The Incredible Hulk: Take Two

The Hulk’s latest cinematic incarnation comes charging out of the gate as a summer crowd pleaser, leaving the angst-ridden Ang Lee 2003 Hulk in its popcorn dust – and we predict the reboot will sell a lot of popcorn. Director Louis Leterrier (Transporter 1 & 2) wastes no time telling Bruce Banner’s gamma-gone-wrong back story in the opening credit montage. Five years later, former scientist Banner, played by the ever-excellent Edward Norton, is hiding out in the slums of Rio, laboring in a soda factory and taking Brazilian ju-jitsu/anger management lessons. By learning to control his emotions and keeping his pulse rate below the magic 200 mark, Banner is able to avoid transforming into an angry green monster. But back at the Pentagon, cold-hearted General Ross (William Hurt), the guy originally in charge of the gamma experiment, considers Banner’s body to be military property and tracks him down with a capture team led by soldier-of-fortune Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth).

Of course, Blonsky and his commandos send Banner’s pulse above 200 and provide the audience its first super-charged Hulk-fight; expertly crafted by action director Leterrier. Pass the popcorn, folks – the ride has begun.

After wreaking some major green giant mayhem, Banner wakes up in the Guatemalan jungle and trudges his way back state-side, to the university where he used to work…and date, a lovely scientist named Betty (Liv Tyler), who now can be seen holding hands with her new boyfriend, the college shrink (Ty Burrell). But Banner still yearns for Betty, and a cure, which he hopes to find with the help of an eccentric (try “mad”) scientist, played hilariously by Tim Blake Nelson.

Blonsky, ego-driven for revenge, eventually gets his dose of gamma and turns into the Hulk’s imposing foe, “The Abomination.” Oh…and we also find out that sweet Betty happens to be the estranged daughter of General Ross!

Sound a bit comic-booky? It is. And it delivers that sense of crowd-pleasing fun, fantasy, and excitement where the more serious (perhaps Freudian/Oedipal) Ang Lee version did not. Marvel Comics Stan Lee, the Hulk’s co-creator, said that he came up with the character by crossbreeding Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein monster with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and fortunately, Edward Norton has the requisite dramatic range to convey such a conundrum. Liv Tyler provides a believable love interest who we actually care for and want to see reunited with her tormented ex – and don’t want see her hurt by The Abomination. Tim Roth seems a bit wimpy at first for a seasoned fighter, but his acting chops are certainly big enough, and his unimposing stature actually seems to provide sub-textual character motivation to grab for those giant-building gamma steroids.

Our one quibble was that until Blonsky comes out of the monster closet, much of the action pits our poor Hulk against a lot of good guys – well-meaning but misguided American soldiers. It’s always more fun to see our green anti-hero smash villains and bad guys, like he does in the Marvel Comics and the 1979-81 television series starring body-builder Lou Ferrigno, who cameos in the film with a knowing smile as a security guard. Ferrigno also provides the deep growling “voice” of the CGI Hulk. (There’s another mind-blowing cameo that is worth the price of admission in itself – but we won’t spoil it for you.)

The Incredible Hulk comes with all the mega-budget bells and whistles: state-of-the-art special effects led by Kurt Williams, superb action photography by Peter Menzies, Jr., and a great driving score by Craig Armstrong. The acting ensemble is top-notch, and director Louis Leterrier keeps that pace moving right to the socko finish.

So go buy your tickets to The Incredible Hulk, grab a bag of popcorn, and have yourself some good summer fun.

Stills courtesy of incrediblehulk.marvel.com.