Reel Review: The Incredible Hulk

Director: Louis Leterrier

Cinematography: Peter Menzies Jnr.

Screenplay: Zak Penn

Runtime: 112 mins

Starring: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson

Synopsis: In an attempt to avoid the authorities, Bruce Banner (Norton) has made home in Rio, here he desperately tries to control and cure the monster within him.  However it is not long before General Ross (Hurt) has caught his scent and the chase begins.  Banner soon has to confront his past, firstly his one true love that he nearly killed, Betty (Tyler), and Emil Blonsky an aging soldier with a desire to be as powerful as Banners alter ego.

Here we have both Marvel’s second self funded film, the first being Iron Man, and their second attempt to bring the iconic green superhero to the big screen.  As comic book adaptations go the Hulk is probably one of the most difficult to pull off.  Firstly we have a protagonist who isn’t very heroic and strives to cure himself of his powers, also visually interpreting the Hulk is a great challenge.  The CGI has to be spot on to portray a big, green, organic monster, something that other comic book movies are not burdened with.  Just ask Ang Lee, his 2003 adaptation failed on most levels, including the effects, he crafted a grand Greek tragedy with good performances and characterisations at its core.  The big problem was it was not a comic book movie, it was interesting to see Lee’s take on a summer blockbuster, but it was not the Hulk film we all wanted and deserved.

Five years on and we have round two, Marvel have opted  for a full re-start of the franchise, disregarding the 2003 film completely.  The origin of Banner’s alter ego is swiftly displayed in a credit sequence, everyone around him is either left hurt or worse, leading to our protagonist fleeing to Brazil where we find him struggling to live with his curse.  One thing I immediately noted was what a wonderful location Rio is; the camera majestically sweeps up hillsides of houses, and sets the scene for great running chase set piece when our hero is eventually tracked down.  The story then takes us back to the States where Banner is on a quest to treat his condition.  Along the way he is re-united with Betty, a romance that is played well between the two leads but is not given a great deal of screen time to be dwelled upon.  General Ross’ main weapon against the Hulk is Emil Blonsky, a soldier whose career in the field is coming to an end and will do anything to stay in the fight.  Tim Roth, as always, can play aggressive villains in his sleep, but here adds an extra dimension in portraying Blonsky as a man obsessed with the power he witnesses in green monster.  It does not spoil anything to tell you that the General and his soldier themselves experiment with some DNA manipulating cocktails, leading to eventual mutations of the character.

Louis Leterrier has been bought in as director for one reason; he displayed a flair for action scenes in the Transporter films and here almost accomplishes the job he was hired for.  Unfortunately the scenes with the Hulk are to few and far between, when he is introduced we see very little of him as he is kept mainly in the shadows.  The centrepiece of the film, and easily its best action scene is a confrontation between Blonsky and the Hulk, Tim Roth again excels in these scenes as the supercharged soldier.  We are then left with the final battle between the two mutants and whilst it does have moments of spine tingling antics (“HULK SMASH!”), ultimately by the conclusion you feel a little short changed.  The CGI too is not perfect, whilst still better than the 2003 version, there are very few scenes where it impresses, again I feel that this will probably be the best we ever get, it just seems that big green men are too much for the effects wizards to manage. That’s not to say they are all bad, the non-creature elements are excellent, a slow motion helicopter explosion is one of the best effects of recent years.  Leaving the cinema I got the feeling that Leterrier had not been fully capitalised on, maybe the constraints of budget and limits of effects had kept him on a leash.  On the positive he does inject a few moments of fun into the film, there is an ongoing joke about the size of pants Banner requires, also a “Days Without Incident” counter that appears now and again is inspired.

The biggest flaw of the film are the drama elements; firstly it is clear that the character arcs have been trimmed to a minimum (scenes that were evident in the trailers have disappeared) and even though the running time isn’t exactly sparse the are too few scenes of meaningful dialogue.  There are moments when the plot gets interesting, an exchange between Banner and Betty with regards to him having control over the Hulk, but these are never explored to the required degree.  Norton does a good enough job, but you get the feeling an actor of this calibre is wasted in the role.  Both Liv Tyler and William Hurt perform their roles to an acceptable level with what they are given, it is only really Roth who makes any impact.

For all the flaws though you can see that an effort has been made, when they find the right ingredients the film works well, it’s just that these seem too few over the running time.  I did get the sensation of wanting more at the end though, which may be due to the numerous set ups for a sequel, a future villain is hinted at and the much discussed Avengers film is indicated with a last minute cameo.

The film has its moments, like Banner’s pulse these are up and down throughout.  This is not quite the Hulk film we all wanted but is an acceptable addition to this summers blockbusters.

If only it could have been a little more incredible.

Reel Rating