Wesley's The Incredible Hulk Review

Today I’m going to take a small break from my “Random Thoughts From a Video Store Clerk” articles and write my long-delayed The Incredible Hulk review. I meant to have this thing up last Sunday but I just haven’t been in the right mood or state of mind to get the thing down. Plus, Austin made the picture above just for this review... so I felt like I had to just get this thing written and put up. Since it is so late, I’ll try to keep it shorter than usual.

When Ang Hulk’s universally panned Hulk was released in 2003, I truly didn’t hate the film. I was confused by it… but I didn’t hate it. While that film had some great (though limited) action sequences and some nice character moments, it was ultimately bogged down by an over abundance of existentialism, too much focus on Banner’s father, and experimental, comic-bookish editing. It just wasn’t the Hulk story that everyone was looking for. It was just too damn weird and unexpected.

Now that Louis Leterrier’s The Incredible Hulk is finally out, is it everything that Ang Lee’s Hulk wasn’t? Well… not really. However, it’s pretty much what everyone was looking for in a Hulk film. More influenced by the 1970’s smash TV show starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno than the comics (I really enjoyed the subtle Bixby cameo on the TV that Norton is watching BTW), this Hulk film follows Bruce Banner (Edward Norton in pretty strong portrayal) as a fugitive on the run from the U.S. government. Banner is doing everything he can to get rid of his “illness” as the Hulk. He also knows how much a danger he is to everyone else. One scene that I was particularly fond of was when he accidentally gets cut in the bottling factory. He makes them shut the process down, desperately searching for the drop of blood that may have entered one of the bottles. Overall, I just really enjoyed this section of the film. I remember thinking that it felt like "Hulk Begins." It was good, well thought-out stuff.

With the Banner on the run angle in tact, the filmmakers begin to set up an enemy worthy of the Hulk via Tim Roth’s Emil Blonsky / Abomination. One of the big complaints about Ang Lee’s Hulk was that there wasn’t really a worthy opponent for the Hulk to square off with, unless you count that weird fight at the end of the movie with his father who kept just changing into all the elements he came in contact with (one of the worst climatic fights I think I’ve ever seen actually… once again, it was just too damn weird and allegorical for its own good… this is the Hulk we’re talking about here, Ang). Personally, I loved Tim Roth’s performance in this movie. He was just a complete badass. Some may find it a little tongue in cheek at times, but for me, I just had fun with it. It was fun to watch. The scene where they inject that giant needle with the super serum into his back got some cringes from literally everyone in the audience. That was some crazy stuff there. I particularly started to enjoy it when he started to lose it and began pistol-whipping everyone. That was good stuff.

How about the rest of the cast? Well, as I mentioned before, I really enjoyed Edward Norton’s performance as Bruce Banner. While I like Eric Bana in some films that he’s been in, I just couldn’t really buy him as Banner / The Hulk in Ang Lee’s version. The scenes where he started to get angry seemed forced and kind of cheesy. Norton is more believable as the tortured Banner who just can’t seem to get a break. When he gets pushed over the edge (or excited as you will see in one particularly humorous scene), his transformation is more believable. As for Liv Tyler, I’m not too sure. As Caleb said to me as the film was playing, “she’s just always breathless.” He was right. When she wasn’t acting out of breath, I just couldn’t help but marvel at how big her lips are. It was… distracting (and not in a good way). The always-great William Hurt worked great for me as General Ross. While some could see his character as too one-sided, I bought what Hurt was selling me and then some. This guy was just an asshole who would stop at nothing to get Banner under his custody. However, that is until his daughter comes into play. I enjoyed Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns / Mr. Blue for a while but, for some reason, he started to get on my nerves when he started to become all power hungry. I’m not sure what it was but the guy just started to irk me. Oh well…

When Universal and Marvel started to get this movie together a few months ago, they immediately begin to try and sell it through its action pieces. For a while, it just seemed like this film would be all action. Fortunately, control freak and super picky actor Edward Norton came along and began to inject a lot of character drama into the screenplay (which he notoriously did a page one rewrite on). Although a lot of his scenes ended up on the cutting room floor (equally as notorious… the breakdown between Norton and Marvel was very publicized in the press), his additions helped me to care a lot about the character of Banner and his very unfortunate life situation.

