The Incredible Hulk

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Director: Louis Leterrier

Writers: Zak Penn (screenplay), Stan Lee (Marvel comic book), Jack Kirby (Marvel comic book)

Cast: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson, Ty Burrell, Christina Cabot

Synopsis:

After surviving a deadly gamma radiation accident, Dr. Bruce Banner (Norton) travels the world in the hope of finding a cure to a condition that forces him to turn into a giant green monster when he gets angry. While living in Brazil, Banner stumbles upon a potential cure, but before studying it further, he is discovered by General Thadeus Ross (Hurt). The general wants to use Banner's condition as a weapon for the U.S. Army. With few options remaining, Banner seeks out his old Flame Betty (Tyler), who also happens to be Gen. Ross' daughter, for help. Meanwhile, one of Ross' soldiers, Emil Blonsky (Roth), undergoes an experiment that turns him into an abomination bent on destruction, which only The Incredible Hulk can stop. Hulk smashing ensues.

First Impressions:

For a comic book fan like myself, the summer of 2008 was a great time to be alive. The MCU was launched early in the year with the ground-breaking Iron Man, audiences were also treated to a new dark take on the Punisher with Punisher: Warzone, plus Christopher Nolan launched the next entry into his Batman trilogy with the much-loved The Dark Knight. Then, of course, we also had The Incredible Hulk, the forgotten entry in the MCU. I made sure to see this one in theaters and was pleasantly surprised. For sure, it didn't compare to Tony Stark's first cinematic outing in terms of impact, but I had fun, which was nice considering how disappointing the character's previous film outing was. I haven't watched this film in a while, and it's not one I return to often when I need an MCU fix. So, let's dive right in.

Story/Direction: 

"Hulk...SMASH!"

You don't have to be a massive comic book nerd like myself to know that the Hulk is basically a Jekyll and Hyde story. It's a tale of duality between the civilized man and his inner rage, the age-old fable of the two dogs battling within each person, and the one that gets fed is the one who wins. It's certainly an interesting concept told in many different ways; however, this film doesn't delve too deeply into that sort of commentary. Instead, The Incredible Hulk really cuts loose and gives the audience some comic book action and destruction. The reason for this, I suspect, was a reaction to the tepid reception of Ang Lee's Hulk, released in 2003. The earlier film sought to be more like Stevenson's seminal work and was much more introspective and toned down on the action. It was a good idea, but unfortunately, audiences, and especially comic fans, really just wanted to see Hulk smash, and that's what we got with this outing.

Instead of a study in duality, director Louis Leterrier gives us a relatively by-the-books fugitive movie. Banner's motives in the film are to find a cure for the Hulk before Ross and Blonsky can catch him. On that premise, it works, it's formulaic, but it works. While the plot is focused on moving from one set piece to the next, there's enough connective tissue to keep the film engaging. Really though, if you're going to a Hulk movie looking for deep story themes probably will be disappointed. That being said, not every movie has to be Citizen Kane and sometimes it's just fun to shut one's brain off and enjoy some explosions and a half-naked green man destroying Harlem. 

Acting/Characters:

Edward Norton takes on the role of Bruce Banner/The Hulk in this outing, and I think he was a bit miscast. Don't get me wrong, I think Norton is a fantastic actor and its sounds like he was really passionate about the film. It's just that I didn't buy him as Bruce Banner. Honestly, I don't know why that is. There's nothing wrong with his performance as far as I can see, and he even nailed many of Bruce Banner's most recognizable traits. It's just...I don't know. I can't really explain it. Maybe it's because nearly a decade and a half later, I'm so used to seeing Mark Ruffalo in the role that I can't see anybody else in it.

The production certainly didn't skimp on its budget for actors, though, bringing on the great William Hurt and Tim Roth to pay the main baddies Gen. Ross and Emil Blonsky, respectively. It was a pretty big get to land an actor of Hurt's caliber, and he took the role of the obsessed general and ran with it. Ross' first and only priority is the U.S. Army, and everything else in his life, including his daughter, takes a back seat to that. I wouldn't even classify him as evil, just obsessive to the point of being blinded to all else.

On the other hand, we have Emil Blonsky, a super interesting character. He's a man who has spent his life in the military putting his body through the worst kind of punishment. He's looking down the barrel of middle age, and there's nothing he can do to stop it. That's why he's so easily taken in by Ross' offer to enhance him with a cocktail of drugs and why he forces hapless scientist Dr. Sterns (Blake-Nelson) to pump him full of Banner's gamma-irradiated blood, which transforms him into the Abomination. Roth plays the character almost like an addict, looking for the next hit of whatever to make him forget that time makes corpses of us all.

Stan Lee Cameo:

Stan's cameo was a bit more noticeable in this film compared to the one he had in Iron Man. In this film, he basically gets the plot moving when he drinks some soda that had been contaminated with Banner's blood, allowing Ross to discover Bruce's location. Stan wasn't much of an actor, but he could do surprised and confused pretty well.

Visual/Special Effects:

The effects in this film were pretty good for the time, though the CGI was spotty in place. While I'm not a fan of the design, I thought the Hulk himself looked pretty good, at least from a distance. When the shot moves close up, it starts to look like a video game. I was not at all a fan of the way the abomination looked both from a design standpoint and a CGI standpoint. Blonsky is a big lizard-like thing in the comics that looks like a Crypt-Horror from the Warhammer universe. Also, the CGI on the character just looked crummy. That's the downside of CGI, really, because technology advances so quickly older effects just seem to age more poorly than those done in-camera.

Score/Soundtrack:

Craig Armstrong wrote the music for the film, which I found pretty unimpressive. While I thought it was a nice touch to include the theme to the 1970s Incredible Hulk TV show, the score overall was a bit wanting. As I write this, I'm struggling to think of even a single bar of music from the film (except for the  TV theme).

Action:

This film has a lot of action, and it's done pretty well. The great thing about such fantastical characters is that filmmakers have many options when it comes to action set pieces. In this film, the audience is treated to a very cool chase through a Brazilian favela, a showdown between the Hulk and the U.S. Army on a college campus and of course, the final battle between the Hulk and the Abomination in downtown New York City. The action is varied and exciting and worth the price of admission.

Final Verdict:

I still like this film, but it's undoubtedly down near the bottom of the list when it comes to my favorite MCU films. Because that idea was still in its infancy when it was released, it seems more disconnected from that universe than any of the other films in the series. Still, it's worth a watch on a rainy Saturday.