In capable hands, reinvented Hulk is a smash

Rating: 8/10 (18 June 2008)

After about 15 minutes of "The Incredible Hulk," I easily tossed aside and deserted all thoughts and pre-existing connections to Ang Lee's 2003 "Hulk" and willingly accepted this film's complete makeover--that's how much better this film is than Hulk's first cut on the big screen. Writer Zak Penn and director Louis Leterrier's depiction of the green giant makes for a much more exciting action film and is way more believable. "The Incredible Hulk" epitomizes summer blockbuster while staying comic-friendly and not being completely devoid of audience empathy.
"Incredible Hulk" picks off where 2003's Hulk left off, but basically rewrites everything up to that point. Banner is in hiding from the U.S. military, trying to find ways of controlling his anger/heart rate so he never becomes the Hulk, and in the meantime communicating secretly with a scientist who might be able to help him cure his condition. When General Ross (Hurt), who wants Banner for his blood to make it into a weapon, finds where Banner is hiding, the fun begins.
The plot is rather cyclical in that Ross tries to hunt down Banner three different times and then the Hulk gets away. Each time is a bit different, mostly because one decorated military soldier (Tim Roth) begins taking Ross' "supersoldier" serum in effort to bring the Hulk down and eventually his lust for strength turns him into the Abomination. It's not a great plot, but it's straightforward, really easy and exciting to follow, very comic-like, and we can identify with Banner's need to find a cure for the uncontrollable beast inside him.
Norton is infinitely better than Bana as Bruce Banner. The writing for his character is so much better to begin with--you actually get the sense that he's fighting the Hulk and you see the connection between Banner and this alter ego. They don't feel completely separate from one another, which is something "Hulk" of 2003 never did. Ang Lee gave us more introspective Hulk, but Leterrier gives us some of that in addition to a Hulk that is more fierce, visceral and untamed. The CGI is more realistic and Leterrier does a much better job at showing how inadvertently destructive the Hulk really is and why Banner wants it to go away.
The action in this film is top notch in both live action and CGI. Especially at the beginning it feels like a mix between superhero films and the "Bourne" movies. Marvel made a bold move bringing in "Transporter 2" director Leterrier, but Leterrier's command of action makes this film great in at least that aspect alone. The action is brutal and relentless, never going soft which is exactly what you want from a movie about an uncontrollable green monster, especially one who fights an even crazier monster at the end. This kind of action is incomparable to any superhero film I've seen and that's a credit to Leterrier.
The script only scratches the surface thematically in terms of Bruce's struggle, but it's enough to like and care about his character and let the action do the rest. You really get to know Norton's Banner and that's what matters. My other beefs with the film (Liv Tyler's mediocrity, Roth's dialogue, Abomination talking too much) are not significant enough to knock the film from its solid action superhero film status. Ultimately, this film is very satisfying--the direction, the creative hands that the Hulk franchise is in (should it continue) is an extremely gratifying one.