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The Incredible Hulk (2 Disc Edition) [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: 2008-11-18 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


Smashing
Review date: 2008-11-08 Rating: 10 out of 10

After the stylish but disappointing Ang Lee Hulk film, this new Incredible Hulk movie is a vast improvement. This film doesn't go down the origin story root with the creation of the Hulk handled in the opening credits montage, instead the film concentrates on Bruce Banner's attempts to control and cure his condition while being hunted by the military.

This film is brilliant, easily the best film of a Marvel character to date. The special effects are faultless and the story itself is reasonably well written with a good mix of action and plot. The film has some nice ideas as well with some good references to the recent Iron Man film and the final battle between Hulk and Abomination is probably one of the best one on one from any of the recent superhero movies.

Edward Norton is good, if somewhat emotionless, as Bruce Banner and both Tim Roth and William Hurt are perfect for their roles. The only real week link in this film is Liv Tyler who, despite looking good throughout, rarely gives anything more than a somewhat wooden and poorly acted performance. The Incredible Hulk is a brilliant film with only Dark Knight being a better superhero movie released recently.

Excellent Re-Boot of the Hulk.
Review date: 2008-10-30 Rating: 10 out of 10

It had been a great summer for comic book releases, however I do believe one of this years better blockbusters seems to have been overlooked in the wake of the Dark Knight, Iron Man and even Hellboy II. I am of course referring to The Incredible Hulk, a surprisingly engaging, supremely well-executed action adventure story about Bruce Banner and that big green machine we all know as Hulk. I've got to be straight here I was not expecting to enjoy this movie as much as I did. I mean if you look at Rotten Tomatoes (67%) or IMD (7.4) or compare how much this incarnation of The Hulk out-grossed its underachieving predecessor which was only by 10 or 12 million dollars I believe, all of these elements seem to outline what the new Hulk movie was, or interpreted through my eyes as a solid, big, loud action movie that would roll into theaters make some cash and some noise then fall behind and fall out of memory about a day later. That's what I thought may have been the case with the movie, nevertheless I purchased the DVD as I had wanted to see the movie but never got around to it while it was out in cinemas. I was mildly surprised only mildly as I had a feeling that this was better than had been labeled by the general critical consensus, and my instincts were right.

The Incredible Hulk is a breath of fresh air for me, of all the marvel Super-Heroes flying/web slinging/running and jumping around over the past several years The Incredible Hulk works as well as or even better than all of them. That might seem little biased given that the first two Spider-Mans were excellent in their own rite, not to mention the overwhelmingly positive response the world has had towards Iron Man. But going into Iron Man I had huge expectations for the movie that was being hyped up from the word go, conversely I had little intention of even seeing The Incredible Hulk when I first heard it was coming out. Then oddly my interest in seeing Iron Man died down bit and I started reading reviews for the new Hulk movie and was suddenly quite interested in seeing it, despite the reviews, all of which were mostly good to mixed. When I did finally get to Iron Man on DVD I found it a rather tame proposition, or just uninteresting. For whatever reason, the hype that had now settled into just being common knowledge that this was going to be an excellent watch and in the end I believe it under delivered due to the hype surrounding it. Next up was The Incredible Hulk and forty minutes in I knew I had the right half of my marvel double header in. The movie opens with a stylish series of flashbacks showing Banners experiment, what went wrong and why is where he is. Now a Fugitive hiding in Brazil Banner spends most of his time practicing Brazilian Jujitsu in an effort to calm his beast, and he is constantly on the look out for a cure, aided by a mysterious Internet companion who calls himself Mr.Blue (three guesses what Banner calls himself). When some of Banners blood is spilled into a bottle in the bottling plant where he works a trace is made to his whereabouts and a team of commandos lead by Emile Blonsky (an excellent Tim Roth) are enlisted by General "Thunderbolt" Ross (William Hurt in a fun cigar smoking bearded role), to bring him back. This sets up the plot of the movie and its first major action sequence where Banner is cornered in that same bottling factory and we all know what will happen in this situation for Banner. The director Louis Leterrier makes use of the dimly lit slightly claustrophobic surroundings (if your being attacked by someone who is nine feet tall and weighs around Fifteen hundred pounds), we see little snippets of the Hulk darting like a colossus through the shadows and destroying everything in his path. From there on Banner is on the run again and what we get in the rest of the movie are a combination of some extraordinary action sequences mixed with some surprisingly touching, character driven scenes between Norton's Bruce Banner and Betty Ross (played to a tee by a stunning Liv Tyler).

