TV series Bruce Banner whom I thought of - his eyes when he goes berserk; his ‘you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry’ remark; and that Gamma experiment which as I recall also happened in a lab and a chair similar to this 2008 incarnation.

My guess is that in Marvel’s desire to erase the negativity of the first film they reverted to some old formulas. Edward Norton’s Bruce Banner reminded me somewhat of Bill’s because he was a man on the run; weighed down by his conscience because he injured some loved ones; and perpetually scared that the monster created from the Gamma experiment will rise again.

Ironically, I like this incarnation of the Hulk because Bruce Banner has some fighting spirit. He has learned methods of self control but when he’s pissed he’s pissed – not much anyone can do there.

Compared to Eric Bana (Hulk 2003), I like Edward Norton better as Bruce Banner. He has more of that scientist quality, or maybe a geek is the right term. Norton, perhaps in large part due to the script, has a clearly defined Bruce Banner compared to Bana’s: he is a man on the run, a scientist frustrated in not finding a cure. I know who Edward Norton is and I am into the story.

Former Lord of the Rings star Liv Tyler is on hand as the unlucky love interest of the Hulk a.k.a Bruce Banner. I said unlucky because she always seems to be crying which is understandable considering her problem.

Over all she delivered her role well as Betty Ross but I am not totally sold, as they say, with her scenes together with Edward Norton. I feel their pain alright but I am just feeling the love. Probably it’s because I am still for 2003’s Betty Ross, Jennifer Connelly.

William Hurt (General Ross), Tim Blake Nelson (Samuel Sterns), and Tim Roth (Emil Blonsky/Abomination) round up the rest of the important characters. All are able actors and all played their roles well for this film.

My biggest reservation of the film by far is the effects especially regarding the Hulk. He seemed too light and agile for a monster his size, maybe for a monster period. Sometimes I think this version – the Hulk character – is too human.

But over all Incredible Hulk (2008), is more loyal to the comic that the 2003 version. It is full of action, scenes are nicely paced; its characters well defined, you’ll know where everyone is. Personally I really liked the cat and mouse game Banner does with the government, including this whole story line of the monster within. I was really a fan of Bill Bixby’s Hulk growing up. Subsequently to Lou Ferigno’s too…no CGI can replicate him (as Hulk).

It’s not a sure thing to adapt a work of literature on the big screen, more so a comic book hero. Fans often judge harshly.

But judging by the ticket sales and the recent release of a third sequel in local theaters, Spider-Man has passed with flying colors the judgment of millions of fans.

A hero with no desire, maturity, or the time to save the world, Spider-Man was created, Stan Lee recalled, with approach unlike established heroes like Superman, who was born perfect, and Batman, who had trained all his life.

What highschool kid would have time for such things? Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) certainly did not have time nor care as the start of the film has shown. He was barely surviving the highschool social scene. He was bullied; he can’t talk to the girl he loves; hell, even the school bus driver was picking on him.

As expected, when Parker was bitten by a genetically modified spider (radioactive spider from the comics) and given extraordinary powers, he never thought of the greater good. His though processes remained the same: win the heart of Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst).

As read in the comic books, Parker entered a wrestling match to win some money to buy a car thinking that having one would win the smile of his biggest crush. It was a decision that was soon to change his life. Having disagreed with the wrestling manager on the issue of prize money, Parker refused help in apprehending a robber. That robber to his greatest regret shot dead his beloved Uncle Ben.

“With great power comes great responsibility,” words of wisdom from Uncle Ben, kept repeating like a broken record in Parker’s grief. Had the robber been stopped then Ben Parker would have been alive. From then on in, Peter Parker gave full dedication to his alter ego as Spider-Man, hoping to prevent tragedies like those of his uncle to happen again.

There are no big twists in this movie, and perhaps it is what endeared it to the fans the most.

Over-all it was perfect casting and Tobey Maguire as the lead was best of all. He was the perfect cast for the lead Peter Parker looking boyish, nerdy, but most of all he was an unknown. People may go gaga over Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, or Leonardo Dicaprio (who was reportedly once considered as Peter Parker) but casting them would make in a great Pitt movie and not a great story. That is wisdom in picking unknown actors for movies.

Script-wise the film passed with flying colors as well. It was always about the struggle of Peter Parker in using the powers he never wanted. When he was in highschool we saw him giving in to his temper against bullies and enter a wrestling match for money.

Outside of highschool his struggle was even more pronounced. Without the cruel social stratifications (nerds, jocks, cheerleaders…) he thought he could get what he wanted, which was most of all the heart of Mary Jane. But as expected Parker’s alter ego got the better of him, unable to provide time and attention, he saw the love of his life being dated by his best friend. In addition to that he has had no choice but to work for an obnoxious editor who keeps calling Spider-Man a menace.

