Edward Norton in The Incredible Hulk - Review
Famous Marvel Character Gets a Second Chance at Life
Around the midway point of the Incredible Hulk, the not-quite sequel to and not-quite remake of the 2003 Ang Lee Hulk film, General Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) looks off into the sky after watching the Hulk take out a barrage of foot soldiers, hummers and two high powered cannons, and in close-up asks, “Where’s that airship?”
That’s basically the question at the heart of the entire new Hulk adventure: when the soldiers don’t stop him, and the hummers don’t stop him, and the tanks don’t stop him, well, where’s that airship?
And it’s a shame that the film’s main focus is on what kind of action will be brought in next, because there seems to be more important questions at work here. Questions like: Does Bruce Banner disappear completely when he turns into the Hulk or does he have some control? What does he feel inside the Hulk body? Why does he desire to rid himself of his burden instead of finding a way to harness it and use it to his advantage?
Or, maybe most importantly, how does he manage to rip through every piece of clothing on his body when transforming into the Hulk, but always leaves the pants nearly unravaged? Did he steal them from the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants?
Ang Lee's Hulk
Truth be told, this critic was one of the few who enjoyed the much maligned 2003 Hulk film. Sure, it was heavy on dialogue and short on action, but it had an immediacy to it; an energetic intelligence that swept the viewer along the way.
It cared about its characters and the “hulking” dilemma they faced, and most importantly, it tried to ask the important questions. It saw the Hulk as a curse instead of just the starting point for action sequences, and therefore had a sort of a yearning to it; the viewer cared about Banner and was curious to the details of his blight.
Ang Lee had pulled the big one over on audiences, releasing an intimate art film in the guise of a summer blockbuster. The film was destined to flop.
Another Hulk Film
So, five years later, here comes The Incredible Hulk, which will probably be the remedy to that empty space the 2003 film left in many fans' hearts. This is the Hulk via the Michael Bay method of filmmaking: shoot first, and then keep shooting until you run out of ammo, then reload and shoot again.
Needless to say, it’s small on talk and big on blowing stuff up real good. It has a high-speed chase through the streets of Brazil, a war waged in an American city, and even a raging battle right in the middle of the Culver University campus in Virginia. No wonder tuition is so high.
The Plight of Bruce Banner
The film begins with Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) camped out in Brazil, trying desperately to cure himself of the gamma radiation poisoning that afflicts him with the terrible curse of the Hulk.
Meanwhile, he is being tracked back in the States by General Ross who believes that Banner’s body is government property and wants to get a hold of some DNA for weapons research.
Hot on Banner’s tale is Emil Blondsky (Tim Roth), a soldier who is ready for battle, and doesn’t think twice when it comes time to inject someone with the gamma technology to create a super solider who can stand up against the Hulk. “If we start to see any side effects,” Ross tells him. “We’re pulling you back.” Of course, anyone who knows anything gets the immediate sense that guys like Blondsky don’t take too kindly to getting “pulled back.”
And indeed, Blondsky goes so mad with power that he eventually morphs himself into the Hulk’s arch nemesis The Abomination, who, as these things go, only the Hulk can stand up against. The last half hour of the film is, let's face it, all action, as the Hulk and the Abomination go head to head, toe to toe, police car to police car, chunk of concrete to chunk of concrete, and so on, using everything within reach as a weapon against the other, with director Louis Leterrir (The Transporter films) laying the action on thick. This is some people’s idea of “getting their monies worth.”
The Difference Between the Two Films
That’s the difference between the two Hulk films. The first was a true comic book adaptation. This new one is an action film about a comic book character.
Within those parameters, the Incredible Hulk works up until a certain point. It is made with style, blows up a lot of real estate, and the special effects are fine enough.
Norton doesn’t have a lot to do as Banner except look concerned from himself and Liv Tyler as Banner’s girlfriend is too precious for the role, lacking the determination that Jennifer Connolly brought to it the last time around, but Hurt does all he can with a role that doesn’t require much more of him than to ask where the airship is, Tim Roth could brood in his sleep, and Tim Blake Nelson shows up for a scene or two to inject the film with a special kind of Tim Blake Nelsonness.
Verdict
But the film lacks the energy and emotion of the Ang Lee film. It throws the key emotional and intellectual components to the sidelines in order to pile CGI atop CGI, making the entire thing reek with the smell of unimportance. The Incredible Hulk won’t bore, and it’s made about as well as one could ask, but in the age of Spider-Man 2, Batman Begins and most recently, Ironman, comic book films should leave the audience a little more to care about than just wondering where the heck that airship is already.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
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