Review 44: The Incredible Hulk

Not as good as Iron Man but still an incredible success from Marvel and an improvement on the original Hulk.

After a science experiment involving gamma radiation, gone bad, mild mannered scientist Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) goes into hiding in Brazil, tries to control the demon inside they call "the Hulk" and find the only doctor that can he believes can help him, all the while being cut off from his true love Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) as well as chased by the military led by Gen. Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (William Hurt) who also has power-hungry soldier Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) on his tail.

The plot is simple but effective. What it gets right is capture the essence of what makes the story of The Hulk so compelling. It’s one of the simplest and yet one of the most facinating in Marvel Lore. The struggle that Bruce faces both physically and psychologically to control the Monster inside is deeply captivating and is the real meat of this film.
The focus is on the emotional toll that being on the run and having a monster inside that he can't control takes on Bruce and a lot of that is on display and is captured brilliantly.

This story puts us as an audience right in the action and creates a constant sense of urgency

On the downside, it follows a rather simplistic structure: Bruce is on the run. Bruce gets in a jam. He turns into the Hulk, problem solved. While this style may work in the comics I don’t feel that it transitions well to film.

What Marvel’s The Incredible Hulk boils down to is essentialy a chase movie masquerading as a superhero movie with dashes of monster movies thrown in for good measure. It's simply a film about a brilliant but otherwise ordinary man who just can't catch a break and how he handles living in a world that is constantly and ruthlessly out to get him.
The final product plays out almost like a big budget version of the 70s Hulk tv show of the same name resulting in a fast-paced, thrilling if slight action picture.

Director Louis Leterrier's directing is stylish & energetic, deftly blending Fugitive/Bourne style chase scenes with monster brawls and emotional depth. The cinematography is beautiful, the action scenes is smashing and fun to watch, the special effects are incredible, the new Hulk looks so much more realistic than the one in Ang Lee's Hulk, the score by Craig Armstrong is (as Soundtrack.net apply describes it) bombastic, thematic & energy-filled, the sound effects are tremendous, the production design is terrific, the locations are superb, the costume design is great, the creature design is inventive, imaginative and brilliantly detailed and the ending was suspensful.

The acting was brilliant, particularly from Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/Hulk. Norton effectively conveys the tragedy and the burden of being the Hulk. How isolated and alone Bruce has become and now can no longer live a normal life. Which makes his determination to find a cure for psyche all the more compelling and impactful. Having the ability to transform into a enormous green rage monster whenever he gets angry is definitely treated as not as divine gift like with some other superheroes but very much as a curse
Bruce goes on a long physical journey to represents an inner journey: his struggle to cope with things that he can't control and their are plenty of obstacles that Bruce can't control on his journey throughout this film, the military that are hunting him,

Liv Tyler is ernest and lovely as Betty Ross. Betty is the heart and soul of the film. She and Bruce met while they were while they were a Harvard amd worked on The Bio-Tech Force Enhancement Project and their relationship fell apart as a result of his accident and him being made into a fugotive. And now after being on the run for so long, he comes back into her life and that’s when things get complicated.
Her love for him is what anchors Bruces humanity.
On the other hand, because Bruce is a fugitive and because they have conflicting views on him, she has a strained relationship with her father Thaddeus Ross,

As Emil Blonsky/The Abomination, Tim Roth makes for a terrific villain

Tim Blake Nelson

Ty Burrell

William Hurt is also an extremely powerful presence as Gen. Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross. Decisive, ruthless, determined, driven & completely uncompromising. Ross will stop at nothing to arrest Banner.

I loved The Incredible Hulk and look forward to a sequel - If those guys at Marvel ever get off their butts and get to it, 4/5


The Anonymous Critic