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The Incredible Hulk [2008]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

A more accessible and less heavy-handed movie than Ang Lee's 2003 Hulk, Louis Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk is a purely popcorn love affair with Marvel's raging, green superhero, as well as the old television series starring Bill Bixby as Dr. David Banner and Lou Ferrigno as the beast within him. Edward Norton takes up where Eric Bana left off in Lee's version, playing Bruce (that's the character's original name) Banner, a haunted scientist always on the move. Trying to eliminate the effects of a military experiment that turns him into the Hulk whenever his emotions get the better of him, Banner is hiding out in Brazil at the film's beginning. Working in a bottling plant and communicating via email with an unidentified professor who thinks he can help, Banner goes postal when General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross and a small army turn up to grab him. Intent on developing whatever causes Banner's metamorphoses into a weapon, Ross brings along a quietly deranged soldier named Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), who wants Ross to turn him into a supersoldier who can take on the Hulk. The adventure spreads to the U.S., where Banner hooks up with his old lover (and Ross' daughter), Betty (Liv Tyler), and where the Hulk takes on several armed assaults, including one in a pretty unusual location: a college campus. The film's action is impressive, though the computer-generated creature is disappointingly cartoonish, and a second monster turning up late in the movie looks even cheesier. Norton is largely wasted in the film--he's essentially a bridge between sequences where he disappears and the Hulk rampages around. As good an actor as he is, Norton doesn't have the charisma here to carry those scenes in which one waits impatiently for the real show to begin. --Tom Keogh


Dumbed-down generic action movie
Review date: 2008-11-22 Rating: 6 out of 10

With the two modern entries in the Hulk franchise viewers will largely fall into 3 categories - 1) people who prefer this Ed Norton vehicle to Ang Lee's 2003 Hulk because the latter was "too arty" whereas this is more of an action movie; 2) people who prefer the Ed Norton/Louis Leterrier project because it is closer in style to the 1970s Lou Ferrigno TV series; 3) people who prefer the Ang Lee experiment because it drew its influence more from the paper source material and generally felt like a more-rounded movie.

I fall firmly into the third category, although I came into The Incredible Hulk (2008) without any predefined opinions, simply hoping that it would live up to the first film. I was aware that Marvel had decided to distance itself from the 2003 outing with its reboot because the former had received mixed reviews for being too cerebral and too long and because it had not performed as well as expected in the box office. With the promise of an extended CGI-heavy climax, it was evident that the new direction would lead viewers down a more action-led route, however, in taking this approach and deliberately keeping the running time to under 2hrs, something important has been lost - characterisation.

Ultimately, the Hulk character suffers a massive flaw - being that this not-so-jolly green giant is all but invincible, it makes him something of a one-trick pony ("Hulk smash!") so it is important that you sympathise with the mild-mannered alter-ego. In the case of Eric Bana's Bruce Banner, sufficient time was spent getting to know the character and you came to develop an emotional bond with him. Not so with Ed Norton whose interpretation feels more like a parody and the opening "last time on "Hulk"" sequence does little to help. The pacing of the film only serves to reinforce this sentiment - in trying to please action fans by having the Hulk appear within the first 10mins you remove all sense of peril from Banner's character. He may be chased through Brazilian favelas by a crack assault team but in the end you know that no harm will come to him. There was a clever attempt to instil a sense of danger through the use of a heart monitor where a pulse of over 80bpm denotes an imminent transformation - something the protagonist wants to avoid (well, he says he does but you don't particularly feel that he cares either way). At the end of the day though, this technique was employed more effectively with Keanu Reeves on a bus; the heart rate premise has no time to build up - it happens almost immediately - so all the potential of this cinematic device is squandered, like opening the oven too soon when making a soufflé.

