The Incredible Hulk Review

It’s hard to try and understand who came up with the idea to do another Incredible Hulk movie after the box-office disaster that was The Incredible Hulk, by Ang Lee.  It confused the hell out of me and made me roll my eyes.  Theres something about the Hulk that I didn’t believe was easy to translate into a movie the way that Spider-Man, Batman or Superman are. Enter Edward Norton and a healthy dose of crow for me to eat.

Edward Norton is easily one of the best actors of this generation and ever.  His resume is so wide ranging and he’s played so many different roles that when I heard him bringing his astounding talent to the role of Bruce Banner, I had to see that. Apparently, Norton was a big fan of the show and it certainly shows throughout the flick and the direction they decided to take with the character and franchise.

It’s also worth noting that Marvel Studios was one of the producing studios of this flick.  This is important because they made Iron-Man, a very good flick and are trying to line up a bunch of single hero flicks that will inevitably lead to an Avengers flick.  So in reclaiming a cornerstone of the Avengers in The Incredible Hulk, they have effectively continued to amass their characters (and original property) to bring fans a star studded Avengers movie.

The Incredible Hulk is a very good movie, in that it follows Banner’s character and how he is trying to rid himself of this curse.  It almost feels like an origin flick, which seems to be exactly how comic movies are resurrecting themselves.  The effects are good and the cast is very solid.  Marvel certainly has perfected the comic feel in movies.  Liv Tyler and Norton have very good chemistry and watching their little budding romance is enjoyable. 

While the Hulk has never been the most likeable of heroes in the comic universe, this film seeks to touch upon Banners struggle with the Hulk.  And while the movie itself certainly doesn’t seek to touch upon any great message, it certainly lines itself up for an entertaining series and spinoffs. 

And still, the movie, while exciting and certainly entertaining and well made, feels a little watered down.  I didn’t find myself getting incredibly excited during any portion of the film but I didn’t find myself getting bored too much either.  It has a better payoff than Iron Man, but less charm. All in all, a very enjoyable film with cool action and a good ressurection of character. Easily the equal to Iron-Man, this gets 8+ out of 10 Bones for being big, green and fun to watch.

RATING: PLUS!