Reviews

Take John Carpenter's version of The Thing, lower the quality of acting, throw in some CGI, and change the hero to a heroine, and you have the 2011 version. This movie does not improve upon Carpenter's version (or the original, really) and there was no valid reason to make it other than to make another buck off the story. It's a modern day monster movie that lacks the creepiness and the level of paranoia that Carpenter's version masterfully brought to the big screen. You'd do much better to give Carpenter's version another watch (even if you've already seen it a dozen times), rather than waste your time with this mediocre remake.

First let me quickly explain that I am a serious, major Hulk fan. When I was a kid, I watched the TV show, I had over 200 Hulk comics, a Hulk bicycle, a Hulk Stretch Armstrong, Hulk action figures, you name it, I had it. I actually believed the Hulk was real for a couple years after finding out there was no Santa. So a Hulk movie had better seriously deliver for me to accept it. And this one rocks.

You may or my not consider the following spoilers. I don't give away any of the plot, but I do mention some of the cameos and other neat stuff you will see in the movie...

Director Louis Leterrier is a genius and does a bang up job of catering to old school fans. Lou Ferrigno, who played the Hulk in the TV show, has a cameo and does the voice of the Hulk as well. Bill Bixby (Banner from the TV show) is seen on TV in an episode of "The Courtship of Eddy's Father." We seen Jim Wilson (Hulk's sidekick from the comics) and Jack McGee (Hulk's nemesis from the TV show) as young college students. They play the Lonely Man Theme (the end music on the TV show) during one scene. There is at least one shot that is straight out of one of the old Hulk graphic novels (fans will recognize this shot when the Hulk rages on the edge of a cliff at the lightening at thunder). There's the purple pants from the comics, the line "don't make me angry" from the TV show, the infamous Hulk hand slap, and many more. My favorite nod though is the Hulk's final line (he only has two or three) at the very end during the fight with the Abomination. I won't give it away here, but serious fans will cheer when he says it.

The directing is wonderful, the visuals are amazing, the acting is nothing phenomenal, but everyone does a great job; it's just an all around solid comic book action flick that entertains from beginning to end and flawlessly delivers for serious fans of the Hulk.

If I had one complaint it would be that they messed with the origins of both the Hulk and the Abomination. But the movie does not focus on the Hulk's origin, which borrows slightly from the TV show, and the Abomination's origin is interesting enough and acceptable. Even with this flaw, I still have to give the movie a perfect 10 because the flaw was handled gracefully and it is so obvious that Louis Leterrier went above and beyond with his efforts to satisfy hardcore fans in every other aspect.

If you're a fan of the Hulk or Edward Norton or Tim Roth or just action movies, this one should satisfy nicely. If you are indeed a Hulk fan, watch for all those nods to the comics and TV show. They're around every corner.

This was a "straight to DVD" and it shows. The dialogue ranges from OK to pretty bad at times, the acting is nothing special but acceptable, and the directing is mediocre. I almost turned the movie off 30 minutes into it, but I'm a big Stephen King fan, so I thought I'd stick it out. It actually picks up and gets more interesting about halfway through. It's still not fantastic, but the second half has a satisfying Edgar Allan Poe twist to it and is fairly entertaining.

If you are a major fan of Stephen King and/or Edgar Allan Poe and you're short of new movies to watch, give Dolan's Cadillac a shot. If you're still watching when you hit the halfway point, you'll surely enjoy the rest even more.

I'm a serial killer buff. I've read every bio I can get my hands on, including Henry Lee Lucas' bio. My main problem with this movie is the liberties they took, for whatever reason. For instance, in real life, Henry met Becky when she was 12, that's when their sexual relationship began. In the movie, they don't meet until she's 15, and when she comes on to him, he shys away. Very wrong. Then Henry kills Otis when he catches them together. When in reality, Otis died in prison years after all these events took place. Henry didn't kill him. Thats not a detail you can just dismiss. Not if you're looking for at least a fairly true account of the life of Henry Lucas.

There is also no mention of Otis' past as an arsonist. That's what he was big on when he and Henry met.

Henry also seems to be humanized to a level that was beyond the real Henry Lee Lucas. While Roker does a great job, Lucas was never as human and emotional as he portrays him to be.

I can excuse that and any small details that they want to change. But major plot errors like the nature of Lucas' relationship with Becky and the killing of Otis I cannot excuse. If you're going to make a movie about real people, you need to get the story straight. Otherwise, choose a fictional story to make a movie about. Buffs like me don't appreciate writers/directors changing history.

This movie does not stand alone well enough to be a good movie and buffs will not appreciate the story being manipulated. I give it a 5/10.