L'Incroyable Hulk

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

Honestly, as soon as I heard they were making another Hulk movie I was surprised. When I heard they had cast Ed Norton, I was shocked. So going into this movie I had no idea what to expect. Coming out, I feel like an idiot because it was really masterfully done. Lettier does an amazing job, Norton was fantastic, and as far as a comic book movie goes, this one is just about on top with little nods and mentions. If you don't walk out of this film screaming HELLL YEAAAA, then you are not normal. Far better than Ang Lee's attempt at the green man and as far as this year, it's definitely Marvel's year. No better way to make up for Spiderman 3 than releasing Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk just a month apart. Thank you Marvel for cleaning the mess Spiderman 3 left and clearing your name. This film just makes me thing of one word...AVENGERS

The Incredible Hulk, based on another marvel superhero and also the 1970s TV show, revolves around Bruce Banner becoming a fugitive after his science experiment exposes gamma radiation on him which transforms him into the Hulk which becomes his appearance for brief periods of time. Meanwhile, General Ross and his army including Emil Blonsky tracks down Bruce and little does he know that Emil decides to use a serum that would give him some abilities while also transforming him into an even worse creature imaginable.

Out of all the MCU films I've seen, the one that didn't make as much money compared to the others is this. Which is a shame because this is directed by Louis Leterrier, who would later direct the terrible Clash of the Titans remake, Now You See Me, and the recent TV show The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (which I severely liked). And the acting from everyone involved is good. Edward Norton does a great job as Bruce Banner, Liv Tyler from The Lord of the Rings trilogy does a good job too as Betty as did William Hurt and Tim Roth and Tim Blake Nelson. Sure, the villain could've been developed more and the second act of the film could've been better, but everything else is done very well. The cinematography is gorgeous, the pacing is decent, the editing is superb, the music from Craig Armstrong is rousing, and the action sequences are solid.

So, overall, this isn't a perfect film by any means but it's way better than the 2003 version (which isn't terrible but could've been much better). To those who have seen most of the MCU films or not, certainly give this one a go. :)

This movie was the second film to release that would set up the 2012 Avengers film. In retrospect, it was a bit of a mistake as it did underwhelming business at the box office; especially when you compare the box office take of this film and the first film to release, Iron Man. Why is it a mistake, well there was already a Hulk movie released only five years prior to this one and it too was a disappointment. That being said, this is the better film than the 2003 Ang Lee film, I just feel it released too soon after it. I think if that film had not existed, this one would have performed considerably better. Not the 300 plus Iron Man did, but perhaps a 200 million dollar film rather than making about the same amount as Ang Lee's film did. I also believe they tried to do a bit too much with the story, not that it is complex, just that they almost blend the comics, with the television show and the 2003 film. At the end of the 2003 film, Bruce is in South America, at the beginning of this one he is in Brazil...so it's a sequel? No, not at all. The origin that is shown during the credits alludes to the television show, but Hulk looks like the comics. Just too much and trying to appease too many people all at the same time. I also think Norton was poorly cast in this one, as I did not get a Banner vibe from him at all. He just does not seem like he is into the role and considering he did not opt into doing the Avengers film and beyond suggests that he was not into it.

The story has Bruce in Brazil working at some strange soda plant or something. Looks like Mt. Dew, but has some funky name. Well, a slight accident leads to some of his blood getting into a bottle and this is how the military and General Ross track him down. Bruce is in chats with a man dubbed Mr. Blue in the hopes of finding a cure; however, he must find more data for Mr. Blue to create a cure. A crack team of soldiers try to track down Banner and he avoids them for a while, but soon turns into the Hulk, leading one of the soldiers, Emil Blonsky, wanted another crack at the beast. He is soon infused with super soldier serum and does quite admiral in dodging the Hulk, but it is still not enough. He craves the power the Hulk haves and soon this desire will create an abomination!

The film is pretty good, but could have been better. The scenes with the Hulk are by far the highlights and better than any of the Hulk scenes in the 2003 film with the incredible expanding Hulk. That being said, I did not like the fact they tied Banner turning into Hulk with his heart rate as it is solely tied to his anger. The film also did not portray the Hulk becoming stronger the angrier he got and the fight with Abomination should have showcased this. In the comics, Hulk is stronger than Abomination because of the increase as he gets angry. Abomination though is a better fighter as he is more agile and that is why he gives the Hulk a good fight, not because he is stronger. The reason the Hulk wins is because he keeps getting stronger, not because he is a better tactical fighter.

So, in the end, this film was more enjoyable than the Ang Lee film. That film was just strange in many ways as it played out in comic panels which suggests a fun film, but was so serious with virtually not humor that it was just a strange concoction. This one had some good action, but was not a perfect film. Hurt is the only actor from this film to be seen in a later Marvel universe film as he appeared in Captain America: Civil War. Most things from this film were pretty much scrapped though as the Leader looked to be coming, Abomination was still alive and various other things. Abomination was supposedly going to be in the second Avengers film and that would have been great as I felt Ultron was not enough, but they decided against it which sucked as something other than the exact same robot would have been cool. In the end, this film is kind of part of the Marvel universe and kind of not.

OK, I didn't think the 2003 Ang Lee version was THAT bad, but you ever figure out the faults of a movie when seeing the sequel/reboot to it? Now I do with Ang's version and after seeing the new improved Hulk I must say this is 100 times better! We see more of Bruce "Hulking" out and less of the drama the first showed to us. No more of Bruce blaming his father for what happened to him.

Also this presents to us something else the first lacked: humor. OK, don't want the movie to be a total laugh fest, but nothing wrong with a little moments of laughter, such as some nods to the comic and TV show (the purple pants, and of course Lou's cameo, dang he's huge!). A little humor made Bruce seem like a real human rather than Eric Bana's deadpan performance.

Speaking of, the cast, like the story, is redone and redone well. As I mentioned, Norton makes Bruce Banner more human. Nothing against Sam Elliot, but Hurt gives off a better presence as Thunderbolt Ross. Liv Tyler is easy on the eyes (she does have daddy's lips, but still hot), and easy on the performance as well. Tim Roth just owns as the villain here.

The villain of course is the Abomination and what a sweet villain he is (better than the CG dogs and the Absorb Man). And believe me, the fight scene between him and our green friend will bring out the inner nerd in you. Oh, and hearing "HULK SMASH!" will too!

Overall, more action than the 2003 "drama" and more humor leads to what we WANT a Hulk movie to be like. Oh, and don't forget to watch for a surprise cameo (hint: not Stan Lee or Lou) which hints at a possible cool movie event in the future!