Incredible Hulk
Well, after Ang Lee’s disastrous attempt to make a comic book movie 5 years prior, we get this vastly improved “reboot” of the character that’s better in almost every way: The CGI technology used to bring the Hulk to life looks more lifelike and realistic, not like the giant green computer graphic we saw in Lee’s version. It was a smart move by director Louis Leterrier to recap the first film’s origin story during the opening credits (minus the subplot about Bruce Banner’s father), so we can get right to the new story. Edward Norton as Banner himself is an improvement over the bland Eric Bana, bringing real acting chops to the table as Bruce tries to desperately find a cure for his condition; Liv Tyler as Betty Ross also does better than the surprisingly vapid Jen Connelly in the original, with real chemistry between her and Norton an added bonus; William Hurt essays the asshole General Ross in a much more human fashion than Sam Elliot’s cartoon caricature; only Tim Roth, as the Abomination a.k.a. Emil Blonsky, stumbles at times, especially with the issue of his character’s motivation (why, after basically becoming a supersoldier with regenerative skills akin to Wolverine, he would actually CHOOSE to become a mutated freak like the Hulk left me scratching my head; was he THAT big an asshole? Or did the filmmakers need some reason for Hulk to square off with an equally powerful adversary?? And this is coming from somebody who thought Nick Nolte was a saving grace of the original). It WAS cool to see the introduction of some other Marvel characters into the mix, including the future supervillain The Leader (here portrayed as the college professor who attempts to give Banner an antidote), and Doc Samson (Betty’s psychiatrist boyfriend before Bruce returns). Although the story moves pretty fast, it does manage to gloss over some plot points and leave others unanswered (Who was the original owner of Betty’s necklace? How did Bruce and Betty know the old pizza parlor owner and what was his connection to them??). In addition, the final fight between Hulk and Abomination seemed to have some choppy editing at times, which may have been a concession to help the film attain a PG-13 rating. Overall though, this is the action-packed roller coaster ride we should have gotten in 2003, with the soul-searching bullshit kept to a minimum. Top it off with a VERY interesting cameo in the film’s closing minutes, and we have proof that the director of the Transporter films can actually outdo an Oscar-winner…
7/10