Despite The Same Old Military Bias, It's Very Entertaining And Fun To Watch

Rating: 8/10 (23 October 2008)

I found this very entertaining and better than anticipated. Some folks might find it a big slow going in the first half hour but I enjoyed the colors and South American scenery during that time. I also enjoyed the acting of Edward Norton, who usually excels in whatever roles he plays. When the "Hulk" appears, it's pretty awesome even thought its also pretty obvious how computer-generated it looks....but who cares? The Green Monster might not have looked as realistic as the TV days when Lou Ferrigno was the big guy, but it looked very cool because of its size. If you enjoyed "The Sandman" in the last Spiderman movie, you'll enjoy this XXX-L version of the Hulk, too.
In the finale, you can get to watch two monsters going at each other which has the typical overdone action but still fun to watch action. As for the story, once again, it's the same old/same old bash-the-U.S. Armed Forces. Who are the two villains in this movie: two military officers! The military, especially since the early '60s beginning with "Dr. Strangelove," has always been the left-leading Hollywood's prime target.
I did a little homework on the Hulk comic book origins and, yes, the police and army were trying subdue the green monster, but only because of the destruction he was causing. In this movie, however, they aren't too subtle. The main "soldier," played by William Hurt, "Gen. Thaddeus 'Thunderebolt' Ross," is shown to be a heartless killer with the usual let's-make-a-super-weapon attitude and not-care-about-anything else. His nickname ought to tell you something. Making the military look like evil dummies is nothing new, either, with screenwriters the past half century. In this particular Hulk film, one of Banner's allies, " Dr. Samuel Sterns," (Tim Blake Nelson) even admits "I hate the government." Of course he does. Anyone in authority is always the villain in today's movies. This film is a good example of that kind of thinking. The other weirdo (Tim Roth) has the rank of "Major."
Other than that, and the always-annoying Liv Tyler, who plays "Bety," the female love interest of Banner's, this was a very enjoyable and entertaining film. Norton is a credible and likable "Bruce Banner" and Roth is one of the best in the business at playing whacked-out villains. He plays the Major and winds up as the second "monster" and he's a real hoot! Hurt is a fine actor, too, as movie fans know.
One thing filmmakers do these days that I think is very nice is to pay tribute to the old actors who were in these stories years ago, either in film or on television. Here, there is a nice cameo scene by Ferrigno, who still looks in great shape, by the way. The former bodybuilder who was the green monster in the TV series that starred Bill Bixby, has a few lines in here as a security guard that will make you smile. I'm sure they would have had Bixby in this movie, too, had the man been alive. In the recent Superman film, "Superman Returns," we saw Jack Larsen and Noel Neill, who played Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane, respectively, on the 1950s "Adventures of Superman" TV series. This has been done in a few other movies, too.
The ending to this film also was clever and tied in with another recently-issued movie. That's all I'll say because I don't want to spoil the surprise. It makes me anticipate what's on the horizon. Overall, this film was fun to watch and I definitely would view it again.