The Incredible Hulk Movie Review

Vital Statistics

Opening Date: June 13, 2008
Run Time: 114 Minutes
Director: Louis Letterier
Writer:
Screenplay: Zak Penn
Rating: PG-13 for action violence, minor language, frightening images, and some intense scenes.
Based on: The comic book characters created by:
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Published by Marvel Comics.

The Story

Spoilers Below
Not quite a remake, not quite a sequel, The Incredible Hulk retells the origin story in the opening credits, albeit differently than the first film showed us. The Incredible Hulk launches us off in the direction that the last film was heading, but kind of in a way that suggests the first film “didn’t happen.”

General Ross is on a manhunt for Dr. Bruce Banner, a scientist who inadvertently poisoned himself with gamma radiation and unleashed a monstrous beast known as The Hulk. Banner seeks a cure, but Ross only seeks to capture the secret of this powerful being to turn it into a weapon. Banner travels the globe, looking into exotic locations and seeking international help to deal with this problem, but is forced home to get the data he needs to stop this unimaginable power from getting into the wrong hands.

Hot on his trail is Emil Blonsky, a Royal Marine on loan from the British government, who has undergone experiments similar to Banners to gain the edge he needs to put down The Hulk. When General Ross’ daughter and Banners love, Betty, is put in harms way, Banner must “unleash the beast,” to stop Blonsky, General Ross, and even himself from hurting the ones he loves.

Review

There was a lot that I liked about this film. First and foremost was the cast and acting. Each of the actors did a fine job of portraying their characters. William Hurt not only looked the part perfectly, but also portrayed the selfish and power hungry General flawlessly. Tim Roth did well also as an aging soldier who lusts for combat and what he sees as the ultimate challenge in taking down The Hulk. Liv Tyler brought a lot of emotion to the part of Betty, and what can you say about Edward Norton? The man can act and really became Banner, but not the meek Banner at the start of The Hulk series and even the first film, but a man possessed with controlling and eliminating the problem within him.

Another thing I really enjoyed about the film were the nods to the past Hulk creators and actors. Bill Bixby, Lou Ferrigno, and Stan Lee all make cameos through the film, and each in a way that makes sense and doesn’t take away from the overall plot. It was really nice to see them in there. I appreciate it when filmmakers give that kind of respect to the past in a way that doesn’t overpower the film.

I also really liked how much the movie mirrored the comic. The classic struggle of Banner trying to keep The Hulk contained and the relentless pursuit of General Ross played well. The two clash inevitably with each conflict escalating until the climactic battle that will save or destroy them all. The actors really played up this portion well and that was a credit to the film.

Overall, the CGI was very good. The combat between The Hulk and Emil Blonsky in his human form was really well done, and I almost found myself rooting for Blonsky to take down the big green…almost. There were a couple of times where I felt that The Hulk didn’t blend well with the human actors, such as the cave sequence with Betty Ross. A few times it was absolutely perfect and a couple of other times, it almost looked to me like The Hulk blended to well into the background and Betty stood out. There was also one of the gunships that I thought looked pretty fake in its appearance. Again, overall it was very good, but I found a couple of things to nitpick. Unlike Iron Man, which I couldn’t really tell the difference between live and CGI. That could easily be the difference between organic and inorganic, but for me the bar was set in Iron Man. My biggest complaint with the film? In almost two hours The Hulk showed up four times. The first time was dark and mysterious with The Hulk being obscured most of the time. The third time was a quick transformation from Banner, to Hulk, to Banner again. The second and fourth times totally nailed it for me but I was frustrated when in the first forty-five minutes of the film, The Hulk only showed his mug once. I wanted more Hulk! More rampaging, more destruction, and less puny Banner.

Bottom Line

In all, I felt this film was a solid comic book movie. Homage’s were paid, the source material was respected, the cast did great, the CGI was good…I just wanted more of The Hulk and what he does to the world around him. Breaking it. Without it, although well done, it wasn’t necessarily what I was looking for. Don’t get me wrong, I liked this film much better than the first one, I just thought it could have done more to showcase what we all want to see, The Incredible Hulk.

One of the neatest things that I am excited about for the future of Marvel Studios is how they are basically making the Marvel Universe on film. S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony Stark, and The Avengers are all mentioned and/or appear in this film. Marvel Studios is definitely setting the stage to continue to bring their properties to life and their comic characters to a new audience. Hopefully that will translate into new readers for the comic books.