Review: The Incredible Hulk

Is The Incredible Hulk supposed to be a sequel, a remake or a reboot? The answer to that question is never clear, as the origins of the Hulk have been slightly tweaked in an all too brief flashback sequence during the opening credits, but some of the film’s events do bear some relation to Ang Lee’s Hulk, which will keep the continuity fans happy.

Once again, Bruce Banner is laying low in South America, while General Ross remains hopelessly dedicated to the search of the gamma-irradiated ogre and Betty is still the object of Bruce’s affections. As the US military track down their target and deploy armed forces to Brazil’s favelas, Bruce becomes a fugitive constantly trying to outrun his pursuers and, crucially, avoid getting angry.

What The Incredible Hulk does so differently from its predecessor (the ill-fated, Ang Lee-helmed Hulk) is deliver thrills and entertainment at reasonable intervals. Whereas once we were exposed to overlong Freudian musings on childhood trauma, French director Louis Letterier treats us to chase sequences, gratuitous “Marvelverse” references between Hulk-outs and a villain to boo and hiss at in the form of Emil Blonsky, aka The Abomination. It is a safe formula which will appease both comic-book geeks and the mainstream crowd.

Edward Norton not only succeeds in making Bruce Banner a likeable protagonist, but should also be credited as a screenwriter for inserting a few welcome laughs in a script about a consistently humourless superhero. It’s just a shame the rest of the cast never play to their full potential. Liv Tyler is one-dimensional as Betty Ross, William Hurt’s Ross is a caricature of the gruff General and Tim Blake Nelson has very little screen-time to impress as the enjoyably giddy Samuel Stern. Meanwhile Tim Roth, switched into full-villain mode as the power-crazed Blonsky, has to contend with the film’s worst dialogue.

Nevertheless, this is a film content with being a fun, entertaining movie about a green giant who enjoys smashing whatever comes his way. In fact chances are that whenever the Hulk is roaring and charging furiously at the screen your pulse will hit 200 too. Yet there remains the feeling that something extra could have been added to the final product just to make the experience a little more memorable. Had Leterrier’s knock-out action been combined with Ang Lee’s artistic savvy, then maybe The Incredible Hulk would have emerged as a special, unique comic book beast.

 

3/5