As Forgettable As The First One

Rating: Null/10 (24 March 2015)

Completely ignoring Ang Lee's 2003 feature about the same character as if it never existed, The Incredible Hulk is the second instalment in Marvel Cinematic Universe that marks yet another attempt to bring on screen the fascinating story of Bruce Banner & his alter ego. And while the first attempt was a disaster, the second venture is no jackpot material either.
The Incredible Hulk tells the story of Dr. Bruce Banner; a nuclear physicist who is on the run from US military after an experiment carried out on him goes horribly wrong & transforms him into a green humanoid monster for a brief period of time whenever he's stressed, angry or excited. The plot covers Banner attempting to cure himself of his alter ego while a power-hungry soldier wants to become just like him.
Directed by Louis Leterrier, The Incredible Hulk presents the green monster in its absolute form & captures the process of Banner becoming Hulk in brief flashbacks instead of going through it all over again. The first act is brilliantly done & is quite engaging but after that, everything starts heading downstream until it becomes laughably bad in its final moments.
Coming to the performances, Edward Norton is nothing special in the role of Bruce Banner, Liv Tyler is annoyingly bad, Tim Roth gets to have few good moments while the rest just fill in ably in their given roles. Visual effects is a mixed bag for the CGI only becomes worse as story progresses. Hulk never appears convincing enough on the screen, Abomination is even worse & the action sequences are just hollow.
On an overall scale, The Incredible Hulk is a very average output from the studio that began on a high with Iron Man. It's a mildly entertaining, empty-shelled & marginally passable piece of work that adds nothing to Marvel Cinematic Universe but then, it doesn't take away much from it as well. Watching it or skipping it won't make any difference in your Marvel marathon for this second attempt is almost as forgettable as the first.