\"...if the Hulk was actually The Hulk and not some green goofball in a lab coat.\"
This shows that you tend to put character development below action. This movie showcases the peak of nearly all the characters and their development (I say \"nearly\" because there were some like Ant-man, Spider-man and even Captain Marvel that didn\'t get the time required to develop). Taking your example and building from it: Hadn\'t they done this then they would have to have shown how all the development between the Hulk/Banner was for naught because they didn\'t arrive at a compromise. They simply didn\'t change. What kind of character development is that?.
@megagutsman
"This shows that you tend to put character development below action."
Exactly.
Facetiousness aside, that "character development" happens off-screen. And Professor Hulk, for all intents and purposes, looks like Bruce Banner with Hulk's body. It feels less like a compromise and more like Banner just taking over completely. If he doesn't get angry and smash stuff, even in the slightest, then he's not the Hulk.
If he doesn't get angry and smash stuff, even in the slightest, then he's not the Hulk.
The comic would have to disagree.
@Theokal 3 Maybe, but I haven't read the comics.
@Ninja 857142 \"that \"character development\" happens off-screen.\"
Not at all. Most of it happens on-screen. Just notice how the personality of the Hulk changes from his earlier apparitions. He stops being overtly angry and unreasonable, as can easily be seen in both Age of Ultron and Ragnarok.
After all of his development it was obvious the next step was to show how both he and Banner reach a compromise and they did so in the way you described, a way that, if I may add, we usually call an Split Personality Merge, the result of that being an smarter Hulk.
@megagutsman Alright, lets analyze the Hulk.
The Hulk of Thor: Ragnarok, as far as I can tell, was a glory-seeking Blood Knight who described himself as a "raging fire." Yes, he could be reasoned with, but he still liked to smash stuff while roaring.
I didn't see any of that come through in Endgame. It looked like purely Banner's calm, intellectual personality. If the Hulk changed, it was off-screen.
Professor Hulk was calmer and happier because he was in a better state in his life (the only one in Endgame). He's probably the angriest at BW's sacrifice, but we never see him engage in a prolonged battle to showcase his rage in a fight. That said, it was a bummer that it monstly happened offscreen. It seems this was the end goal all along, but originally we were gonna get more Hulk movies (Ragnarok is basically squeezing Planet Hulk into it and World War Hulk is non-existant) before finally reaching this end to his development.
@marcellX If I recall correctly, Joss Whedon once alluded to "THE fist-pumping moment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe" involving the Hulk. Sadly, it seems it never came.
@Ninja 857142 I admit that the merging in itself was out-off-screen (and that's something they can still fix by releasing a new movie about that specifically, I mean, the MCU doesn't always go in chronological order, if we can take Captain Marvel as an example) but is not like something like that was never hinted at and that the path to Professor Hulk hadn't been created.
"The Hulk of Thor: Ragnarok, as far as I can tell, was a glory-seeking Blood Knight who described himself as a "raging fire.""
You are only remembering the action-packed scenes (a reason why I said that action scenes leave a bigger impact for you than character arcs). I can easily remember scenes were Hulk, unlike himself in older movies, would receive insults and instead of exploding in rage he would simply bawl somewhere alone or where he would simply speak his mind without exploding into a rage (example: When Thor told him that all earthlings hated him), the original Hulk would have tried to destroy Thor for saying that, but not this one. If there was any point in which Banner would accept to give Hulk the keys and let him drive it was after Ragnarok. It also helps that Thanos taught Hulk the true meaning of fear after their fight.
@megagutsman I remembered those scenes. That's why I mentioned that Hulk could be reasoned with. His off-screen change and lack of action scenes in Endgame is still disappointing.
Any new movies would be overdue for me; I don't have much excitement left.
@Ninja 857142 \"...and lack of action scenes in Endgame is still disappointing.\"
Oh, I don\'t know, I think he already did enough to defeat Thanos in his own clever way. You don\'t always need to kill a villain to be able to defeat them. That\'s just how I see things. Or maybe is just that I am also an Ace Attorney fan and can accept somebody using their brains as an acceptable way to defeat a villain.
@megagutsman It's an Avengers movie. Hulk Smash is what I came for.
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MCU Rehash (Rereview)
Well, my last review was weak. Let's try that again.
I remember losing my mind as a teen when I first saw the Hulk punch out a colossal alien beast. The Avengers was a glorious celebration of superhero movies and action, an elite few taking on waves of an overwhelming army. I eagerly anticipated and enjoyed the incredible action setpieces in the films that followed, particularly Winter Soldier and Civil War. They were well-done, energetic blockbuster movies that poured millions of dollars into fun superpowered fight scenes.
So my expectations for Avengers: Endgame, the advertised conclusion to this saga of films, would naturally transcend hype. The movie overall can be divided into parts as follows:
The first act reintroduces the washed-up heroes after their previous failure, milking them for all the tragedy and comedy they're worth.
The second act is a Time Travel sightseeing tour of past events and characters, dripping with nostalgia and satire.
The last act is the Final Battle and Denouement, wrapping up character arcs and broadly setting up future ones. The action mostly goes for a quantity over quality approach, with the heroes showing their stuff in relatively simple, predictable ways against Mooks and one-dimensional bad dudes all seen before, swiftly taken down with greater ease than before.
With all this in mind, how much you'll enjoy it ultimately hinges on how invested you are in the characters and mythos of the MCU as a whole. And I gradually discovered... I wasn't very. Beyond "fun action movie," there was little nostalgia to be found. And it was when I realized this that I understood my disappointment.
Maybe I'd have been a bit more nostalgic, if the Hulk was actually The Hulk and not some green goofball in a lab coat.