Review of The Incredible Hulk (1977) by Jesse M — 15 Sep 2013

A marked improvement over Ang Lee's more psychological yet boring take on the character. Ed Norton makes a more likable and sympathetic Banner. He just fits the frame of a seemingly frail human with a beast inside. Liv Tyler exudes chemistry with Ed not seen at all in the 2003 film. William Hurt portrays General Ross with less overacting and a nice obsessive edge to him, and Tim Roth is a more satisfying villain as the abomination than Nolte's hammy nonsensical absorbing man.

While this film is less ambitious than Lee's, at the very least Leterrier knew what kind of film he was making. it fits his style and perspective. while yes he delivered more action, he still didn't forget to keep the characters and the dramatic depth. I connected more to Norton and Tyler, than I ever could with Bana and Connelly. You could feel their love and this air of regret and heartbreak.

The HULK fx are better in that they made a being that looked like he could fit in with the world. He looks more fierce and angry than Lee's Hulk. The glowy green eyez really add to his ferocity as well. Abomination was a surprisingly effective in its appearance looking literally like Hulk as a nightmare. The visual fx as a whole mostly satisfy with only momentary misteps here and there.

My only regret with this film is that the studio had this film trimmed down to a more action packed lean 113 minutes to make it move faster and get to the action quicker. I thought that was a mistake, because the footage I saw from the deleted list were more of the heart and soul of the film. Had they kept the more dramatic and character driven scenes in, then this movie would have annihilated the last film. Unfortunately, it is what it is and I just hope that a director's cut can be made someday.

Overall The Incredible Hulk is an unpretentious and more satisfying movie that delivers likable more believable characters, a much better HULK, a consistent tone, more rousing action, and a more faithful rendition of the comicbook mythos.