Better than the first HULK....but

Rating: 6/10 (18 June 2008)

For old time HULK fan, the story didn't quite make it. Whenever Hollywood messes with Stan Lee's plot, it always seems to come out worse. The plot is pure Hollywood - movie trying to put one action scene after another, but nothing innovative about cars being tossed around or chopper coming crashing down, or soldiers chasing Bruce Banner. What I'm complaining here is - it didn't capture the essence of the HULK. It was just a busy movie. HULK CG also didn't capture the subtle character of the HULK either. Good was Edward Norton as Dr. Banner. Liv Tyler as Betty Ross was somewhat of a mismatch also. I think they teach method acting to the actors, but do the actors really have the time to assimilate the characters that are fleshed out so well by Stan Lee ? Maybe that's not the point since Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow did a pretty credible job of portraying Tony Stark and Pepper Pots in Ironman. I think Ironman's success was it wasn't a Hollywood production, but Marvel had ownership of the production. So I guess my wish for the future of the HULK is - Marvel will take on the production, and nail the great story with subtleties that only the owner of that culture can put into the scenes.