From 'Hulk' to Henry Cavill: Superheroes need a sense of humor

I was a little surprised but not at all disappointed by the news that actor Henry Cavill is (apparently) giving up the role of Superman following some kind of public dispute over his contract with Warner Brothers/DC Comics. If anything, I was surprised by how many dedicated fans his performances as the iconic superhero existed.

For me, his sullen, surly turns were uninspired at best in forgettable or even off-putting movies that will not stand the test of time.

Cavill has been better used in The Man from UNCLE, where his stiffness was played for ironic laughs, and in Mission:Impossible-Fallout, where his physically imposing stature made for a great counterpoint to Tom Cruise's petite explosiveness, but the man is not charming. That's for sure. Which is part of why I cringe when his name is raised amid future 007 speculation.

It's interesting this news coming out when it did, because I happened to have just revisited another charmless (but fascinating failure of a) superhero film -- Ang Lee's infamous unpopular 2003 Hulk.

Now, they is a small but influential chorus of film geeks who have tried to redeem this film (not unlike those who try to argue aspects of the Star Wars prequels have merit) and I can see that temptation to read more into a great director's folly. For instance, I am someone who will defend Popeye and Cruising. But Hulk is no misunderstood masterpiece, it's just a mess.

I see what Lee was trying to do. It's admirable that he wanted to make a Hulk film where the Bruce Banner character's rage as inspired by suppressed childhood trauma.

Christopher Nolan succeeded better just two years later doing the same thing, trying to create a somewhat more realistic, grounded world for his larger-than-life hero (in that case Batman to occupy).

But Lee goes way to far in the sober drama direction, giving lead actor Eric Bana nothing to play but a series of pouts and grimaces. Jennifer Connolly ends up having almost if not more screen time in a performance that feels listless and totally tonally out of place. Curiously the only actor who seems to be having fun in the movie at all is a deliriously over the top Nick Nolte, who is at least entertaining as the nominal villain of the movie.

Sure, the effects aren't great, but that is the least of the movie's sins. Lee employs a silly, busy technique to try to approximate what reading a comic book is like with panels popping up into the scenes and the occasional goofy freeze frame. But there are only really two major action set pieces in the movie, maybe three if you count an uneventful tussle between Bana and peroxided bad guy Josh Lucas.

I agree that the fanboy hatred of the movie was probably more intense than the Lee film warranted, but I also don't blame people for being disappointed. A movie about a giant green monster should be somewhat self aware and at least a little funny.

I'm not talking about the self-satisfied Deadpool style of humor or the pained, forced quips of Justice League, but maybe some of the lovable silliness of the early Christopher Reeve Superman films.

Even Nolan's Batman movies and this year's Black Panther have some legitimate big laughs in them. These movies are clearly here to stay -- until the marketplace finally gets its fill -- so if we are going to keep sitting through these products (and of course, that's what they are) they could at least keep us laughing, so we don't think about the fact that we're being had as much.