Decent enough

Rating: 5/10 (9 June 2008)

***** This comment might contain spoilers! *****
One thing is certain: the thriller parts - mainly the beginning, and all the scenes where Hulk doesn't appear - are well enough done. The Brazilian slums are shot with true visual feeling, and the chase through their maze is definitely the best scene in the movie. Leterrier does have narrative skills and cinematographic style - I really hope he will move away off the comic strips blockbusters and start making true content movies.
Also, the characters are well built and developed. Surprisingly, Norton makes a good job out of Bruce Banner, helping us to forget the shapeless blunder from "The Illusionist". Very good is also Tim Roth in Blonsky - expressive and compelling. But my favorite was Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns - he has humor and depth, outlining with true talent the future evolution of The Leader.
Unfortunately, the worst side of the movie is Hulk himself - together with the Abomination (a REAL abomination, not just in name!) and with most of the special effects. Hulk is totally false and unconvincing, his movements are stiff and unnatural, and the proportions and texture, preposterous - can you believe that, although a C.G.I., he looks as if made of rubber and papier-mâché? Many of the most interesting features of the C.S. character were lost on the way (for instance, his habit of always talking in the third person, and his despise towards Dr. Banner, his normal alter-ego). The final battle is childishly anticlimactic, with useless quotes of King Kong and devoid of any resourcefulness. Do not expect any bright trick used by Hulk to win the day - there is none. They simply beat each other stupid, until the Abomination falls down - for no reason at all, even more so as it was supposed to be much stronger than Hulk! Personally, I would delete ALL the C.G.I. scenes and re-organize the movie as a paranoid thriller, around the plot of Bruce Banner being chased by the special forces. THAT is the real point here.