Originally, the 2003 film by Ang Lee was meant to have a sequel, as the years went by the sequel went unmade, Marvel decided to deviate from the Ang Lee film with a reboot that would connect to its planned cinematic universe, The Incredible Hulk. Featuring more elements from the classic TV series, this film seemed like a good step two for Marvel's plan, but it just didn't succeed well enough, it made decent box office numbers and had a decent critical response, but no one seems to remember it much, even Marvel tends to sweep it under a rug. A lot of the world building this movie started seems to be forgotten as it's Iron Man 2 that most people point at when it comes the issue of referencing other movies/Marvel elements. This film's unmemorable status can be attributed to one thing, it's just a decent movie.
The first thing any comic book fan, or even the random audience member understands is that the Hulk needs to be destructive in order to be fun, which thankfully he is. Kudos to the effects team, the effects here are really good when it comes to the action, unlike Ang's film, the destruction looks more believable and doesn't look like a cartoon. The character models on the other hand look well enough, the Hulk still needs work in this area going by this film. During the night the Hulk looks good, during the day on the other hand, he looks a bit off, granted there is detail to him, but the green skin just does not work too well in the light. The antagonist on the other hand has a better look for him, the Abomination, while not the perfect CGI effect, looks more believable by comparison.
With any movie an important factor will be the acting, Edward Norton stars as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, he plays the character well enough without being too angsty like the previous Bruce, but he is not perfect, while that wasn't the reason Marvel booted him from the role, it made the choice easier to handle. Liv Tyler plays love interest Betty Ross, she is pretty dull, not bad but her absence really isn't missed for this universe. Betty's father General "Thunderbolt" Ross is portrayed by William Hurt who comes off as tough as he should, one could really feel the tension between him and Betty, or him and the Hulk, the only downside being that this has been his only appearance so far. Tim Roth plays main antagonist Emil Blonsky/ The Abomination a soldier driven mad by power, he lusts after the strength of the Hulk, leading him to become a monster, Roth played the character with a lot of fun it seems, every time he's onscreen he really is entertaining to watch. Overall, I'd say it was the villains who were given the best actors in this film.
Looking at the summary I gave above, one can definitely see how this film was more like the show and it feels like a nice throwback to it. Though it's a reboot, it thankfully doesn't tell an origin story which is great as it really is too simple to be the entire plot of a film.This film started leaving references to other Marvel films,(super soldier serum, Stark industries, Stark himself) as mentioned before, while it may irritate some, the references won't cause too many problems if you're following the story but they will stick out even more so now then back when it was first released. The Incredible Hulk may not be perfect as the follow up film to "Iron Man" but it's decent fun and is great as a throwback for the fans of the classic show.
Stan Lee cameo- Drinks a poisonous bottle.
Written By Octaviano Macias
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