The Incredible Hulk (2008)
The Incredible Hulk
Directed By: Louis Leterrier
Cast: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt
Reviewed By: Ken Mooney
Rating: Four-Out-Of-Five Bananas
Batman Begins really raised the bar a few years ago in terms of superhero remakes (okay, truth be told, nothing can ever beat Adam West’s shot at a Batman movie…but that was long before the 90s and Joel Schumacher gave us George Clooney in rubber in a way that would never wash out of our minds no matter how hard we tried.) To keep things fair though, I’ll try to avoid comparing The Incredible Hulk to Ang Lee’s Hulk (or the late 70s TV series) except for saying one thing: IT’S MUCH BETTER (to a certain extent…)
Following so hot on the heels of Iron Man it’s surprising it hasn’t gotten burnt by his thruster boots, The Incredible Hulk is this summer’s second superhero offering from Marvel Studios: while re-imagining elements of Lee’s Hulk, it’s something of a sequel, but if you’re in any way au fait with Marvel’s comic universe, you’ll recognise that The Incredible Hulk is the most recent addition to a rich tapestry building on the foundations that Iron Man set only a few weeks ago.
In case you don’t know the story, Bruce Banner (Norton) is involved in a lab accident and now, when he gets angry (or hungry, if we’re to believe the film…you’ll get the reference when you see it) turns into the Hulk (C. G. Imagery.) He flees, unable to deal with the pain he’s caused his colleague and girlfriend Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) while pursued by General Ross, Betty’s father (Hurt) who claims that the Hulk is property of the government and a weapon he intends to use, recruiting super-soldier (and soon to be Supersoldier) Emil Blonsky (Roth) in his quest to hunt Banner down.
It’s all a bit cat-and-mouse, potentially boring stuff, but thankfully The Incredible Hulk pays off in action scenes that were painfully missing from Iron Man and Hulk (Blonsky even has the decency to count us down, in case we’ve lost track.) Impressively, the action isn’t too CGI-dependant either, with one of the best scenes involving the Hulk fighting an enhanced (and very human) Blonsky. Even at the film’s CGI-heavy final battle, there’s still enough reaction shots to wake us up and remind us we’re not watching an animation (although sometimes a bit frustratingly cutting away from the action at the wrong moment.)
Since CGI rarely holds up as well as we’d hope, we’ll leave that there and it’s time for the negative bit where I’m going to admit that I expected more from such a top-notch cast. Norton’s Banner is a bit too two-dimensional at times, unable to really express that much emotion, and Tyler relies far too much on a breathy, pouty sigh that made up 99% of her screen time in the Lord Of The Rings movies. On the other hand, Hurt is thoroughly despicable as Gen. Ross (he’s supposed to be) and Roth’s Blonsky proves to be one of the more sympathetic characters in the film…okay, we understand where he’s coming from anyway. The script drags along at times, but the action pays off, and it’s worth it for some great moment (most of them featuring Roth.)
In terms of summer blockbusters though, The Incredible Hulk ticks all the boxes. Just makes me wish I didn’t have to wait so long for the next one.
Verdict:
One of those action films that has everything, and just works incredibly well. See, I knew I’d fit the incredible part of the title in there somewhere!
Originally published on FrankTheMonkey.com