Second To the Classic TV Series, This Is THE Hulk Movie To Go See!!

Rating: 10/10 (17 June 2008)

When it comes to the Incredible Hulk, I am and will always love the classic TV series the best. But now, I've seen the second best Hulk interpretation ever made!! Oddly enough, I wound up seeing it three times this weekend. I just couldn't get enough of it.
The 2003 Ang Lee film was a total abomination (pardon the pun)and it would be similar to, "What if somebody attempted to do a lower budget Superman movie a few years before Christopher Reeve, Richard Donner, and the Salkinds got involved?" That movie was a joke that was not funny at all.
The Incredible Hulk was a brilliant collaboration and this time, both the director and the star are both Hulk fans of both the comics and the TV series. Louis Leterrier was an ideal choice for a director. Edward Norton made an excellent Bruce Banner. He looked a little like Bill Bixby, but only a little bit whereas he mostly represents the comic book Banner far better than the poorly miscast Eric Bana of the 2003 film. The retold origin was far better than the plot of the previous film and was only restricted to one part early on in the film so that it's not rehashed. Liv Tyler made a decent Betty Ross and she was much more loving and understanding than Jennifer Connelly was, but in terms of beauty, I am more partial to Connelly myself. Add the grey hair and the mustache, and William Hurt executed his performance as General Thunderbolt Ross. The only thing I liked in the 2003 film was the casting of Jennifer Connelly and Sam Elliot as Betty and her father, the General, so I could go either way with the Ross's.
This Hulk movie has many things the previous attempt did not. For one thing, it has some humor in it while the other film was too dark, brooding, and serious. And this film had good length while the other one was too long. That is one agreement that I'm glad Marvel won. Sorry Ed. And most of all, we had a real villain along with a colossal fight for the Hulk. Tim Roth was great as Emil Blonsky and his Abomination was a true menace and a frightening one as well.
Best of all, this Incredible Hulk movie has many nods to the classic TV series. Lou Ferrigno has a better cameo role and he was the voice of the Hulk. There is a brief cameo of the late Bill Bixby seen on a TV set while Bruce Banner is channel surfing. And what I'm surprised no one has mentioned yet, there is also a nod to the late Jack Colvin's character in that there is a character named Jack McGee found somewhere in this movie. You need to see the movie for yourself to see these nods. The Hulk himself is CGI of course, and to some, that is probably a big letdown, but this time, the Hulk looks far better and he doesn't grow when he gets angrier, plus he looks more like his comic book counterpart.
One more thing, the musical score was outstanding!! Craig Armstrong's score sounded like real Hulk music as opposed to Danny Elfman's 2003 score, which sounded a little too Asian and martial arts type of music. But the intro theme of this new movie is really captivating.
For my final evaluation. If you want to see a Hulk movie that is truly good in every way and will capture the interest of both TV series and comics fans, the Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton is THE movie to see and completely discard the Ang Lee film of 2003. I give this movie 2 thumbs up!!