He literally had nothing to smile about in the entire film, but he still does what he does. It all played out well, the characters, the actors, the script, the effects, everything.

People read the comics and admire the heroes who wear their briefs over their pants for doing the impossible. Sure it’s fun to fly and make the Earth spin clockwise or have amazing gadgets on your belt. What makes this story great is in trying to put as close to reality heroism is.

Spider-Man is about doing what you can, sharing what you can, because it is the right thing to do. It is, as Stan Lee puts it, about the average guy: all of us.

I love this soundtrack of Spider-man I. It has a nice tune, and at least from the title it was a perfect fit to one of the best big screen adaptations of a comic book hero.

Reading the lyrics however is confusing. There is this line “Watch as we all fly away”. At first glance it sounded like a man on a retreat; it reminds you of cowardice and fear, something that is never the trait of heroes.

I was reading it over and over and I thought this can’t be right.

But then I remembered one interview of Stan Lee I saw in the Discovery channel. He was one of many speakers in a feature about popular comic book heroes. Stan Lee was one of the speakers (the main one I think) in Spider-man.

The webslinger, Stan Lee said, is different from the rest because he never wanted the responsibility. Superman was born super, and Batman trained his life for revenge. Peter Parker is just struggling to pass school and get the eye of Mary Jane.

Remember the famous line, “with great power comes great responsibility”? To us it sounds like an advice or a sermon, that if we may find ourselves with power or in the advantage, we have the responsibility to share and care for others. For Spiderman, however, it is a [painful] reminder not to be irresponsible so that no one may experience what he had gone through with Uncle Ben.

So if we go by Stan Lee’s rationale of the Spider-man, the theme song Hero works in a way like reverse psychology. People crave for heroes, people pray for heroes, but no one wants to step forward. The song does not advocate heroism but points out the lack of volunteers. Spider-man does not want to step forward either, in fact he called his powers “a curse”... yet he tries. That’s all we can hope for I think, someone who will step forward.

Why wait for a hero when it is us?

Long time ago, heroes and villains were so clearly defined that there was an observation – at least for westerns – that good guys always wear white hats and bad guys wear black. It is not so with today’s movie heroes, particularly in Ghost Rider, where the hero not only doesn’t wear a hat, but he looks like he came from the very depths of hell.

And he got that hellish look was for good reason, the Ghost Rider started out as the Devil’s henchman; a sort of ‘bounty hunter’ in search of damned souls, or whatever dirty work requires him to do. Oscar winner Nicholas Cage plays the role of Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle daredevil who sold his soul to Mephistopheles (the devil played by Peter Fonda) in order to save a dying father. But, as often warned on Sunday regarding such deals, the devil double-crossed Blaze by killing the father few moments after being cured. From that moment on Blaze wandered world making a name for himself as a daredevil; but was always in fear of the day when Mephistopheles might collect.

Mephistopheles did collect years after, enlisting Blaze to fight Blackheart, who had mounted a personal war for the leadership of hell. It was at this point that Blaze became the Ghost Rider. A slave at first, Blaze slowly controlled the demon in him with the help of a graveyard caretaker, who as it turned out, was a Ghost Rider himself during the 1800s. He defeated Blackheart and declared his independence from Mephistopheles; crediting his advantage as “having the ability to walk both worlds”.

The movie’s highpoint is its magnificent special effects. Comic fans – and this maybe true of all fans of any fictional character born in print – will not be disappointed in seeing Ghost Rider appear on the big screen. Along with a motorcycle, the Ghost Rider wore a black leather jacket. He would have looked like a typical rider so popularize in films, except that he had a skull instead of a head and – like his bike - it was in flames.

My favorite scene was when the Rider rode his bike, vertically, up a building and as he rode along flames nearby objects was bursting in flames. It was a scene that was both seductive and eerie. I’m sure a still picture of the scene it would be on top of a comic fan’s wish list to hang over their bedroom wall. It was that spectacular.

But over all I did not like the movie too much because the plot was very predictable. The movies The Prophecy and Constantine both had a hell in ‘civil war’. And because of the precedents that I have mentioned I could always guess what will happen next.

Ghost Rider is another in my long list films that failed its potentials. It could have been a nice story of redemption. After all, what is more challenging than redeeming soul sold to the devil? Sadly it did not end up that way. Throughout the film Blaze looked liked a lost child in search of an identity than the devil’s henchman gaining back his humanity Even when he achieved the Rider persona, he never showed that he was truly evil. He never had a conflict with which he could overcome, and because of that, the film has lost its kick.

What a waste. . . The Rebel Biker look was working so well.