Good Stuff!!

Rating: Null/10 (19 June 2008)

I have to admit that the only reason we went to see this movie was because we couldn't quite believe that Edward Norton had made it. Norton is an interesting and hugely talented actor, and as far as I'm concerned he's never made a bad film. I loved him in Keeping the Faith, in American History X (an intensely powerful film), in Fight Club, in The Painted Veil, in The Illusionist.. the list goes on. And he seems to have resisted over exposure in the media, which makes him all the more interesting. Cute too
And the main reason this adaptation of The Incredible Hulk works is because of Norton. He brings such intense vulnerability and credibility to the role of Bruce Banner that the audience is filled with sympathy for the guy right from the start, which keeps us interested even through the fairly predictable special effects scenes where Banner becomes the Green Eyed monster /hero of the title and smashes everything in sight. I haven't seen any of the other iterations of this comic book character beyond a half watched TV episode or two many years back, so I can't make valid comparisons to Ang Lee's version and must review it as an entity by itself. But I thought this film extremely well cast, well written (Zak Penn) and well put together. It was a very pleasant surprise, as I hadn't expected much of it. Comparing this incarnation of The Hulk to the 4th Indiana Jones movie which I saw a couple of weeks ago, is pretty easy. This is a vastly superior film in every way.
The opening sequences of the chase through the Brazilian favela are extremely well done; we get a real feel for the claustrophobic narrowness of the streets and the tough life of the inhabitants, as Banner runs for his life from the US Special Forces team who want to capture him for weapons research. I was gripped. I was interested. I was convinced. I wanted him to escape and I was totally drawn in. I thought this was one of the better chase scenes I've seen recently in a movie. Contrast that to the yawn inducing car chases in Indy 4, where I glanced at my watch thinking "How much more can they possibly string this out?"
Back in the USA Banner hooks up with ex girlfriend Betty Ross (Liv Tyler in the best role I've seen her in for a long time. The female love interest in an action movie isn't going to win anyone an Oscar nomination, but she made the most of it) and their scenes are played out with a surprising degree of tenderness and occasional humour (anger isn't the only thing to raise Bruce's pulse rate). Surprising? Well yes. These special effects driven films are not usually noted for their convincing emotional content. This was well done without  I hope  alienating the young male audience who seem to be the Holy Grail for Hollywood producers.
William Hurt's villainous General Ross was matched only by Tim Roth's wicked and egotistical Emil Blonsky who morphs into The Abomination, a guy who makes The Hulk look cuddly. I enjoyed it from start to finish, and it came in briskly at a little under 2 hours rather than the obligatory 3 hours which nowadays seems to turn every action movie into cinematic purgatory. Good stuff!