We'll make a conventional superhero out of the Hulk yet!

Rating: 7/10 (11 March 2011)

Let me state unequivocally at the outset that in comparing Ang Lee's "Hulk" and Louis Leterrier's "Incredible Hulk" movies, I believe Ang Lee's version is superior. My reason for this can be summed up by a paraphrase of a quote from Roger Ebert's review of "1984": "(Leterrier's) version of (Marvel's tormented green character) turned (the Hulk's plight) into a cautionary, simplistic (superhero) tale. (Ang Lee's "Hulk") penetrates much more deeply into (the character's psychological) heart of darkness." If you are interested in a more detailed explanation of my reasoning, I refer you to my "Ph.D. thesis" review of Ang Lee's "Hulk" on IMDb.
However, all that psychological complexity elicited a lot of discomfort and hostility from "Hulk" viewers. They didn't want to see a tragic, emotionally reserved character struggling with mental and father dilemmas and abuse as well as his gamma-irradiated condition. God damn it, they wanted an unambiguous superhero rising up to beat the bad guys to a pulp and save humanity, the world, or something. They wanted the most unconventional, unlikely "superhero" of all to follow the old movie superhero formula: 1) Origin of good guy superhero, 2) Origin of good guy superhero's nemesis, 3) Circumstances that bring the superhero and nemesis together to fight. Apparently, the corporate suits listened to this plea and gave the world "The Incredible Hulk".
Consequently, Leterrier's "The Incredible Hulk" takes the character nuances and motivations Lee's "Hulk" worked so hard to cultivate and makes them slicker, simpler and more basic. The Hulk/Bruce Banner no longer is the reluctant or accidental hero who only wants to live a peaceful life and inherits his powers by accident. This time Banner (Edward Norton) is a rash, ambitious graduate student who deliberately subjects himself to gamma radiation almost as a lark, to see what superpowers he'll get and soon rues his choice. The Hulk's/Bruce's anger no longer arises from trauma suffered from years of parental abuse. This time, being chased around by the military because he is "U.S. government property" as General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (William Hurt) puts it, and has a power Ross and many others want to scientifically duplicate, makes Banner lose it and "Hulk out". General Ross himself is no longer an ambivalent character, a dutiful soldier bent on crushing the menacing Hulk but also obsessively protective of his only child, Betty Ross. Instead, he is a purely unscrupulous, selfish villain. However, the Hulk himself does manage to keep most of his pathos and sympathy in spite of Leterrier's efforts to steer him into superhero status.
Leterrier glosses over the Hulk's creation in a frantic montage, instead of Lee's deliberate, contemplative origin story. Conversely, however, he takes more time following the creation of the Hulk's ultimate nemesis, another gamma creature known as the Abomination (not named in the film). The Abomination is actually Emil Blonsky, a Slavic (?) mercenary Ross retains to help his troops capture the Hulk. Blonsky, a veteran soldier past his prime, is apparently an adrenaline and power junkie. Impressed by his first encounter with the Hulk in South America, and gradually learning from the reticent Ross about his origin, Blonsky is insanely eager to become a match for the Hulk.
Meanwhile, chased from his hideout in the Rio favela slums by Ross's troops but escaping to Culver University in Virginia (I think) partly by transforming into the Hulk, Banner reunites with Betty Ross and conspires with her to go to New York and meet with Dr. Samuel Sterns, to whom he has shipped blood samples in hopes of finding a cure. Unfortunately, Banner learns to his shock that the animated Dr. Sterns too has jumped on the "Super Soldier" bandwagon and has cloned his blood proteins to discover their amazing properties. Before Dr. Stearns can proceed with his research, Ross, Blonsky, and the military arrive. Having received an initial dose of the "Super Soldier formula" from Ross and already lost to the Hulk in an initial confrontation, Blonsky comes back for Round 2. Blonsky forces Dr. Stearns to give him a booster shot of Banner's proteins, which completely transform him into the Abomination. He goes on a rampage.
To save New York, Banner skydives from a military helicopter without a parachute to compel himself to transform into the Hulk. He does so just in time before hitting the pavement. He collides with the Abomination in the night-time New York streets and the two behemoths have a battle royal which culminates on a building roof. After about a half-hour of punishing blows, the Hulk eventually triumphs and jumps away. Humanity is saved (and the Hulk has caused minimal collateral damage).
Despite the "dumbing-down" of this iconic "monster", I still enjoyed "The Incredible Hulk" as a well-paced, exciting action flick that makes some improvements on Ang Lee's version. Much as I like Eric Bana in Ang Lee's "Hulk", he's really too tall and muscular to play Bruce Banner. Edward Norton's slighter build is more suitable to the role. Norton's Banner also projects more vulnerability and desperation. Liv Tyler's performance as Betty Ross reinforces Banner's humanity even as the Hulk even more than Jennifer Connelly's version in "Hulk". Tim Roth's manic, driven Blonsky/Abomination promises to give the Hulk more headaches in sequels. And we get to see the Hulk act truly heroic, with hints that he will do so again in the future, if Banner has anything to say about it.