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What it's about:
Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) fled America to live far away from the love of his life, Betty Ross (Liv Tyler), while there was a danger of him becoming the Hulk. Banner works via the Internet with a mystery scientist who promises him a cure if he can retrieve the data from the original experiments, so he decides to return to his old lab. Once back in America, he is pursued by the military, as well as a rogue soldier who is infected with Gamma radiation.
What we thought of it:
A mere five years after Ang Lee's much maligned The Hulk (2003), comes The Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton as the titular green behemoth. Director Louis Leterrier (The Transporter [2002], The Transporter 2 [2005], Unleashed [2005]) has justifiably upped the action quotient compared to Lee's more introspective film, and manages to entertain admirably with a pretty pedestrian entry into the Marvel movie conversion catalogue.
It's very odd to have a remake after such a short time, and you can be forgiven for wondering whether it was ever intended as a sneaky sequel while also trying to distance itself from Ang Lee's box office disappointment. The 2003 movie spent a long time on the origin of the hulk himself, while all we get with this one is a short montage during the opening credits. Starting at a point that could possibly have followed on from The Hulk, it immediately kicks off with a sense of having missed something, which is the last thing you want in a film that's purportedly a fresh start for the franchise.
Luckily the action kicks in pretty swiftly and there are enough thrilling chases and combat scenes to keep your attention away from the weak dialogue and ridiculous lack of detail – it takes a broken, penniless Bruce Banner about a minute's screen time to get from Guatemala to America! There is far too much left up to the viewer's imagination for such a simple story.
The hulk himself looks awesome, all ripped muscle and veins, and is a big improvement compared to the 2003 hulk. The CGI is great too, but while this makes the package slick, it does lack anything visually distinctive. The climactic fight sequence is fantastic though, and deserves special mention, but it's sadly the only time you really get to see the villain in all his glory.
As I mentioned previously, the dialogue is pretty inconsequential and there is as much character development as you'd expect in a film that's basically a long chase sequence. Edward Norton does what the script allows, but you never get much of a feel for the man behind the monster. The rest of the cast are as two dimensional as the comics they're based on.
The Incredible Hulk has unfortunately taken The Hulk and turned it on its head - it throws out what was good (the character development, Hulk's origin, and the awesome comic book visuals) about the original along with the lack of action and weak villains. At first glance it's a lot of fun, but if you're a fan you may find a lot lacking. Even as a casual viewer, you'll probably only remember the most explosive action scenes. Not as awful as Fantastic 4, but not as much fun as Iron Man (2008).
- Ivan Sadler
Get published on Channel24! Send us your movie, music and live gig reviews and columns and get published on Channel24. Send your articles to PublishMe@sa.24.com.
Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) fled America to live far away from the love of his life, Betty Ross (Liv Tyler), while there was a danger of him becoming the Hulk. Banner works via the Internet with a mystery scientist who promises him a cure if he can retrieve the data from the original experiments, so he decides to return to his old lab. Once back in America, he is pursued by the military, as well as a rogue soldier who is infected with Gamma radiation.
What we thought of it:
A mere five years after Ang Lee's much maligned The Hulk (2003), comes The Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton as the titular green behemoth. Director Louis Leterrier (The Transporter [2002], The Transporter 2 [2005], Unleashed [2005]) has justifiably upped the action quotient compared to Lee's more introspective film, and manages to entertain admirably with a pretty pedestrian entry into the Marvel movie conversion catalogue.
It's very odd to have a remake after such a short time, and you can be forgiven for wondering whether it was ever intended as a sneaky sequel while also trying to distance itself from Ang Lee's box office disappointment. The 2003 movie spent a long time on the origin of the hulk himself, while all we get with this one is a short montage during the opening credits. Starting at a point that could possibly have followed on from The Hulk, it immediately kicks off with a sense of having missed something, which is the last thing you want in a film that's purportedly a fresh start for the franchise.
Luckily the action kicks in pretty swiftly and there are enough thrilling chases and combat scenes to keep your attention away from the weak dialogue and ridiculous lack of detail – it takes a broken, penniless Bruce Banner about a minute's screen time to get from Guatemala to America! There is far too much left up to the viewer's imagination for such a simple story.
The hulk himself looks awesome, all ripped muscle and veins, and is a big improvement compared to the 2003 hulk. The CGI is great too, but while this makes the package slick, it does lack anything visually distinctive. The climactic fight sequence is fantastic though, and deserves special mention, but it's sadly the only time you really get to see the villain in all his glory.
As I mentioned previously, the dialogue is pretty inconsequential and there is as much character development as you'd expect in a film that's basically a long chase sequence. Edward Norton does what the script allows, but you never get much of a feel for the man behind the monster. The rest of the cast are as two dimensional as the comics they're based on.
The Incredible Hulk has unfortunately taken The Hulk and turned it on its head - it throws out what was good (the character development, Hulk's origin, and the awesome comic book visuals) about the original along with the lack of action and weak villains. At first glance it's a lot of fun, but if you're a fan you may find a lot lacking. Even as a casual viewer, you'll probably only remember the most explosive action scenes. Not as awful as Fantastic 4, but not as much fun as Iron Man (2008).
- Ivan Sadler
Get published on Channel24! Send us your movie, music and live gig reviews and columns and get published on Channel24. Send your articles to PublishMe@sa.24.com.
