The Incredible Hulk (2008)

With only the vaguest whiff of a story and a lack of character development even in Bruce Banner, the sort of tortured conflicted comic book character seemingly custom-made for character development, The Incredible Hulk really only has its special effects going for it. And while those are decent, a movie that is nothing but its special effects is not a movie.

Ed Norton doesn't really do much with the role. Yes, I know Ed Norton is a brilliant actor prone to giving amazing performances, but he just doesn't do that here; Mark Rufallo's laconic Bruce Banner in the Avengers is far more interesting than Norton's here.

Frankly, I was just bored. Not so bored that I stopped watching, but consistently restless and never drawn in.

Fmovies: About 1100 reviews on the old IMDb and I am going to do something I have never done before -- review on a bell curve.

Seriously, before you start listing all the things you DIDN'T like, ask yourself how many live action Hulk movies have there been outside of the Avenger ensemble acts? Answer: Two. Only two. Just two.

And the entry from Ang Lee was so wretched, so horrific, that this one gets a push up the curve.

It is actually a solid film. Roth makes a great villain. Tyler was a great love interest. (The scene where Hulk becomes a giant fire extinguisher is one for the record books and memorable). And Norton is arguably the highest-level A-lister to ever play the role.

(Or, also arguably, to ever play it again -- notice he was gone from the Avenger movies. Also notice that the two solo-Hulk movies did so poorly at the box office that this one actually ends with a promo for the coming Avengers, suggesting that the suits at Marvel are no longer interested in gambling on Hulk in a film by himself and all your future Hulk movies may be of the animated variety).

All done, this is a much better film than the reviews would suggest.

By the looks of the ending of Ang Lee's Hulk (2003) it seemed that there is going to be a sequel. After 5 years we now have The Incredible Hulk which is a reboot like Batman Begins. The reboot was a better idea than a sequel because Hulk (2003) wasn't a bad movie but wasn't even great either and was better off as a one film itself. But if the first attempt at a Hulk movie left you feeling a little green, good news! This version has a whole new cast, a whole new mood, and even a whole new retelling of The Hulk's origin

When I saw the trailer of The Incredible Hulk I was like "Wow this movie looks cool" and it lived up to my expectation also the trailer did not give too much away about the plot. The film was outrageously entertaining, fun and a perfect popcorn movie. It is the same director of The Transporter 2 so it is bound to have good action. You can see every penny spent from the $130 million budget. It is roughly (not exactly) the same amount as Hulk (2003) and The Incredible Hulk looks much, much more expensive.

The story is about Bruce Banner who is trying to cure is condition that turns him into a monster but is going to use it as his weapon against the Abomination. The plot may seem simple but it is better that way because you can just concentrate on the action and the monsters.

This time the Hulk is more darker and sinister looking and is more muscular than Ang Lee's Hulk. The Abomination was the icing & cherry on the cake and I'm glad that they had a proper villain this time. His name really does match his personality and he is not wearing any underpants, so girls you might want to look away otherwise you might get a fright. Overall this movie is Incredible not an Abomination.

The Incredible Hulk fmovies. I wasn't really sure if I'd like the movie. Ang Lee's version didn't please me at all. It didn't have enough action and it had far too much dialogue. I had never really been a fan of the Hulk comics, but I did like all the movie adaptations of the Marvel Comics. While I didn't enjoy The Incredible Hulk as much as Iron Man, it's still great fun, and it will definitely make a big profit at the box office, and hopefully more money than the first did.

I also must say the cast is a lot better this time around. Edward Norton is far more convincing as Bruce Banner than Eric Bana was. Liv Tyler does a good job as Betty, Bruce's girlfriend, though I do like Jennifer Connelly a bit more. The supporting cast is also great, and they all deserve to at least be nominated for some awards. My favorite performance is tied between Norton and Tim Roth.

Now, to the special effects. Predictably, they are magnificent. With recent superhero movies, the effects are always brilliant, and they certainly adapted the Hulk character more closely to the original comics from what I've heard. The action scenes are cool and fun to watch, and fans of the comic books will be on the edge of their seat in excitement.

