The Incredible Hulk

In Ang Lee’s 2003 comic book adaptation THE HULK, the titular character was much more likely to grunt “Hulk thinking pensively!” than any of his more well-known sayings. Audiences disagreed with that more internal visioning of the green antihero, and they demanded a change. Well, five years have passed and we’ve gotten something different. THE INCREDIBLE HULK, which may hold the record for fastest franchise reboot in film history, certainly delivers on the action so many missed in the first film. Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer much else.

The film takes place a few years after the first Hulk incidents (though one can safely assume this includes none of the events in the first film). Scientist-turned-anger-management-case Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) as fled to Brazil to try and keep his emotions in check. Unfortunately, the military officials who created the monster (led by a particularly blue-eyed William Hurt) haven’t forgotten about him. After recruiting a small envoy of specialists to track down Banner, he realizes that the only way to get rid of his problem is to find a cure. Tracked by a violent man (Tim Roth) with a desire to capture Banner’s power himself, Banner must travel back to the U.S. and find his old flame Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) and end his rages once and for all.

Since the filmmakers assumed that most audiences will be familiar with the character, they decided to get rid of most of the more psychological problems Banner experiences. Even with Norton as the lead, Banner himself is rather bland. Despite casting a highly respected dramatic actor (and rather unexpected choice) as a superhero, the film is not set apart from your average B-action movie. Couple this in with some poor special effects, especially during Banner’s transformation, and you’ve got a film that plays it too safe in comparison to the first movie. Lee’s film, whose riskiness was flawed but underappreciated, tried to make something more than a guy turning into the Jolly Green Giant. No such explorations are made here. At least they’ve finally realized that pants don’t grow and shrink as one’s body does.

This film was made purely for the fans. It’s chock full of cheeky references to the original comic and the 1970s television show. Yes, the purple pants make an appearance. Yes, there’s a Lou Ferrigno cameo. And yes, that sad walking away music even makes an appearance (although no one’s walking away when its heard). But for those not avid readers/watchers of its previous incarnations, the whole affair is a little boring. Aside from the requisite Stan Lee cameo that makes good on his proclamations during his appearance on THE SIMPSONS, nearly every attempt at humor falls flat. Most of the action sequences are standard chases until the finale, when the subpar CGI work becomes most obvious. And aside from Norton, no one in the cast really registers.

At least the film doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s an entertaining enough film, though one would wish they would try to improve on the intriguing storytelling methods introduced in the first film. But instead of learning from their mistakes, the filmmakers decided to scrap all they had before and start again in a safe-as-safe-can-be style. However, the film is likely to be successful enough to merit sequels, as most potential franchises seem to do nowadays. Maybe the third time will be the charm.

**/****