The Greatest Trick

Ang Lee’s 2003 version of Hulk was an interesting failure. Lee, known for such thoughtful, dramatic fare as The Ice Storm, Sense and Sensibility and Eat Drink Man Woman was a too cerebral choice for helming a Hulk movie, and the film he produced provided a plethora of existential musings on the ambivalent nature of anger, Freud and associated oedipal trauma but skimped on adrenaline pumping action. Its main problem was that it took itself far too seriously (if Schindler’s List and The Passion of the Christ can have funny bits, surely Hulk could have lightened up a bit). Subsequently, Marvel reacquired the rights and after the success of Batman Begins and Casino Royale, decided to capitalise on the current trend for “rebooting” a franchise (in other words, starting again by pretending all previous incarnations did not exist).

In contrast to Ang Lee’s version, The Incredible Hulk is a far more straightforward affair; a no-nonsense comic book movie which dispenses with the origin story in the opening credits and has action from the word go. But it’s also a much less emotionally involving story. In fact, the characters are more sympathetic in the 1977 TV movie by Kenneth Johnson (who went on to make the superb V miniseries).

That’s not to say Ed Norton isn’t good in the role of Bruce Banner, but there are maddening gaps in the plot. Rumours the film was pared down from a considerably longer cut under protest from Norton and director Louis Letterier might go some way to explaining this, but its pointless to speculate on whether this would have improved the film or not. In the meantime, we are left with the usual variation on Jekyll and Hyde – gamma radiations experiments that go wrong cause scientist Banner to become the Hulk when he gets angry. In this version, he goes undercover in Brazil trying to find a cure, leaving behind girlfriend Betty Ross (a suitably tearful Liv Tyler), whose exact involvement in the original experiment remains maddeningly unclear, again possibly as a result of the scenes left on the cutting room floor. The US military discover Banner within minutes of the film beginning (via a nifty Stan Lee cameo) and there follows a well directed action sequence reminiscent of last summers rooftop chase in The Bourne Ultimatum.

Unfortunately, as the film progresses, the action sequences become increasingly boring, and the characters less interesting. Despite the occasional interesting touch (a sequence involving sonic weapons for instance), the CG is only occasionally convincing, and a ludicrously overextended final smackdown between Hulk and monstrous nemesis Abomination (Tim Roth after taking a similar dose of gamma radiation) is utterly uninvolving and cartoonish.

Marvel clearly intend this to be a potential franchise. Alternatively, given a Tony Stark cameo at the end and with a Captain America movie announced, they might want to make an Avengers film with Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America et al, and are introducing these heroes with their own movies one by one. At any rate, on its own terms The Incredible Hulk is faintly entertaining fluff, but it’s not as smart or fun as Iron Man, which itself was no masterpiece. The smart money is still on The Dark Knight as this summer’s potentially classic comic book movie.

Simon Dillon, June 2008.