Anyways, you must be wondering… is the much-hyped Hulk-smash action there and does it work? Is this movie as action packed and entertaining as they have been selling it as? Yeah, pretty much. The action sequences in this film were pretty exceptionally done. I could actually tell what was going on during them for once and, because of that, I felt like I was right in the middle of it all. I really liked how the first action scene with the Hulk had him pretty much completely hidden in the shadows of a darkened bottling factory at night. I’ve heard many compare this particular scene to how the shark is handled in the first half of Jaws. While I wouldn’t go that far, I would say that it was an inspired and mature choice on behalf of the filmmaking team. The second action sequence with the Hulk is a strikingly different choice in that it features the Hulk going all out with the army in broad day light on a college campus. The Hulk’s CGI (something that was complained about a lot on Ang Lee’s Hulk- personally, I thought it was just fine) looks exceptional and I really enjoyed this action sequence. The only thing that came off looking fake in this scene to me was the CGI helicopters… something that Marvel has never really been able to pull off (that ending shot of the great Spider-man 2 still haunts me). However, to me, the Hulk looks his best in a sequence where he hides on a mountainside in the rain with Betty Ross. I found this scene particularly beautiful to watch unfold and it kind of reminded me of some scenes between King Kong and Anne in Peter Jackson’s 2005 version of King Kong. There is also a sequence where we see Banner transform into the Hulk on a table in Mr. Blue’s laboratory. This sequence had some of the best CGI I think I’ve seen in a while. It was probably the best computer generated transformation I’ve seen in a film period. Good job, guys.

Yes, the fight between the Hulk and Abomination at the end of the film in New York City was really fun to watch. It’s not the best climatic battle I’ve seen in a film or anything like that but it’s some good popcorn flare. If you like action films and comic books, this sequence is for you. It sure beats that lame fight between the Hulk and his dad at the end of Ang Lee’s film…

Did I have any problems with this film? Yeah, of course I did. First, off, you really had to have a suspension of disbelief at times to really enjoy what was going on. For example, the army’s attack on the Hulk on that college campus was so out of nowhere and vicious. Would the army really approach the situation like that? I doubt it. Even some of my friends begin to chuckle when that attack started because it was just so out of nowhere and ridiculous. There were also a lot of really horrible lines of dialogue. Stuff like when they ask Blonsky how he feels on the helicopter while he’s starting his change into Abomination and he replies, “Like… a monster.” How cheesy can you get? Another line that really bothered me was when Mr. Blue is telling Blonsky that something could go wrong by injecting him with Banner’s blood and that he could, “turn into an…abomination!” Hey, I get it! That’s the name of the comic book character / monster that he’s going to turn into! Good job, guys. Way to please the geek in me. Oh wait, no. Bad job. There’s a thing called subtlety… Another thing that really got on my nerves were all the broken promises that director Leterrier made to fans on the Interior prior to the film’s release. “Hey guys, Captain America is in the film! You gotta look for him!” No, he’s not. Then, he gets on the day the film comes out and says, “Oh, we had to cut that scene out. Maybe you’ll see it on the Internet next week (another lie). Maybe it will be on the Blu-ray (we can hope… and what’s with the lack of love for good ole’ DVD?).” One of the things Leterrier really began to pump out over the Internet was the infamous 26-minute battle between the Hulk and Abomination at the end of the film. Um, can you say bullshit? The fight was good and all, but it had to be a little over ten minutes at the most (which is all it had to be in all honestly… 26 minutes would have been a terrible idea). So, yeah, all of Leterrier false advertisements kind of got on my nerves as the film played before me. Anything else? As Jason stated in his own The Incredible Hulk review, Leterrier’s constant penchant for going to sweeping shots tended to get a little old. That whole section of sweeping shots in Mexico at the beginning of the film was a little ridiculous. Also, while the original score by Craig Armstrong worked, it was nowhere near the brilliance and beauty of Danny Elfman’s score for Ang Lee’s Hulk. You can call me an Elfman fan boy if you want (because I am), but that particular score was probably better than the entire film that Ang Lee created. I wish that they had at least hired Danny for this one as well. I did, however, enjoy hearing the famous piano cue from the television show in one sequence. Somehow, they managed to sneak it in without making the scene cheesy or mawkish. Good job on that one.

Overall, The Incredible Hulk is a really fun time at the movies, despite all its minor problems. This is a movie made not only for all the comic book geeks of the world (yep, you get to see Nick Fury’s name, the Captain America super serum, and a nice little cameo by another Marvel character at the end of the film) but for the general public as well. I think everyone can find something to grab onto and enjoy in this film. The action sequences are fun and engaging, while Banner’s plight is tragic and wholly identifiable. All the weirdness and existential nature of Ang Lee’s film is eliminated, allowing us to see the Hulk the way we want to see him: a truly tragic hero that is capable smashing everything in his path. If you like good ole’ fun summer popcorn movies with half a brain and comics, then this one’s for you.

And remember: "Hulk smash!"

7/10