In a word? Destruction

The story served it’s purpose… to propel Banner further and further down the line, into the cross-hairs of the obsessive Thunderbolt Ross and his legion of nameless soldiers, and to change into the Hulk. The villains did their job; giving Green Jeans someone to smash. But in the end, people don’t go to a Hulk movie to get tender feelings of joy and self-fulfillment – they go to watch things get smashed.

And on that note, the movie succeeded. Collateral damage… what’s that? Do we care they are smashing humvee’s into parked civilian cars, or shooting .50 caliber rounds into crowded apartment buildings in a residential area? Heck no… there are big ugly things on the loose in Harlem, and we must shoot at them!

I’m glad the movie made money this weekend, and I’m hoping it will make more money in the following weeks. Because then maybe they can come back with a sequel that has a little more thought, a smidge more character development and (God forbid) a plot with some meat to it.

But more than that, hopefully they’ll find more things for Hulk to demolish!

’nuff said…

OK, we all know I love the Hulk. The green Goliath always held a soft spot in my heart, simply because as a kid, he was everything I wasn’t. Big, strong, and able to crush anything in his path.

When I got older, however, the story of the Hulk came to represent the battle that we all have, of suppressing the anger and hatred inside of us… and the constant conflict of doing the right thing, rather than just destroying everything around us.

Now that I’m a father, the Hulk now stands for both of these. I want to expose my sons to the things I loved as a kid, and enjoy the spectacle of a nine-foot green monster trashing tanks. But at the same time it’s important to me that they understand how important it is to control and be victorious over their own inner demons. And also that they need to understand that, even though sometimes we are all capable of destruction, we are also capable of greatness.

But tomorrow when we go see the Hulk movie, all I really want to watch Hulk smash stuff!

1) The Incredible Hulk Movie: As those who know me are aware, I love the big Green guy. He’s one of my all-time favorite super-heroes (and I loves me some Super-Heroes), and so I am totally jazzed about this movie coming out. I’ve already been obsessively scouring the internet watching all the advance clips and trailers I can (many of them more than once), and I’ve been to Target and bought all the Hulk-related merchandise I think my wife will let me get away with.

Will the movie suck? Honestly, I don’t know. I think the fanboy discussion forums are already full of postulations and theories on this issue. Do I really care? Nope. I’m going to be in the line on opening night to see it, dragging my wife along with me, and I will happily pay my nine bucks to watch ol’ Jade drawers beat the crap out of… anything that gets in his way.

‘Nuff Said!

2) 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons: I’m an old school nerd. Table-top Role-Playing Games is still for me a great time. Although kids these days (and I feel SO VERY OLD saying it like that) prefer to have their rules doled out in computer simulated rules engines. I still enjoy dice and maps and pre-painted miniature figures to live out my fantasy life as a wizard, warrior, dwarf or what-have-you.

There’s only one problem: My regular gaming group is back in Colorado, with all the remnants of my old life. I haven’t gotten the balls to start a in-the-flesh gaming group here yet. Part of me wants to brave the unwashed denizens of the comic shop in Provo, but I wither under their date-less stares, being self-demoted to part-time RPG hobbyist.

But that hasn’t stopped me from pre-ordering the core books on Amazon.com to be delivered to my doorstep early next week. It hasn’t prevented me from creating my very own campaign world, complete with centuries-old histories, complex religions and secret societies. And it hasn’t stopped me from boring my poor wife to tears with the details of it all.

Even though I wish I could co-erce my teenage nephews into experimenting with some good old P-n-P gaming, I am resigned to the fact that, for now at least, my D&D fantasies will have to be resigned to that of internal daydreams.