For the fanboys

Rating: 6/10 (17 June 2008)

Rebooting a franchise that was unsuccessfully rebooted only 5 years prior seems to be an incredible risk, but The Incredible Hulk proves that Marvel knows their material better than Ang Lee. While Lee's Hulk was a more ambitious, creatively daring picture, it just wasn't the Hulk fans know from the comics. The Incredible Hulk, on the other hand, is as comic-book as a comic-book movie can get. That's not to say it's the best comic-book movie ever made (far from), but by the time it's over you'll be tempted to wipe quad-colored ink from your fingertips.
This is a big, loud celebration of the green behemoth and all the toys that he loves to smash. The first action sequence featuring Hulk himself is one of the better staged action scenes of the summer -- if not the year. The hulking hero is introduced to us just right. He's an angry monster in the shadows. A glimpse of something moving in split second sprints caught only by your peripheral vision. His introduction had me thinking Hulk as a horror movie may be the best idea ever. But that would, once again, go against the Hulk fans know from the comics.
This movie is nothing if not fan service. Stan Lee shows up (in more ways than one). Lou Ferrigno has a memorable moment. They even manage to work in a cameo for deceased actor Bill Bixby. If you're a die-hard fan of the comics and don't like this movie, you accidentally stumbled into Sex and the City.
Marvel goes as far as to make the same mistakes as they do in the comics -- the climax is too hectic to be enthralling and the last 20 minutes are as busy setting up a sequel, a spin-off and a crossover as they are a decent finale to a once entertaining movie. Still, complaints aside, this is a fun movie for the fans and this review could have been just as easily summed up in 2 words: HULK SMASH!