Review: The Incredible Hulk

And so onto the first review.

The Incredible Hulk has now been out for a week, the half-sequel to Ang Lee's 2003 film, "Hulk" I say half sequel, as Marvel have essentially rebooted the franchise with this film just five years on. Although this is not an origin story, it is retold during the opening credits. Marvel want to start this franchise with a clean slate on their terms. And it works... mostly.

The Incredible Hulk tells the story of Bruce Banner, approximately one year on from the Hulk's creation. He lives in a slum in Portugal, hiding from the military who want to turn him into a weapon. He searches the world for a cure for his big green problem, and regularly collaborates with a mysterious stranger known as "Mr. Blue" over the internet, discussing how he can cure himself. Meanwhile, The baddie army guys are on their way to reclaim the Hulk...

Sounds like fun right? It really is. There's plenty of Hulk-stomping, heart-stopping "woah!" moments. But it doesn't seem to go anywhere. Tim Roth playes Emil Blonsky, an egotistical soldier jealous of the Hulk's power. The somewhat forced dialogue and confused English (?) accent from him removes the element of threat from his character, and the cheesy, predictable, one-liners from his antagonistic CGI alter-ego are equally as painful.

Essentially this film is Iron man, but with worse characters, there's no one character who stands out and really makes you care. The action sequences, although well thought out are a little anticlimactic, particularly the final one. The CGI is ropey, but that can be forgiven, this entire film has something of a B-Movie vibe about it, not necessarily a bad thing, but when there's "Incredible" in the title, it just reminds us of what we're missing.

However, the film has merits, very strong, appealing merits. Instead of the usual formula for Hulk: anger + bruce = big green monster, the formula has been slightly rewritten, now Bruce transforms whenever his heart rate reaches or exceeds 200. This allows for more freedom of the scenarios in which the Hulk can be brought out, and adds a sensitive, cautious side to Banner. The fans of the comic will be happy too, with nods towards The Leader ( a classic marvel villain) and an upcoming Avengers film, with a cameo that just about tops the reveal at the end of Iron Man.

All in all, this film was very enjoyable, despite the pitfalls that will no doubt be rectified in the sequel (it looks likely), The Incredible Hulk smashes it's way to a really good fun, decent film.

Rating: ***/*****
Sequel: Almost definitely
Best bit: I'm torn between the last scene and the birth of The Leader, let's say both.
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