For all of its pre-release concerns, and my own doubts after seeing trailers and clips, The Incredible Hulk is not a bad "little" comic book movie...
After the "family drama disguised as an action flick" experience of 2003, the team behind the restart finds a way to combine elements of the green guy's comic book roots and the 1978 TV series to tell its story...
Scientist Bruce Banner Edward Norton desperately hunts for a cure to the gamma radiation that poisoned his cells and unleashes the unbridled force of rage within him: The Hulk.
Living in the shadows--cut off from a life he knew and the woman he loves, Betty Ross Liv Tyler--Banner struggles to avoid the obsessive pursuit of his nemesis, General Thunderbolt Ross William Hurt, and the military machinery that seeks to capture him and brutally exploit his power.
As all three grapple with the secrets that led to The Hulk's creation, they are confronted with a monstrous new adversary known as The Abomination Tim Roth, whose destructive strength exceeds even The Hulk's own. To stop it, one scientist must make an agonizing final choice: accept a peaceful life as Bruce Banner or find heroism in the creature he holds inside--The Incredible Hulk
Director Louis Leterrier makes darn sure there's plenty of the Hulk smashing stuff this time out..When the green guy first appears he is kept mostly in darkness-so that he makes a grand entrance but then after that he is doing what he does best...I have to say--seen in its entirety the CGI effects turned out better than I had expected them to be... For the most part the story combines the best of characters from the comic and the premise of the popular 70's tv series-Norton's scriipt allows for plenty of nods to the latter...Stan Lee makes a really pivotal cameo in the film--while 70's Hulk Lou Ferrigno performs the same function he did in the last film-as well as providing special vocals for the green guy.Bill Bixby even shows up in a clever way. And composer Craig Armstrong utilizes Joe Harnell's memorable Lonely Man theme from the series...
Norton is solid as Banner, treading enough pathos yet somehow, not wallowing in angst. Roth is great as military man turned Abomination. There are casting issues though-Tyler as Betty and Hurt as General Ross, give 2 of the worst performances in any modern comic book movie of recent years. Making things worse Tyler share little chemistry with Norton Sam Elliott and Jennifer Connelly were much better fits for the characters in an uneven first film...
Rest assured though--There's plenty to like about the movie--making it an entertaining Summer ride.
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