All in all, it's a great movie that comic fans should enjoy, and even if you don't really read them, you'll still like the movie, as I did. While it's not my favorite superhero movie, it is a whole lot better than Ang Lee's version, and a fun time at the theater.

The crowded streets and cluttered housing on the streets of Rio De Janeiro provided some reminiscence of Jackie Chan's Police Story, where you could be sure of a chase scene zig- zagging the streets to take advantage of the wonderful opportunities presented for an exhilarating chase. And Leterrier doesn't try not to provide action junkies plenty of action- smashing moments as we root for Bruce Banner to hulk up, unfortunately of course, to satisfy our lust for some unadulterated action where everything in the way of the Hulk, gets smashed. However those expecting action from the get go will be disappointed, as there were only a small handful of action sequences, though of course they include the classic moments that comic fans had been baying for since 4 years ago. So I guess most will be left happy as we see some nifty moves by the Hulkster, which will leave a smile on your face, despite being used in limited doses. But I note though that the story cum action, looked a little bit like Superman II with the seeking of a cure and the deliberate loss of power to be with the lady love, and the duking out between super-beings on equal footing (here being gamma-powered), with a tinge of Cloverfield like moments too.

While there will be those who will gripe about the transformation mainly done in the dark and in shadows, it does prove to be effective in building some anticipation and heigntened tension as to when he will finally appear in full glory. The mainly military attacks on the big guy again brought out some back to basics adversary with Thunderbolt Ross trying to capture the Hulk, and in fact I'd appreciate that this movie didn't divert too much away from this primary objective, although it might be more of the same from the first movie. But while the Hulk has an aura of invulnerability, somehow The Incredible Hulk provided me at least, an emotional pang when he gets hurt bad, as we remember that this is a guy who just plainly wants to be left alone. And the angrier the Hulk gets, the bigger and more powerful he becomes too.

And it's not all serious here too, with well meaning humour peppered in the right places, making numerous references to the television series and characters from the Marvel universe. You'd often wonder how his pants stay on before-during-and-after transformation, well, it gets addressed here with humour. Memorable ines such as "don't- make-me-angry-you-wouldn't-like-me-when-I'm-angry" gets punned away, even the late Bill Bixby got a cameo, together with Lou Ferrigno who reprises his security guard role, and Stan Lee who's possibly in the most unmemorable cameo appearance ever. The much touted Tony Stark appearance will bring whoops of joy from newly converted fans of Robert Downey Jr, while I suspect in line with the rumoured Avengers movie, the universe now seemed more streamlined again with the references to SHIELD, and stupid me thinking that Mr Fantastic would somewhat be featured in this too. A WWII super soldier project and serum was referenced and formed the basis for Tim Roth's Emil Blonsky turned Abomination, but Captain America? I'll leave that to you to find out.

But what I really liked about The Incredible Hulk is not the action sequences, nor the references mentioned made. It was the central love story between Bruce Banner and Betty Ross. In Lee Ang's version, we don't see much of the romance between Bana and Connelly because the story didn't really call for it, save for a rescue scene, and at an in-junct

Three cheers for Marvel for finally realizing that no one knows their material better then themselves. May they never sell another beloved superhero to a lesser being again.

For the second time this summer Marvel has given us a superhero movie that just plain rocks. With the exact right amount of humour, character development and great action sequences, the Incredible Hulk is up there with Iron Man as one of my favourite films to be released so far in the summer movie season. While I didn't like it quite as much as Iron Man (Robert Downey WAS Tony Stark. Whereas something still doesn't sit right about Edward Norton as Bruce...) it was nevertheless a great, faithful adaptation of the comic books. Plus the cameo appearances by both Stan Lee and Robert Downey Jr where terrific! Possibly my favourite Stan Lee cameo yet.

There isn't really much else to say besides, go see it for yourselves. If you're a fan of the comics, or just of fun popcorn films you'll definitely enjoy this one.

8/10