Finally, the Hulk is done right. Five years after the first Hulk
film, the angst-ridden mess directed by Ang Lee, The Incredible Hulk brings back
the big green guy for another cinematic adventure with plenty of style and with
just the right amount of comic book fun. Taking place five years after the first
movie, The Incredible Hulk finds Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) still hiding out
in South America, trying desperately to find a cure for his big green rage. But
an accidental spill of Banner’s irradiated blood into one of the drinks at
the bottling factory makes a customer in the USA sick--resulting in a funny
cameo by Stan Lee--which sends up the sort of red flag that General Thunderbolt
Ross (William Hurt) is looking for.
Ross has been hunting for Banner since he left the States, and now that he’s
tracked him down in Brazil, Ross sends in a squad of special ops soldiers, led
by Major Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), a Russian-born special forces soldier from
England, who get the shock of their lives once they make Banner very, very angry.
The special effects are better than the Lee film; the Hulk looks much more
naturalistic, but part of the reason the Hulk looks better is the smart manner
in which director Louis Leterrier stages the main Hulk-out scenes. The first
time we see the Hulk, it’s strictly from Blonsky’s POV, and the big green
machine never looked more menacing, or scary.
Liv Tyler very nicely rounds out the cast as Betty Ross, the General’s daughter
and Bruce’s former lover. Screenwriter Zak Penn does a great job in keeping
Betty directly involved in the proceedings, without making her involvement feel
too forced. The Incredible Hulk is just more enjoyable overall than the
original film, as it recalls the original Marvel Comics, as well as the TV show
with Bill Bixby (the filmmakers even manage to work in a nice little tribute to
the late Bixby--as well as having the TV Hulk, Lou Ferrigno appear in a cameo,
and supply the voice of the monstrous Hulk). In addition to staging some great
action scenes, Leterrier even manages to work in some nice comedic moments as well.
Like the Lee Hulk film, this Hulk movie also has a great cast. Norton is superb
as Banner; making it very easy to root for this sympathetic character as he
struggles to find a cure while dealing with life as a fugitive. And Tyler is
also very good, as well. Hurt plays General Ross here as more of a villain, and
it works. Tim Blake Nelson is also excellent as a potential future baddie, and
Roth is always watchable. The sequel is really more of a reboot, with a new cast
and revitalized story that eventually pits the Hulk against the Abomination, an
old enemy from the comics. This leads to a final battle scene in the streets of
Harlem that’s impressively staged. But The Incredible Hulk is pretty impressive
as a whole, and I look forward to the jolly green giant’s cinematic return.
--SF
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