In virtually every way, 2008's Incredible Hulk, the sequel-come-reimagining of Ang Lee's Hulk, is inferior to that 2003 superhero blockbuster. The script is more predictable and formulaic, the direction stylish-yet-unimaginative, the special effects more cartoony and less realistic and the score obvious and generic.
The cast too, fail to measure up to their 2003 counterparts. Liv Tyler lacks both depth and intelligence as Betty Ross while William Hurt completely lacks the menace and volatility that Sam Elliott gave General Thunderbolt Ross, first time around. But the main culprit here is lead Ed Norton as Doctor Bruce Banner. Eric Bana might have turned in a quietly internal performance as the Hulk's alter-ego, but he conveyed the fear, rage and frustration of a man with a monster inside him perfectly. Here, it's difficult to work out if Norton is sleepwalking or whether a hypnotist has mind-controlled his considerable acting talent from the skill centres of his brain. Norton is crap. And with no one to like, care for or identify with... the audience simply can't give a damn about the mediocre plot.
Only the indie cred of Tim Roth, as the unravelling military psycho Emil Blomnsky, provides us with anything above average to watch. However, once he turns into the pile of pixels that is abomination, Roth exits the picture and all is lost.
The effects in the finale are too unconvincing while any investment into the fate of the dull cast has faded by this point.
There is however one great action sequence at Culver University as the Hulk takes on the army. The Brazil city location is cool. Plus a cool Downey Jr cameo at the conclusion to set up 2012's Avengers movie. So if you slagged it off the first time, please go and revisit Ang Lee's superior green monster mash and rediscover why it kicks Ed Norton's puny ass.
1 comment:
Give me Ang Lee's odd but fascinating and vastly superior film any day over this humdrum effort. Norton is bland as is Tyler and the always dull Hurt. Only Tim Roth is good and worth watching...and then he gets replaced by a throuroughly unconvincing blob of pixels. Ang Lee's film has more depth and creativity in a single shot than this manages in it's entire running time. The FX are also nowhere near as good. It is rather telling that this dumber and more 'commercial' version made even less world wide and in the US than Lee's film. This Hulk is very far from incredible.
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