Those scenes with Bruce and Betty give the film its heart, but are balanced out by some gloriously shot action, including the campus shoot-out, which is a treat for any comic book fan to see (and I'm not even a comic book fan and I loved every minute of it). The Hulk smash showdown between Hulk and Captain Blonsky now the Abomination after juicing up with some super solider serum mixed with Banners attributes from a blood sample taken by Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson) who apparently has a big role to play in any potential sequels as The Leader, a new villain for the Hulk. The final showdown is surprisingly effective, given its basically two massive CG creations smashing into one another in Harlem Street. I also liked the ending, which for once in a series leaves the door open to a sequel that I would love to see. Look maybe it was the timing of when I saw it, maybe it was the particular mood I was in or I had just been watching too few movies that are sometimes unfairly labeled guilty pleasures (in this case I think this movie rises above that tag), but The Incredible Hulk just clicked into place perfectly, the acting, the pacing of the movie, the action, the stunning opening long shot of the Brazilian, for a lack of better term, slums. I enjoyed just about everything this movie had to offer from the touching scenes between Tyler and Norton to the high octane action scenes to the touch of class added by William Hurt and Tim Roth.

Bonus Features: On Disc One there is the commentary track by Director Louis Leterrier and actor Tim Roth, it's not the most riveting track out there I'm sure but as someone who has maybe listened to four commentary tracks in my entire life, it's a fairly light hearted boys chat about the movie, some technical aspects, some interesting little inside-jokes and spot the marvel connection or Easter egg in the movie. Disc Two is more about quality than quantity with the alternate opening in the Arctic, there's more than a dozen deleted scenes, some of which I wished they had left in, others left out for obvious reasons. The Making Of The Incredible Hulk is around Twenty Five to Thirty Minutes long and deals with the time spent shooting in Brazil, and is moderately interesting. Surprisingly the best feature I found (Anatomy Of A Hulk Out) was the normally dull talk about some of the special effects, they break down the three major action sequences in the movie and show us how they were created, probably the best bonus on the disc. There's also a look out how Tim Roth and Edward Norton became The Abomination and Hulk respectively, as well as an animated comic book reel which was obviously inspiration for one scene in the movie.


HULK SMASH!!!
Review date: 2008-10-28 Rating: 10 out of 10

and he does! He smashes lots of things! This is so, so, so, so, so much better than that awful Ang Lee film. It features a wonderful selection of homages to the original tv series, which were very subtle and respectful of what the Hulk is to the fans. This is exactly what the fans were hoping for. It is an excellent film with some very impressive scenes. Scenes that weren't the high action or cgi concentrated sequences, but rather the opposite. Moments that deepen the characters or are very humorous.
Overall, very impressed!

Justice is done to The Hulk at last.
Review date: 2008-10-14 Rating: 10 out of 10

As much as I liked Ang Lee's original Hulk movie, especially his getting rid of the annoying Glen Talbot, the story as a whole lacked consistency and I hated the split-screen images.
That can certainly not be said of Louis Leterrier's superb movie which successfully manages to avoid anything other than a brief acknowledgment of the 2003 movie with mention of the 5 year time-gap. He and writer Zak Penn have created an action-packed and well-thought out story that also manages to pay homage to the original TV series as well as to the rich historical goldmine of the Marvel archives.
Edward Norton and Tim Roth are both well cast, Roth's character is an interesting amalgam of 2 great Marvel ideas, the super-soldier serum as well as the Gamma radiation. The first battle between the Hulk and the souped-up Emil Blonsky is a great appetiser for the real main course.
The Hulk and Abomination themselves are great CGI creations, the Hulk himself is what I was personally hoping for, a combination of raw power as well as a child-like innocence and the remnants of Banner's personality lying just below the surface. The Abomination is a complete re-imagining of the character's appearance and it works a treat. The set-piece battle is well worth the money and we get the immortal phrase "Hulk Smash" thrown in. The addition of Samuel Sterns and his contamination with Banner's blood is a nod to what we hope to expect from the next Hulk movie as Hulk's arch nemesis is now lying in wait.
One of the best, and certainly the most moving scene, involves Liv Tyler's Betty Ross and The Hulk sat atop a rocky outcrop during a storm, a scene which the well-stacked extras disc explores in comic form.
One of this films greatest attributes is the humour that runs throughout; from several attempts at "You wouldn't like me when I get angry...", one of which is included in the deleted scenes and there is a well deserved tribute to Lou Ferrigno in his brief guest appearance.
Old Marvelites like me will smile at the many references throughout the movie to the Marvel universe, from The Hulk's comic history we have Rick Jones, Jim Wilson and Doc Samson and from the Marvel Universe Robert Downey Jr. makes a nice guest-shot when greeted with the great line "You always wear the best suits", watch out also for Dr. Reinstein (the man who created Captain America) and mention of Nick Fury as well as assistance from a new S.H.I.E.L.D. There are also tributes to the 1970's TV show with the late Bill Bixby's brief movie appearance and Jack Colvin's character Jack McGee getting a name check as well as a brief use of the theme tune and where would a Marvel movie be without Stan Lee?.
These 2 discs as a whole offer a solid 5 star package that I will personally be watching many times.

Product Details/Specifications


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

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

Director(s):

Recording label: Universal Pictures UK
Manufacturer: Universal Pictures UK
EAN: 5050582587531
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
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
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: German (Original Language)
Language: French (Original Language)

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