Take out Zak Penn and you'd have a brilliant film

Rating: 9/10 (22 July 2008)

This has been a summer of superhero flicks. Ironman, Hancock, Incredible Hulk, The Dark Knight and Hellboy II have all topped the box office and all in all, none of them were really bad (I have yet to see Hellboy, though). The Incredible Hulk is no exception.
The Incredible Hulk starts off with about a five minute background story during opening credits, just to quickly tell the origin of the character. If you don't already know, Bruce Banner was experimenting with radiation, he gets exposed, and now whenever he gets angry (or excited) he turns into this big green monster known as the Hulk.
If you compare this reboot to its 2003 predecessor, you'll be able to clearly see the good things this film did. Ed Norton, playing Bruce Banner, is a great actor, and he puts on a great performance. The film is also extremely well paced; you should never get bored, because the action scenes (about 3 big ones) are so well balanced and spread out. Liv Tyler, playing Banner's love interest Betty Ross, does an alright job but it doesn't really take away from the movie. I'll just say that the whole beginning of the movie, where Bruce Banner is on the run from U.S. forces and trying to find a cure for his problem, is probably the best part, but the movie stays pretty decent throughout.
The worst aspect of the film is likely the dialouge. The was (mostly) written by Zak Penn, known for the last two X-Men movies and Behind Enemy Lines. I'm not going to say he's a terrible writer, but he's got a lot to learn about dialouge. Particularity during fight scenes; characters constantly exchanging silly taunts that take away from the action. The Hulk talks, and it sounds god awful.
All in all, this film is very much worth watching. Great visual effects, including the coolest helicopter crash I've seen in awhile on film, good acting and great story progression. If you're looking for a very good action and superhero film, this is it.