Hulk SMASH!!!! . . and not much else
Image Courtesy of IMPawards.com
Director: Louis Leterrier
Notable Cast: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt, Ty Burrell, Tim Blake Nelson
One of the more fascinating things about Ang Lee’s Hulk is that instead of giving fanboys what they wanted, which was 90 minutes of the green monster smashing things in a big dumb action movie, he gave the world a tragedy with great characters that happened to have a big green monster smashing things. It’s a step in the right direction in terms of action, but two major steps backward in terms of being a top notch film.
The Incredible Hulk isn’t a sequel to Hulk as it is a re-tooling of the franchise. With a brand new cast, a quick retelling of an origin story, and a new villain to fight, The Incredible Hulk is proof that making a great movie is sometimes over-rated. Or at least that’s what people who’ll view this film as a better one than Lee’s film because it’s more action-oriented.
The plot is familiar enough. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) is the victim of a radiation experiment gone wrong and when he gets angry, he morphs into a gigantic green monster with seemingly unlimited strength to match its rage. On the run from the military, who want to capture him and use him as the basis for a biological weapon, Banner ventures from Brazil all the way back to America to a climatic battle with another science experiment gone wrong (Tim Roth). And while there’s much more action and carnage, it doesn’t make for a strong film.
The difference is in the directing. Louis Leterrier has made several strong films, including the first two films in the Transporter franchise and Jet Li vehicle Unleashed, but he doesn’t tell a particularly engaging story. There’s nothing about Bruce Banner and his dilemma that makes us want to root for him, other than the generic slimeball (William Hurt) who’s chasing him, and Leterrier doesn’t do anything to invest in the characters early on. If there’s one thing Hulk did that should’ve been kept along it’s the character development. Ed Norton is one of the best actors working today, and he brings out a lot about Banner that makes us want to like him, but Leterrier isn’t giving him much. It’s a credit to Norton’s world class talents that the film isn’t boring.
With a new cast comes a new set of problems mainly that it’s not a very good one. Liv Tyler isn’t given much to do as the token love interest, and what she’s given she doesn’t do well, and even Tim Roth doesn’t have anything to sink his teeth into. Considering that this is a new cast brought in to bring new life into the franchise, it’s surprising that there isn’t a breath of fresh air to be found. This is generic acting with generic characters in a rather generic superhero film.
Even the action sequences underwhelm. Leterrier has made a living on action films and he relies too much on CGI to make the action work. With plenty of it to go around, most of it solid and realistic, the film’s CGI is tight but its use is a bit bland. It’s a visual wonder to see the Hulk and the Abomination go at it early on, but they don’t do anything that’s jaw-dropping. It’s generic action that has been done before many times and despite the monster(s), doesn’t do much to raise the bar (or even get close to matching it).
They say everyone gets what they deserve in the end. For those who wanted the Hulk to smash things, and didn’t care about things like plot and characters, this is their wish. The Incredible Hulk has a first rate star and second rate action to wind up a third rate superhero film.
FINAL RATING (ON A SCALE OF 1-5 BUCKETS):
