Friday, June 13, 2008

Movie review: The Incredible Hulk

Not incredible, maybe - but certainly blockbuster.

By John P. Meyer

The Incredible Hulk

"The Incredible Hulk" kicks off an all-new, explosive and action-packed epic of one of the most popular Super Heroes of all time. In this new beginning, scientist Bruce Banner desperately hunts for a cure to the gamma radiation that poisoned his cells and unleashes the unbridled force of rage within him: The Hulk. Living in the shadows--cut off from a life he knew and the woman he loves, Betty Ross--Banner struggles to avoid the obsessive pursuit of his nemesis, General Thunderbolt Ross, and the military machinery that seeks to capture him and brutally exploit his power. As all three grapple with the secrets that led to The Hulk's creation, they are confronted with a monstrous new adversary known as The Abomination, whose destructive strength exceeds even The Hulk's own. And on June 13, one scientist must make an agonizing final choice: accept a peaceful life as Bruce Banner or find heroism in the creature he holds inside--The Incredible Hulk?

Source: Cinema Source

• Showtimes and more on The Incredible Hulk

Ed Norton brings a quiet, self-reflective vulnerability to the role of genetically-mutated scientist Bruce Banner in Louis Leterrier's cinematic reworking of The Incredible Hulk. Oh, and he co-wrote the screenplay with Zak Penn. (Talented bloke, this Norton.)

Ang Lee's 2003 movie version drew mixed reviews from the critics, but more importantly failed to satisfy that reverent comic book readership which holds the big green guy in such high esteem. Does this new movie deliver the goods?

Well, I can state categorically that - regardless of how it ends up performing at the box office - The Incredible Hulk is, literally, a blockbuster: in the climactic battle royal between Hulk and his arch-nemesis, Abomination, an entire city block of New York City is laid to waste.

When we first meet Banner in this film, he's hiding out in a Rio de Janeiro favela, working at a nearby soda bottling plant. (Naturally, the beverage being bottled is a green one.) When not on shift, he's searching for a cure to his uncontrollable rage-induced condition ("You won't like me when I'm hungry," he mis-states in Portuguese to a confrontational co-worker) amongst the gazillion potentially-medicinal tropical plants of the diminishing rain forest, corresponding by email with a mysterious fellow geneticist who goes by "Mr. Blue." Three guesses what Banner's nom de plume is.

"To be the Hulk, or not to be the Hulk? Money talks."

Bruce has also been working with a personal trainer to develop Zen-like control over mind and body, including of course his emotions - particularly that nasty anger one. To keep a handle on his emotional state, he wears a wristwatch heart rate monitor, which suggests that his heart rate and rage level are directly linked. So not only can he not allow himself to become angry, I guess he can't go jogging, either. (Or make love, as we come to discover deeper into the narrative.)

When a soda bottling accident hints at Banner's presence in Brazil, a strike team is sent to capture him by none other than would-be dad-in-law, Gen. Thaddeus Ross, played with the requisite neocon defense department menace by William Hurt. Joining the strike team is Russkie retrainee Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth, pure venom), who establishes himself early as a despicable character by assassinating a dog. From that point on, everyone in the audience wants him dead. Even the cat people.

Zen mastery be damned, when the villains are hot on his tail, the Hulk will out - and he does, introducing Big Green to the primeval big green of the Amazonian rain forest as the harried scientist's alter ego makes his way toward the U.S.

"Yeah, I killed a dog - so sue me!"

When Bruce finds Betty (Liv Tyler; seems the Hulk gets all the fine brunettes) in the arms of a new professorish, Harris Tweeded beau, he lays low and attempts to uncover the data relating to his hulky origin by himself, not wanting to disturb her new and seeminly happy existence. But of course that doesn't work out, and soon the lovers are back in each others' arms, trying to keep one or two giant steps ahead of Betty's dad, the power-hungry general. Good luck with that.

The sudden appearance of armored Humvees on campus can mean only one thing - and I'm not referring to a new marketing campaign by General Motors. Once again Banner's inchoate beastie side comes out to play, demolishing all sorts of military hardware and playing Hell with the unfortunate soldiers operating it. He saves a particularly nasty bashing for Blonsky, who it must be said has bloody well asked for it. (And I'm talking about more than just the dog murdering.)

There are lots of fun insider references popping up throughout the picture, including the expected guest appearance by Stan Lee, along with somewhat unexpected ones from two prior Hulk portrayers, Lou Ferrigno (still looking pretty dang hulky) and Bill Bixby (not so much). For those enamored of metaphoric spectacle, there's a gorgeous set piece in which Hulk has retreated - Betty in tow - to a rocky canyon overhang somewhere on the Hudson; as a violent lightning storm rages overhead, The Green Dude rages right back at the thunder - and the darkness.

Not exactly Jennifer Connelly, but she'll do

Events culminate with the epic confrontation between Hulk and Abomination mentioned earlier, in which the CG graphics folks have a chance to earn their production dollars. We're talkin' smashed buildings, stomped tanks, disabled helicopters (of the Jolly Green Giant variety), police cars used as boxing gloves - the whole 900 yards.

In the early stages of the New York episode we meet the mysterious "Mr. Blue," who turns out to be yet another academic genetics researcher named Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson). Sterns straps Banner to a table and injects him with a carefully-engineered antidote whose effectiveness may turn out to be Bruce's undoing, given that Hulky is the only individual capable of saving the city from Bronsky's monstrous id. In a bit of foreshadowing (according to my personal Hulk expert, who joined me at the screening), Stern receives a dose of Hulk-derived fluid contamination (c'mon now, get those minds out of the gutter) which causes his cranium to swell. Suggesting a Hulk-mythos character dubbed "The Leader," destined to be one of the Avengers. I think.

The action sequences are brutal and compelling, the Banner/Hulk transitionals are convincing and the acting is adequate for the genre. Hard core fans and civilians alike should leave the theater satisfied and perhaps even growling for more.

My investment advice? Buy Marvel.

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