Movie Review: The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Marvel has really been stepping things up lately. With the recent success of Iron Man, our Marvel friends now give us the re-do of The Incredible Hulk. Now the first one in 2005 (I think) wasn't actually that bad, but it failed to generate excitement and completely disappointed the loyal comic book fans with its light, cartoony portrayal of the green giant. The new script written by Zakk Penn with embellishments by Edward Norton himself and with the high octane action directing of Louis Letterier (Transporter 1 and 2) is akin to the old Hulk series back in the '70's with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno (who has a cameo in the movie as a security guard), with Bruce Banner as a lonely wanderer escaping the military's grasp instead of a short tempered genetics prof with daddy issues.

The story begins swiftly where Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) is already changed by the gamma rays that tun him into the Hulk. He is on the ruin from the army and is posing as a humble factory worker in Brazil. His free time is consumed by his search for the cure that will ultimately rid him of his condition. Not much later he is discovered by General Ross(William Hurt) the Draconian military leader responsible for the experimentations that led to Banner's predicament, so begins a wild goose chase for Banner's cure and his reunion with Ross' scientist daughter Betty (Liv Tyler).
Meanwhile, Ross is still playing god with his biological weapons and testing them on Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) who is hellbent on destroying Banner. His desire to stop The Hulk turns into obsession as he seeks to become more powerful using every chemical means necessary.

This version of The Hulk is miles better than the previous one. The human story is more accessible and the emotional transfer was more believable. Thanks to Norton's additional writing, The Hulk and Banner become more than just comic book characters come to life, they become key elements that drive the story.
There is more action in this movie than pretty much any Marvel comic book movie that has come before it. In the ending fight sequences, you can almost feel the fatigue of all the punching and pulling between the two large behemoths, The Hulk and The Abomination, as they slug and slam each other out to a pulp.

I don't want to give too much out because I highly recommend you see this. Now it looks like the gates are open for an Avengers movie now that Tony Stark has decided to join and the invitations are open.




Rocketboy's Rating: (*****) 5 out of 5