Way better than Ang Lee's version

Rating: 7/10 (2 July 2008)

Let's start with answering the most pressing questionNo, the Hulk doesn't fight roided out poodles in this one.
If you liked Ang Lee's take on the Hulk back in 2003 (ahhhhyou're the one) then you won't be happy with The Incredible Hulk. For the rest of us, you're in for a treat. A reboot of a franchise this new is unprecedented but it was worth the risk. Think of it as a $100 million first draft.
It's rough for Hulk, coming on the heels of Iron Man. Iron Man was the best comic book movie since Spiderman 2 and quite possibly since the first Superman movie. While this movie isn't the roller coaster ride that Iron Man was, it was a solid cringe-free adaptation.
After a breezy retelling of the origin story, the movie opens with Bruce Banner on the run in Brazil. He's being hunted by the government - as governments are wont to do. Banner is in hiding as a day worker at a soda factory.
Ed Norton brings a brooding intensity to Banner but it's far from the star turn that Tony Stark was for Robert Downey, Jr. However, that is more indicative of the character than it is of Norton. Tony Stark is a drunk (on alcohol and power), loopy mess that has fun with his abilities and status both as Stark and Iron Man. Conversely, for all of the Hulk's power, Banner has virtually none. He's hunted, broke and tired. Tony Stark looks for cool robot technology to build cool robot suits. Bruce Banner looks for stretchy pants. It can be hard to compete.
Downey as Tony Stark is like Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow or Harrison Ford as Han Solo  a performance so instantly iconic that you can't imagine any other actor in the role. Norton does a good job but it never quite reaches that level. While some of that falls at the feet of the screenplay, he co-wrote it we so can blame him either way. (In his defense, he is unhappy with the final version of the movie and is refusing to do press in support of the film. There is allegedly a pending DVD release with a whopping 70 minutes of additional footage, so time will tell.) The movie is much more serious than recent comic book outings with the exception of The Batman franchise. Unlike most superheroes, Banner/Hulk is a threat to the public NOT it's savior. This has always been a hurdle for the comic book and it's the main reason the show ended up as a green-tinted version of The Fugitive.
This movie definitely has more of the tone of '70s show but with less cheese and better effects. We get the footage of Banner ripping through his clothes and his eyes turning green as his inner-beast finally wins out. The score, while different, has the same sense of melancholy. And we get the same lingering shots of a lonely Banner walking dejectedly into the distance down an empty road.
The movie is a little slow paced in the first half. I took my 8-year old son and he got a tad restless around the 45 minute mark and he is a very good movie watcher (not to brag or anything). But the second half brings the noise, as it were, and we all get to see what we paid for: The Hulk smashing stuff. The final fight sequence clocks in at close to half-an-hour as The Hulk battles Tim Roth as Abomination for, um, wellI don't really remember what for. Does it matter? It was Hulk vs. Bigger Hulk and there was much smashing and crunching and car throwing and it was good.
Overall, The Incredible Hulk was definitely worth the price of admission. Marvel Studios was smart to reboot the franchise. Judging by the hints they've been dropping and cameos that have been popping up in this movie and Iron Man, they appear to be laying the groundwork for the biggest comic book movie in the history of comic book movies: The Avengersand I for one, can't wait.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being Superman and 1 being Condorman, The Incredible Hulk gets a 7.