A good Hulk. A better Hulk–but not incredible.
Release date: 13 June 2008
By Joe DeRosa
With the Spiderman and X-Men franchises, Marvel really set the bar for comic book adaptations on film. Now, coming hot off the turbine-jet propelled heels of “Iron Man,” which many critics and fans consider the best comic book movie to date, “The Incredible Hulk” lacks that same sort of punch. Though certainly solid and, overall, a decent film, “decent” is not incredible.
Picking up 5 years after the events of Ang Lee’s 2003 film “Hulk,” we now find Bruce Banner, played by Edward Norton, as an unassuming factory worker in Brazil. With the help of the anonymous Internet friend known only as “Mr. Blue,” Bruce is trying desperately to find a cure for his gamma radiation-infected blood as well as trying to deal with the memory of events that left the love of his life, Betty Ross (Liv Tyler), lying helpless in a hospital bed under the watchful eye of her father, Gen. Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt). Now 5 years later, nothing is as it was. Betty has been out of contact with both Bruce and her father and has become a cellular biology professor at a Virginian university.
When authorities trace a gamma-contaminated beverage back to the factory in Brazil where it was bottled, Gen. Ross enlists Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) to head a team to track down and capture Dr. Bruce Banner. And so the chase is on! A chase that leads to several discoveries: the identity of Mr. Blue; Gen. Ross’s motives behind having Banner captured, but not killed; the disclosure of the super-soldier serum; and the origin of the Abomination–a creature who is quite possibly stronger and more fierce than the Hulk himself.
Known as the Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde of the Marvel Universe, the Incredible Hulk is an unlikely hero who often finds himself teetering on both sides of the law. In the story’s newest silver-screen incarnation, you may or may not be surprised to learn who is the Incredible Hulk’s greatest threat: namely, the last Hulk to hit the big screen. I may just be one of maybe five people who didn’t totally hate Lee’s vision of the Hulk universe. Yes, I did find it lacking one key ingredient: the Hulk! But in an effort to make a fresh start to the franchise, no one involved in the 2003 film was invited to return for the sequel. It is safe to say that this film is in every way better than its predecessor. But is that enough? Does being “better” make it good? Here we find a much higher level of action, which is held together with a decent-enough plot, but it’s the chemistry between Norton and Tyler that so obviously outshines that of 2003’s Eric Bana and Jennifer Connelly. I actually believe this time around that a woman finds herself torn between the love she has for the man and the fear that she has for the Hulk, a character we see far more of than we did in his last outing.
This movie is visually superior to “Hulk” as well. Although the CGI Hulk still has his moments, he is definitely less “Shrek-like” than in the previous film. And although at some points during the epic battle between the Hulk and the Abomination these two behemoths become blurry, at least we can see the apex of this film, unlike the murky, underwater fiasco of the first film.
With some fun cameos and further winks to the comic book faithful, “The Incredible Hulk” is a fun film. But how many will return to the franchise after the lackluster origin story from 5 years ago? That coupled with how soon its release comes after the far superior “Iron Man,” the lovable big green guy already has two strikes against him. It would take a truly incredible film to help bounce back from that. And unfortunately, not even “The Incredible Hulk” is incredible enough for that.