Aside from this, the supporting characters do little to engage. Liv Tyler pouts and whines and looks distressed but again doesn't seem as committed to the Betty Ross role as her predecessor, Jennifer Connelly. Tim Roth does a good turn as Emil Blonsky (and, crucially, does not attempt an American accent) and possibly gets the most laughs out of the mediocre screenplay. As an enhanced human his character actually presents the Hulk with an interesting counterpart - a monster in the form of a man fighting a man in the form of a monster. When he transitions to the `Abomination', however, there is a return to the sense of futility inherent in characters that cannot die. The much-publicised climax between the two creatures boils-down to a wrestling match where the winner is simply whoever gets tired last - there is nothing particularly original in this sequence and that's a shame because you already know who's going to win so you just end up watching 2 CGI creations hitting each other with CGI props. It all seems a bit pointless, which might not have been the case if the effects were awe-inspiring but, like the characterisations, they remain underdeveloped and simply middle-of-the road. When your title character is reliant on this technology you really need to deliver the goods.

At the end of the day, The Incredible Hulk feels like an excuse to get the character on screen in preparation for an Avengers movie where his role has the potential to be used more effectively. Ed Norton seems bored, Liv Tyler looks lost and only Tim Roth seems to be having any fun. It gets 3 stars because it is a perfectly passable action movie but, in trying to emulate the (somewhat trite) TV series, Marvel has done little to tell us more about the Hulk character. In this regard, Ang Lee succeeded and, ultimately, this was reflected at the box office:

Hulk (2003) opening weekend: $62m
The Increduble Hulk (2008) opening weekend: $55m

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Reviews


If You like superheroes's movies is a good film
Review date: 2008-11-20 Rating: 8 out of 10

Better than Ang Lee version, based on a very good cast (expecially Roth as the villain, and Tyler - Bellucci-like) with Norton not at the same level "matching with the character" of Bana. Good CG special effects, a good plot. Only the possible mixing in a sequel with Iron Man (by the last scene with Downey Jr) is a phantom menace ....

What was the point of the original Hulk movie?
Review date: 2008-11-17 Rating: 4 out of 10

Let me state straight out that me and my missus like the original The Hulk movie. No, the cgi isn't wonderful and yes, it is a bit talky but it is still, essentially a good popcorn movie. The Incredible Hulk, however, is boring and so cliche-ridden that we almost turned off after half an hour (We couldn't even get our 15 year old to watch it because of the negative reviews his friends had given the film). The director obviously plays on his XBox too much and the film is, as with AVP, etc, etc basically a Video game, and a pretty naff one at that. The Hulk, himself, has undergone an "Upgrade" which shows off every sinue and tendon only to make him ugly (almost as ugly as the monster that Tim Roth becomes - oh and by the way, is the monster a brother of another monster from Resident Evil????).
My main gripe, however, is that it completely ignores the original - admittedly flawed - movie and instead takes its cues from the Incredible Hulk TV series. I half expected Bill Bixby to turn up!
Another case of style over substance.
If you can't get a teenage boy to watch this then who exactly was it aimed at????

YEP!!
Review date: 2008-11-16 Rating: 10 out of 10

Wow!!! Much better then the hulk. I was excited to see Ed Norton to play Bruce and he was A ****** Great storyline and left open for a Ironman vs Hulk movie which would be ace. The only thing I didn't like was there wasn't alot of the actual hulk in the film but apart from that I give this bad boy 5 ************ all the way.

A big improvement on the last movie.........
Review date: 2008-11-10 Rating: 8 out of 10

When I sat down to watch this movie, I had no real expectations as the last Hulk movie was very poor, however with the recent spate of excellent Marvel films I was keeping my fingers crossed. Firstly I must say this was a huge improvement from the movie a few years back. The CGI was a lot less obvious and the movie had a much fuller story. Nice cameo from Lou Ferrigno as the security guard and of course Stan Lee. Major downside for me was Liv Tyler, just didn't find her at all convincing.... to girly, breathless and pouting for a top scientist. Nice tie-in at the end with Iron Man as well..... Looking forward to the Avengers! Summary is good movie, just not quite up there with Iron Man and the Dark Knight

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Liv Tyler
William Hurt
Tim Roth
Edward Norton

Creators:
Tim Roth (Primary Contributor)
Liv Tyler (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Universal Pictures UK
Manufacturer: Universal Pictures UK
EAN: 5050582556025
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2008-10-13
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 108 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2008

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