Hulk Succeeds Over The First Hulk

Rating: 9/10 (11 September 2013)

Despite the negative reviews of the first movie, I'm surprised that Hollywood gave the Hulk another chance; however, instead of picking up as a sequel, Hulk gets a reboot with a new back story retold in a flashback... or not. "Incredible Hulk" is meant to be a reboot, but it can be felt as a sequel. Banner's dream can be construed as revised imagery, and Ross's memories can be behind the scenes details of the first movie. There are no real contradictions that this movie is anything but a sequel; Betty is still a colleague, and Bruce is still in South America. The only problem I have is the cast. Edward Norton plays Banner much like Bana, and Liv Tyler and William Hurt replace Jennifer Connelly and Sam Elliot who I much preferred in the roles. Tim Roth, however, steals all his scenes as the power-hungry Emil Blonsky more obsessed with being like Banner than being a real soldier. That's kind of where it falls apart for me; you'd think Ross would hire more qualified men with less than shaky psyche evaluations. At some point, you'd think Blonsky would realize why Banner wants to get rid of this thing. One of the highlights is Tim Blake Nelson as the puckish and affable scientist who will become the future Leader. Unfortunately, Ty Burrell gets limited scenes as Doc Samson and is pretty much only an observer to the life Tyler's Betty Ross and her complicated relationship with her father. The plot and script, however, are excellent, the action is impressive and the brief jokes and "Easter eggs" along the way to the "Avengers" movie are enjoyable. What the movie lacks from the strong cast of the first movie, it actually makes up for a much tighter and lighter story, even going as far as embracing the scenery and imagery of the TV Hulk series. At times, Norton even looks like Bill Bixby. What I like even more is that the CGI is a bit better that we get slow tertiary shots of the Hulk before being blasted with him in entirety, eventually exploding toward a full-on animated climactic battle between the Hulk and Roth's Abomination (now a bit more reptilian and orange) on the streets and rooftops of Harlem. An earlier showdown between the Hulk and the Army deploying high-tech weapons is one of the top scenes in the movie. The only thing that would have made this movie even better than it already is would have been including Dean Cain as Superman to scrap with the Hulk, because, let's face it, the next top thing for comic book movies should be an inter-company crossover.