You don’t want to make Edward Norton angry because if you do, his high excitement level will turn him into a green monster that is a disastrous result of an experiment with a gamma bomb. The Incredible Hulk smashes Ang Lee’s 2003 version like a train ramming into a stationary car on a crossing. Heartening is it to see some good characterization in a super-hero film with stunning special effects and strong performances. The Incredible Hulk is a healthy follow-up to Ironman and director Louis Letterier does most of the things right with the talents of Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, William Hurt and Tim Roth with some stunning special effects and action sequences.
The movie’s zippy start treats the gamma ray accident as a flashback of events that led to Bruce Banner’s escape from the military that first supported his experiment, only to now pursue him in order to exploit his potential as an insurmountable monster. What makes this Hulk a fulfilling time at the movies is Banner’s fear of his other side. Right from the start, his angry form is a curse that lay upon him and therefore, he hides as a recluse in the confines of the seemingly largest ghetto area that is a part of Rio in Brazil.
This is the development of the character behind the superhero/supermonster and Edward Norton puts life into him. The consciousness of his limits to excitement that is displayed by his habitual checking of his sensor watch and his keen sense of staying out of trouble in solitude bring out the emotions and awareness from Norton’s performance. Norton deeply understands his ‘green’ character that forms his weakness and not his strength. The monster’s introduction comes after a bullying sequence in the bottling factory where we are first introduced to the horrid eyes and the silhouette of the monster.
This is spectacular work! We are introduced to the Hulk, but not completely. The chase sequence through Rio’s ghetto area is well executed and the cinematography is as good as it gets. Bruce Banner is on the run now and in his constant effort to find a cure for himself, he finds his ex-colleague, Betty Ross(Liv Tyler) and what follows is a spectacular battle on campus grounds between the army’s artillery and the Hulk, whom we now see in complete form. The chase is on for Banner to find himself a cure and for General Ross(William Hurt) and his mutated soldier, Blonsky(Tim Roth) to capture the Hulk. Banner’s unfortunate capture does not end the story as the Blonsky is now the abomination of a super charged experiment, which is creating havoc on the streets of New York. The only force to combat the monster jumps from the helicopter onto the streets and watching two monsters clobber each other has seldom been this fun. We saw that in Transformers and we saw that in Ironman but these are two ugly monsters that are not suits on a human.
They are a transformation of a human and therein lies the cause of Banner’s misery.
The Hulk is not a crusader with a suit on but is an unwanted result of an experiment on Banner. Banner’s emotions and distress are also reflected on the Hulk and this is well portrayed in Hulk’s passive moments with Betty where he is not challenged by enemies.
For Banner, life is about running away to live another day and fight another time till the antidote is devised and this proves to be the fitting end to the story of the monster except for the cameo by Tony Stark in the very end of the film that sends audiences cheering aloud.
Thus, The Incredible Hulk is a film made by ‘Marvel comics’ and Louis Letterrier who bring new life to this franchise on Edward Norton’s capable shoulders but all it lacks is the charm, comedy, wittiness and fun that we had in Ironman. Hulk is spectacular, action packed intense, dark and well made for its storyline but it falls short of the sheer entertainment value possessed by Ironman. But for those who follow comic books, especially by Stan Lee and need some monster sized action that makes sense(in comic book style), the The Incredible Hulk will be a monster to watch out for.
- 7.989 on a scale of 1-10.