More of the same...

Rating: 7/10 (14 June 2008)

The Incredible Hulk is a dumbed down version of the Hulk character and story and simply pales to the Ang Lee movie not only in casting, performances, seriousness and writing but generally by being just another run-of-the-mill action movie. Having said that, the movie is actually rather entertaining.
The first third of the movie is probably the best and even though it is a very distant nod to how the first movie ended I'm happy that Banner's escape to South America was referenced at least a little bit. The continuous references to the comics and ultimately the future Avengers Film, as well as moments of comic relief keep the movie fresh and going but it's hard to look at the film as anything more than a big budget blow out to get Hulk fighting another monster.
My problem with this film is the same as with Iron Man, the film deteriorates into a big over-blown CGI battle rather than trying to actually tell a good story. Unlike in Iron Man, this movie doesn't even have a secondary plot theme to keep it afloat which only manages to enhance it's rather meaningless existence.
Still, this is a fun action movie and I'm sure the sequel might actually be just as good. Here's hoping that the Hulk's next big screen appearance will have a little more weight to it.