June 17, 2008
I saw Hulk opening weekend, and still haven't made it to the latest Indiana Jones. After Saturday night, I'm fine with that. Given what I've heard about Crystal Skull, Hulk is the better movie.
The movie picks up where the first one, five years ago, left off. Except, it doesn't. Sure, Bruce Banner is still in Latin America, but now it's Brazil instead of Guatemala and his origin story is more like the comics than the attempted wangst-fest Ang Lee hoisted on us. In the reboot, Banner is conducting experiments on protecting people from gamma radiation. He's really working on a supersoldier serum for the army, which was tried and abandoned during World War II, and as a human-level test he irradiates himself and instead of dying turns into the Hulk.
And then he ran away to hide while the army chased him. Five years later, he may have a potential cure on his hands, but he needs the data him and his girlfriend, Elizabeth Ross, collected before he became an unwilling superhero-in-training.
Basically, this is Marvel's way of saying the 2003 movie didn't happen. Ignore it, nothing to see here. And that's just fine.
This is much more of a straight-up action movie than its ersatz predecessor, and it lacks the depth of Iron Man. But there's only so much you can do when your alter ego only speaks six words over the course of the film. (In case you're curious, they're: "Leave me alone," "Hulk... SMASH," and "Betty." But c'mon -- we got a "Hulk Smash" so it's all good.)
In a nutshell, this movie was good fun. Nothing really out of the ordinary or unexpected. The Abomination kicked much ass (or arse, I guess, since Tim Roth is a Brit). We get a setup for another of the Hulk's nemeses. We even got a cameo by Lou Ferrigno as a security guard. And we get Hulk Smash.
One thing the director did was show Banner's mind showing through sometimes, even if he wasn't in control all the time. It's a well-worn cliche at this point that Betty can bring him back, and during his fight with the Abomination he had a "Jesus Christ, can't you just leave me alone?" look on his face. Of course, the Abomination was punting him through a city block at the time, so the Hulk had his reasons too.
We also got a cameo by Robery Downey, Jr., as Tony Stark, and you don't have to sit through the credits to see it. Again, setting up for an Avengers movie in a few years.
Now I'll admit that I'm a little short on detail -- again, it's the Hulk; what detail do you need? -- but this was a good movie. Call it 8.5/10 and worth the $10 to see. Even worth the $6 for a popcorn while you're there. Not quite as good as Iron Man, but that movie pretty much struck the balance perfectly so there's no shame in not catching lightning in a bottle twice. Still: Go see The Incredible Hulk. I doubt you'll regret it.
