Unfairly Overlooked, correct way to adapt a comic book to movie.

Rating: 8/10 (20 October 2010)

As a die-hard Superhero/Comic Book movie fan reviewing this movie puts me in a strange position, it raises more questions than allows me to give answers. First of all, The Incredible Hulk is my favourite superhero. I was weened on the 70's/80's classic Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno TV series (still awesome after 30 odd years) and the fun 1982 Animated series. I had some terrific Hulk toys and when it came to reading comics i cut my teeth with Peter Davids run on the title. However that doesn't mean that i will view this movie with rose (or jade?) tinted glasses, because i was greatly deflated and bewildered by Ang Lee's Hulk (2003), see my review for details. I honestly believe that Louis Letterriers The Incredible Hulk, is a great adaptation of the comics, an entertaining piece of cinema and a faithful tribute to all the great writers and artists who have worked on the comics, and a nice way of acknowledging the great work Bill Bixby, Lou Ferrigno and Kenneth Johnson did on the TV series. Im confused as to why it didn't find a much bigger audience. With one of the great actors of our time, Edward Norton playing the lead character AND writing the screenplay, i thought a bigger buzz would have been generated by cinema goers. I think the answer as to why the movie wasn't as popular or as successful as say the X-Men or Iron Man movies is two fold: I think Ang Lees take on the character left a bad taste in the mouths of movie goers who went to see the first movie with genuine enthusiasm and felt left down and had no interest in a sequel. Secondly i think the fact that The Hulk himself is a CGI creation puts distance between audiences and the character, like Lou Ferrigno said " A CGI Hulk cant shake your hand and sign an autograph" and i think this is a potent factor in audiences dis interest. Hopefully by the time of Joss Whedons Avengers and subsequent Hulk movies effects will be so stellar that The Hulk will be a truly amazing CGI creation. I honestly believe this movie was unfairly over looked in a summer that brought us the return of Indiana Jones, Robert Downey JR as Iron Man and Heath Ledgers Joker facing off with the return of The Dark Knight. Edward Norton is fantastic as Bruce Banner, he brings the every man qualities that is vital to the part, nicely echoing Bill Bixbys classic performance. He also has the right air of a scientist, a fugitive on the run and a man who has difficulty controlling the great power and destruction he is capable of. His screenplay (for which he went uncredited!) is neat, with every thing needed for a fun, genre adventure movie present, with a nice blend of the exotic and breaking a few conventions. Norton really makes you believe in Banner and care for him and i for one was looking forward to seeing him in The Avengers and subsequent Hulk movies so it is a BIG shame he wont be reprising the role, but i eagerly await Mark Ruffalo as Banner (another case of great casting and hopefully 3rd time lucky). The supporting cast bring a lot to the movie, Liv Tyler as Betty Ross and William Hurt as Thunderbolt are instantly more believable and relatable in this movie than both Jennifer Connolly and Sam Elliot in Ang Lee's film. There is a real nice sense of romance and love between Tyler and Norton and something insanely driven in Hurt's. Tim Blake Nelson as Sterns gives a strong impression of the unhinged craziness of a supervillain and i would place him in the same category as Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor, in that when the twist comes it is really unexpected. The only problem i had casting wise was Tim Roth as Blonsky/Abomination in that i did and do think he was unsuited to the role and that this one aspect of the movie needed a classic action movie heavy, someone who could go over the top and i just think Roths transition to Abomination is wobbly. The CGI realisation of The Hulk this time is spot on, he is designed the correct way in terms of height and scale, he is the right shade of green and manages to look mighty when in full rage. The only real problem i have with the movie is entirely down to Marvel, it seems they scaled down Edward Norton/Louis Letterrier's epic vision in order to accommodate the running time and i think this has the effect that it seems like it is trying to fit itself into a pop corn movie skin rather than being epic on the scale of The Dark Knight as it would appear was intended, and i can understand Norton being in conflict with Marvel for this reason. That said The Incredible Hulk is a great tribute to the classic comic book work of Stan Lee,Jack Kirby, Peter David Etc, and with its use of The Lonely Man theme and nice (cameo) from Bill Bixby, the fans who have grown up with and love the TV series. Letterrier gave us a movie we can enjoy with good pace and the right amount of excitement and thrills and his movie is an overlooked gem.