Mean and Green When Antagonized; Get out of the (bleeping) Way!

Rating: 10/10 (1 July 2008)

When the huge, jade-skinned, sometimes anti-heroic behemoth, conceived by visionaries at Marvel Comics, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, got the movie treatment in 2003, fans a many were stoked to see the Incredible Hulk in full, CGI action. However, the film by celebrated filmsmith Ang Lee ("Brokeback Mountain", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") was a wooden penny. Hulk dogs? The Hulk's dad becomes The Absorbing Man? The madder the Hulk gets, the bigger he gets? I'm just glad I save my money.
I didn't, however, when viewing the recent comic book hero cine-relaunch (Batman being the first) which is a fun, rock'em, sock'em balance of human drama and high-edge action-adventure, the comic book and the classic TV series starring Bill Bixby as the tormented, gamma radiation-infested nuclear scientist, Dr. Bruce Banner and Lou Ferrigno as the not-so-Jolly Green Giant alter-ego. Compromising coolness is here for a superhero that can't take off the costume and call it a day, and that's what makes "The Incredible Hulk" interesting.
Oscar nominee Edward Norton ("Fight Club", "The People Vs. Larry Flynt") fills the late Mr. Bixby's shoes, perfectly and hauntingly, being on the lam from the protocol-minded General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross (a no-nonsense William Hurt). All Banner wants is a cure, but Ross and field soldier Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth of "Pulp Fiction" and "Youth Without Youth") makes things difficult, especially when Blonsky takes a "super solder" formula (a major hint to fanboys) to match monster brawn with the Green-skinned Goliath, and their fracas elevates to a monster mash in NYC's Harlem district. Good thing old Doc has the general's daughter, Betty (a mousy but lively Liv Tyler of the Lord of the Rings saga), as moral support and her heart as well.
It's rare that movie producers can admit a "mea culpa" (money and rep, I guess), and "The Incredible Hulk", a combo of the Jason Bourne films and "King Kong", works. Director and fan Louis Lettierer ("Transporter 2", "Unleashed" and an aide on the indie crime drama "Gravesend") does the script (a lost, first draft of the TV show's pilot episode, due to budget constraints and unavailable technology? ) by fellow fans Norton (uncredited) and Zak Penn (the second and third X-Men films) justice. Exceptional are the cast, especially Ty Burrell (the short-lived sitcom, "Back To You") and Tim Blake Nelson ("O Brother, Where Art Thou") whose roles hint at a sequel (Like, duh). More eye winks towards fanboys are the cameos of Stan Lee, Ferrigno, Bixby (from an episode of "The Courtship of Eddie's Father") and Robert Downey Jr. as his Tony Stark role from the super-hit "Iron Man", clueing into the Marvel Comics Universe. (Take heed, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Pictures). "The Incredible Hulk" does more than entertain; IT SMASH!!!