moviereview - The Incredible Hulk

THE INCREDIBLE HULK

	A failed experiment has left scientist Bruce Banner in a predicament. In moments of excitement or rage, he turns into an uncontrollable green hulk.	score 2+	moviereview rates films from 1 (unwatchable) to 5 (unmissable)
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Cast
Eward Norton, William Hurt, Tim Roth, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, Lou Ferrigno

Director
Louis Leterrier

Screenwriter
Edward Norton
Zac Penn

Country
USA

Rating / Running Time
M / 114 minutes

Australian Release
June 2008

Official Site

Given the Hulk savaged screens less than five years ago, one rightly wonders why has he returned so soon. Mostly to get him in the same Marvel universe as other superheroes, spawn a franchise and sell a few more action figures. Produced by opposing studios, the likes of Spiderman and X-Men have been living in corporate segregation for years. That all changed when Iron Man and this re-tuned Hulk jumped out of Marvel Film’s studio together. It points to an upcoming avalanche of serum-induced superhero action that, it is hoped, will pick up speed with Leterrier’s block-busting adventure.

Following a cheesy introduction lifted from the TV series, we find Bruce Banner, aka The Hulk, hiding out in a Brazilian slum on the 158th Day Without Incident. While searching for a cure – Bruce doesn’t want to control the beast within, he wants to get rid of it – a minor accident alerts US military to his whereabouts. General Ross, father of Banner’s former girlfriend Betty, wants Bruce’s blood to create a legion of Hulk-styled super-soldiers. A Russian mercenary joins in the fun and before you can say ‘You won’t like me when I’m angry’, Hulk-2 is supercharged and ready for action. But who’ll save New York? Why, Bruce and Betty of course.

Required to please a pantheon of Hulk fans, comic geeks, Marvel stalwarts and enthusiasts of the TV series and even Ang Lee’s maligned experiment, Leterrier has been set up for a mighty fall. He finds an amiable tone and ticks off a list of must-do’s that include cameo’s by Bill Bixby, Lou Ferrigno and Stan Lee, and a running gag about stretchy pants It’s cute, for a while, but quickly dissolves in a silly sea of rampant digital effects, Liv Tyler’s thankless role as a formula fem-in-distress and Norton’s struggling performance. It doesn’t help anyone that Banner’s lab seems incapable of root canal, much less bio-technology, or that Hulk looks like a refugee from his own video game.

Most unfortunate was a decision to include a cameo by Robert Downey Jnr as Iroman’s Tony Stark, one that invites comparison to a superior film. Not that The Incredible Hulk is all bad, there’s passable entertainment value in the monster’s valiant struggle. However when he moans to be left alone, it’s upsetting to realise that no one ever listens.

// COLIN FRASER