The Incredible Hulk

The Incredible Hulk (Rated PG-13)

Running time: 1 hr 54 mins

Cast:

Edward Norton
Liv Tyler
William Hurt
Tim Roth

Critical consensus (www.rottentomatoes.com):

*** out of *****

My consensus:

**** out of *****




The premise: Fugitive Dr. Bruce Banner must utilize the genetic accident that transforms him into a giant, rampaging hulk to stop a former soldier that purposely becomes an even more dangerous version.

My review: The Incredible Hulk is not a sequel to 2003's The Hulk with Eric Bana. For that film was regarded as an awful film by critics and fans alike. It is in the opinion of this reviewer that The Hulk was one of the worst superhero movies ever made, and probably one of my personal worst 25 films I've ever seen. I was very iffy about seeing this new version due to my feelings towards the other film. However, I'm extremely glad I did see this movie.

The Incredible Hulk is a wonderful action movie. It ranks in my personal favorites of superhero films. The action scenes are cool and slick as hell. They are loud, explosive and damn good fun. Edward Norton is a much needed improvement over Eric Bana's Hulk persona. He delivers his Bruce Banner persona as if he really is him, which I loved. Liv Tyler and William Hurt also do a great job this time over the original Jennifer Connelly and Sam Elliot versions. The look and feel of this movie is...well...incredible. Stunning special effects. The screenplay is very good, the direction is a hell of an improvement over Ang Lee's attempt.

At first, I had an issue with the lack of back story of The Hulk incorporated into this movie. They are trying to tell us that the first movie never happened. Yet, it's almost as if you have to see the first one to know this characters back story. We do get glimpses of it in the opening credits, and snippets are told to us by William Hurts character. At first, it bothered me. Then I had a conversation with a friend who simply said, "Why can't the Hulk just simply be there?" Which is very true. I guess we don't really need an elaboration on his past to know why he became this green monster. Therefore, it made the movie that much better for me.

I also loved how the did away with the purple shorts. They even made a joke about it in the movie. That was just weird in the first one. The Hulk himself looks so much grittier and real in this film. He looks less animated and more like an actual green beast. Just another improvement over the original. If you are a fan of these superhero movies, disregard the original Hulk film and see this one, you won't be disappointed.