REVIEW: The Incredible Hulk [2008]

Rating: PG-13 | Runtime: 112 minutes
Release Date: June 13th, 2008 (USA)
Studio: Marvel Studios / Universal Pictures
Director(s): Louis Leterrier
Writer(s): Zak Penn / Zak Penn (story) / Stan Lee & Jack Kirby (comics/characters)

Days since last incident.

Leave it to this drama lover to think the new The Incredible Hulk is more boring than Ang Lee’s Hulk from 2003 despite the fact that everyone in the world hated that version because it was “too slow”. Maybe it was the departure in genre tone that Lee brought to the movie by making it a psychological tale of humanity rather than an action-filled comic-book romp, but I was pleasantly surprised after presuming it would just be Hulk-Smash.

The funny thing is that knowing this new variation was coming from Transporter director Louis Leterrier meant it would lean into that action packed destruction-heavy chaos. And yet I was all for it this time. My enjoyment of the previous film had me unsure whether this reboot was necessary, but I must admit I was excited to see some fights after hearing the end battle lived up to the hype—something that couldn’t be said about the climaxes in Iron Man or Batman Begins.

Unfortunately, while the scuffles were pretty hectic and a lot of fun, everything else (most noticeably the middle third) dragged. It could be that the extremes were just too far apart as we left testosterone-laden war zones to hear scientific computer speak or witness the blatant sexual tension between former lovers Bruce Banner and Betty Ross. Or maybe it was just that those slower moments were too long and not quite in the filmmaker’s wheelhouse.

Leterrier handled the mix of drama and action much better in Danny the Dog, possibly due to it being written by Luc Besson. Maybe it’s therefore Zak Penn’s script and its extreme highs creating even more extreme lows. Either way, Hulk was definitely the more consistent and better film. That’s not saying this new installment is bad, though. It has a lot going for it and, if nothing else, shows the subject mater is still viable for a third film featuring The Leader as a villain.

If you dreaded thinking Lee’s film was necessary before bothering with this one, you will be happy to lean it’s not. The opening credit sequence shows how Banner infects himself with gamma radiation and what occurs to make him leave the country as Betty and her General father recover from the aftereffects. Nothing about the past army base history of Banner’s parents or Nick Nolte’s electricity love is alluded to or acknowledged.

This film is a reboot through and through. Just pretend the first never existed. It’s what the filmmakers did. The exposition is basically just glossed over. Bruce’s experiment causing the infection. His inability to survive with it amongst the people he loves. And his self-imposed exile to Brazil in order to look for a cure. It’s all relayed during the first twenty or so minutes.

The action really starts when General Ross catches up with his former employee in an attempt to extract him back to the US. This mission expedites Banner’s return for a cure, his crossing paths with Betty again, and an encounter with the Russian-born British military man Emil Blonsky—whose craving for a fight and infatuation with the power he sees coming from the Hulk makes him decide to do whatever it takes to acquire that strength for himself.

So, this film is really just an extended attempt to capture Banner as he tries to cure himself. The fact that we believe he might be cured for only ten seconds before they completely disregard that whole plot line in order for a war to break out is just one of the many failures of it potentially interesting ideas. At the end, we really find that we are in the exact same position we were at the start. The only difference is that Betty now knows her Bruce is alive.

While the story may be lacking, the action isn’t. Tim Roth’s Blonsky has a wild fire raging behind his eyes. He refuses to give up despite any odds piled against him. When he takes a taste of the gamma poisoning to even the playing field versus the Hulk, you just know that small sample will never satiate his lust for blood. It is pretty exciting when Super-Roth goes against the green giant. Even the sonar cannon effects are cool to watch as they attempt to stop the monster. The final battle is a lot of fun in its destruction, but it’s the chase through Brazil that stuck with me after leaving the theater.

Brazil’s cityscape is ripe for an extended sequence with its housing and factories all jammed together on a hillside with barely enough room for a street to form between them. Banner and Blonsky run after each other while extras from Bruce’s past arrive with a bad attitude. When the first transformation finally occurs, most of it is seen from the shadows. It’s a brilliant use of deflection to help make the chase more exhilarating than the computer generated finale—regardless of how much fun that still proves.

The drawn out exchanges between action set pieces may ruin the pacing and enjoyment, but a lot of fault lies with the new cast. Whether you liked Lee’s version or not, you shouldn’t be able to question the actors involved. All those on-screen here pale in comparison and I had a tough time ignoring it. Liv Tyler’s whisper doesn’t have the same panache as Jennifer Connelly’s strong-willed Betty. William Hurt’s overacting as a hard-ass can’t touch Sam Elliott’s natural born proclivity towards that demeanor. And, no matter how much I like Ed Norton, Eric Bana hit the conflicted internal struggle out of the park in Hulk.