Review of The Incredible Hulk (2008) by Henry P — 28 Feb 2015

2/28/15.

Incredible. Incredibly acceptable. After Ang Lee bored us to death with simply Hulk, who spent more time having daddy issues than smashing stuff, and after Marvel Studios decided they wanted to create their own movies in a shared universe, they rebooted the Hulk. It is incredible (No pun intended) they decided to make a pseudo-sequel to that film, and set it in the larger continuity with SHIELD and Captain America, and Iron Man too. Unlike Hulk's length dragging the show down, this one moves faster, and shows the whole lab accident in a few seconds, like the opposite of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man origin being shorter than Marc Webb's. However, we do not see the Hulk in full for almost half the film. Instead of the aforementioned daddy issues, we get Dr. Banner (Edward Norton) on the run, trying to cure himself of the Hulk, having given up on trying to control it. Edward Norton does a really great job of playing a guy who needs to control his anger for the safety of himself and others around him. It's when his blood gets into a bottle of soda at the bottling plant he works at that the story begins for real, and General Thunderbolt Ross (William Hurt) goes on the hunt for him. William Hurt is as arrogant and cocky as Ross is through other Marvel continuities, and just as hellbent on destroying the Hulk. To aid this story, we get great visuals, in the form of the Hulk's actual appearance, as well as the appearance of another gamma-monster, the Abomination (Tim Roth), both of which are photo-realistic, and imposing. However, they do look a little cartoonish at times, and there are a few shots that are clearly green-screened, mostly when Bruce is jumping from a plane, it is clearly greenscreenery. Craig Armstrong brings a fairly appropriate score to this film, highlighting emotional scenes, and being there in general. Do not be afraid of just bland action, there is humor to be found here. It is found in interactions between Bruce and Betty when they are hiding in a motel, and in the Lou Ferringo cameo, as well as references to previous Hulk works. The Incredible Hulk is an incredible example of how you get a character who was dragged through the dogs by Ang Lee back on his feet, and set him up for The Avengers. Hulk ready!!

4/20/13.

An Incredible improvement from that Ang Lee movie. None of those "panels" which were real confusing. A better cast as well, except for one. I like Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy on Modern Family, but it's difficult to take him seriously as Leonard Samson, because when I see him, and hear his voice, I think "Phil!" This was made before Modern Family began, so it was an OK idea at the time. There were also intense action scenes towards the end. The effects were also better than the first one, with more detail on Hulk's appearence. Hopefully, Marvel will see fit for an "Incredible Hulk 2" in their phase 3 slew of movies. Better paced, and shorter than the first Hulk, this movie earned the "Incredible" title.