The INCREDIBLE HULK

“The INCREDIBLE HULK” (Edward Norton, Tim Roth, William Hurt & Liv Tyler)
“It’s just as good as ‘Iron Man’,” was the promo I’d heard that propelled me to see for myself – along with good reviews from movie goers I respect... up until now!
It not only isn’t in ‘Iron Man’ or ‘Batman Begins’ realm, it is an insipid, cartoon-ish joke of a film that the four big named stars that appear in it should be ashamed of.
I will give some leniency toward Roth, as the soldier who wishes to become the ultimate weapon of mass destruction – his character provides the only enjoyable moments.
I was often reminded of ‘The Bourne...’ sequels when scene after scene of Edward Norton running away from the military took place; I mean, Matt Damon’s a decent actor, but Edward is an upper echelon thespian – why did he take a role where he basically just ran his little legs off for most of the movie? I guess after ‘The Painted Veil’ he needed to make some cash, eh?
The homage to Bill Bixby put a smile on my face, but the Stan Lee & Lou Ferrigno cameos were simply embarrassing to witness.
There’s so much wrong with this film, where do I begin? Okay, at the beginning makes sense – The ‘story’ of how Bruce Banner becomes the ‘Hulk’ is ‘told’ over the opening credits thru newspaper headlines & then the actual film begins with Banner(Norton) hiding out in South America before being tracked down by William Hurt’s special militia team(?) & the first of many elongated chase scenes take place.
They do it right as far as not revealing the ‘monstrous creature’ right away, but when they finally do - it is underwhelming to say the least. I guess comic book fans will appreciate it because that is precisely what The Hulk looked like to me – a comic book drawing.Plus, I thought the ‘idea’ of The Hulk was that he lost all control when angered – this Hulk has complete control whenever in the presence of his girlfriend/doctor (Liv Tyler)
So how the Hulk becomes the Hulk is pretty much dismissed (It is what made ‘Batman Begins’ worth seeing) & The Hulk, instead of being a rampaging ‘horror’ is a meek overgrown green pussycat when he wants to be... Like I said, the only part that worked for me was the abomination Tim Roth becomes in his mad quest for power; & still, the phony, cartoon-like ‘special’ effects turns that intriguing subplot into a joke in the end...
Just to clarify – I was never a big fan of the original series either; perhaps that explains my jaded review...