Hulk Smash!

Rating: 8/10 (8 August 2008)

-Let me just begin this review by saying "I enjoyed it". Its definitely no "Iron Man", but its fun. The movie stars Edward Norton as "Bruce Banner", Liv Tyler as "Betty Ross", Tim Roth as "Emil Blonsky" aka "The Abomination", William Hurt as "General Thunderbolt", and of course Lou Ferrigno providing the voice of The Incredible Hulk. -We all know that Bruce Banner was exposed to gamma radiation and so as a product of that became The Hulk. Instead of going through the origin again the film just dives into Bruce Banner hiding from the military since his body is technically "military property". The movie is kinda like a long chase sequence with a big fight at the end. That pretty much sums it up, but its better than it sounds. As the military searches for Banner, they decide to create another "super soldier" to combat The Hulk. This "super soldier" later becomes "The Abomination", which isn't good. -While the script is very action packed, the acting is what I really like. Edward Norton plays Bruce Banner as a mopey, regretful, scientist. I also forgot to mention Liv Tyler's and Norton's relationship is rather well done, its feels very heartfelt. Tim Roth is a pretty good villain too, as he gets creepier as the film progresses and its always fun to hear Lou Ferrigno belt out "Hulk Smash!". -One of the main problems that I have with the movie is they way the CGI was handled. While the first couple of scenes that featured The Hulk were dark and mysterious(well handled btw)the scenes that have him in open daylight are not particularly impressive, you can see all the contrasts of the CGI Hulk compared to the live-action sequences which clash a little bit. The CGI is fun to look at, but it can take you out of the film some when you see all this ridiculous stuff going down. -If you are a fan of the old TV series you will see many little shout outs to the fans, I won't spoil them for you, but there are a lot of them in there. Overall "The Incredible Hulk" is a fun popcorn summer movie with some pretty good action and great acting. Recommended for sure. I'll give it a...B