When I left the movie theater Friday night after seeing Hulk, I remarked to my brother that I loved it--and I'll bet 90% of the people who see it will hate it.

As many have said, this is not your typical comic book movie. In interviews before the release of Hulk, both he and Nick Nolte were constantly harping on how the vision of the Hulk in this movie would be that of Greek tragedy.

On that count, they succeeded. It's almost as though Ang Lee went back in time with a boatload of Hulk books and gave them to Sophocles to read and write a play about. All of the Greek elements are here: the fatal flaw in the great man, and the flaw affecting his children and those around him.

I have to say, it's certainly an interesting take on the Hulk, and for the most part, it works. Like most of Ang Lee's films, it's quiet, subtle, and it takes its time to develop. Actually, it takes a little too much time to develop. I think a good 10-15 minutes could have been taken out of the front without too much being lost. That said, one thing I did really like was Ang Lee's innovative editing style--split panels from different angles and wipes almost morphing one scene to another. It was like reading an animated, dynamic comic book. Very cool.

My only real complaint about the movie is that Ang Lee turned the Hulk into a combination of King Kong and the movie version of Frankenstein's monster. A quiet, gentle soul who just wants to be left alone. This Hulk was peaceful, and not really dangerous at all. You're almost left wondering why anyone wouldn't want to be the Hulk. I thought that this made the story of the Hulk lose some of its power. After all, one of the things that makes the Hulk such a compelling character is the fact that the Hulk is a wild animal full of rage and the dark emotions that we all struggle to keep controlled inside of us. In his effort to make the Hulk a Greek tragedy, Ang Lee ended up losing some of the Hulk's power.

But, minor flaws aside, I have to congratulate Ang Lee on making a truly innovative and interesting comic book movie. I'm glad that he decided to move from the traditional action story that typifies most comic book movie fare and instead try something new, dark, and dramatic.