BIG MOVIE FREAK - The Incredible Hulk reviewed by Will2k

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Realistic Hulk
Finally, they’re using a ‘realistic’ approach for The Incredible Hulk like how they made Iron Man and also Batman Begins. What I meant by ‘realistic’ is in terms of using some reason and common sense in its storyline rather than just deliver a string of ridiculous, never-ending, illogical sequences that usually make a movie a complete comical disaster; e.g. Ang Lee’s Hulk and Batman (the earlier ones). I kinda like the storyline in Incredible Hulk. As Bruce Banner, Edward Norton was really able to show his ‘suffering’ and ‘pain’ emotions. This proves some strong acting skills (probably picked ‘em from Fight Club).

Things to watch in this movie:-
Stan Lee appearance
There was a brief appearance by Stan Lee in the movie (who also appeared briefly in Iron Man). However, the appearance lead to a question of ‘what happened’ to him after drinking some drops of the Hulk’s blood.
Is this a clue to a second Hulk monstrosity?

Irritating or ‘well-deserved’ ass-kicked guys
In any superhero movie, there will always be a scene where a guy or a group of guys play the ‘pain in the ass’ or ‘irritating people’ like in the first Spider-man movie. These are the kind of people that will feel the great bashing and become punching bags for the superheroes to ‘unleash their wrath’ on. This was proven when Bruce Banner was assaulted by a group of scum and as predicted, he turned into the green menace and put them all into obscurity.

Hulk Vs. Emil Blonsky (human) – the first face-off
Emil Blonsky, one of the top Army officers was sent to hunt for the weak and less aggressive Bruce Banner. Emil has no idea what he was about to face when he met up with the muscle bounded, less-friendly, giant version. It was the beginning of a great rivalry.

Jungle/cliff escape – Hulk and Betty Ross (Bruce’s lover)
Hulk destroys Gunship and shields Betty from the massive destruction caused by the explosion. After that, he made his great escape into some jungle and went up a cliff. Suddenly, I realized that the ‘befriending’ scene between Betty and the Hulk looked very much like Peter Jackson’s King Kong’s. Could this be a rip-off? Well, maybe. But it ain’t an ape, though. Who cares?

Hulk Vs. Emil Blonsky (super human) – the second face-off
The best scene for me is during the second face-off between Emil Blonsky and The Hulk outside the University’s open field. I was impressed that Blonsky had become a ‘drug-injected super-human one-man-army’. What I liked was the fact that he was good, but still not good enough to beat the Hulk. I mean, if he had beaten the Hulk at that moment, I would have doubted this movie for good. Luckily, the enormous and super-charged Hulk still proved too much for the super-agile but tiny superhuman feat. I also want to praise the creativity of the Hulk tearing things up and using them as shields to block off sonic waves. Of course, let’s not forget the superb Gunship vs. Hulk scene, which I thought was great. Two nun-chucks up without a doubt!

Hulk Vs. Emil Blonsky (super-charged monster version) – (final face-off)
As in Iron Man, the Hulk also faces a Nemesis who at least equals his size and weight. The difference is that his enemy looks like a large bulk of ‘drug overdosed Skinless meat with a Vin Diesel hair-cut’. I am quite sure I’ve seen this bad guy somewhere in Resident Evil, LOTR or some other ‘zombie’ epic.

The clash between both giants was so great that the impact was almost immediately felt. However, the fight between Hulk and Skinless dude was like watching a plain WWF Smackdown. Like in an earlier scene, here Hulk also tears apart some vehicle and use it as ‘metal gloves’. He realized that the Skinless freak had too much drugs on a given day; therefore, he has no choice but to play cheat. If there were a referee around, the Hulk would have been disqualified. Anyway, he still lost to the Bald Terror, but that was before he thought of one more cheat… which was to use a chain as a weapon. Without wasting much time, Hulk uses the chain to choke him down good.

Before that, there was a scene that came right out of Cloverfield. The crash of a helicopter carrying the General and his daughter Betty was too perfect, landing right in the middle of the brawl between the two titans. This was like a V.I.P seating, as they were able to watch the premiere fight from a closer view. Like in Cloverfield, all the ‘other’ soldiers onboard were either dead or unconscious, except for the main people (general and daughter Betty). Coincidence? Hell ya!

Final Epic
The general has a brief encounter with Tony Stark (Iron Man) played by Robert Downey Jr. It was quite clever move to import a character from another movie (especially a successful one) to relate one superhero to another.

That’s about it for the storyline. Below are some comparisons between Ang Lee’s green pea version of Hulk and the super-sized Incredible Hulk.

Comparisons between Incredible Hulk and Ang Lee’s Hulk:

Steroid overdose vs. cute and bubbly (rubbery looking)
The very first major difference between the Incredible Hulk and Ang Lee’s Hulk is definitely the ‘Incredible’ muscular physique that could strip Arnold of his Mr. Universe titles. Compared to Ang Lee’s more ‘chubby’ and ‘cute’ + comical Hulk, The Incredible Hulk is capable of giving a good whipping to Ang Lee’s green ass and put him right to the ‘Incredible Chum’ category. Incredible Hulk’s color is darker and much more toned compared to the ‘meaty’ lime green Ang Lee doll Hulk.

Advantages/Disadvantages
There are some advantages and disadvantages with both Ang Lee’s Hulk and Incredible Hulk.
1) Incredible Hulk looks better physically and has nicer set of teeth that will qualify for a Colgate advertisement
2) Ang Lee’s Hulk can jump better and further, capable of jumping over mountains, which is better than any of the ‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon’ characters and performs great ballet skills on the ground as well. 3) Incredible Hulk has muscles that look more believable and are bullet proofed. Ang Lee’s Hulk looks fat, rubbery and midget-like.
4) Incredible Hulk movement is more realistic and ‘bulky’ – Ang Lee’s Hulk’s movement reminds me of The Gumby Show.

Therefore, my conclusion is that Incredible Hulk is the ‘better’ Hulk movie and Edward Norton did well as Bruce Banner.
However, I still can’t give it two nun-chucks up for overall performance. Therefore, 1 nun-chucks up for it!

Directed by Louis Leterrier (Transporter 2, Danny the Dog/Unleashed) and screenplay by Zak Penn (The Grand, X-men: The Last Stand). Stars Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt, and Tim Blake Nelson. Based on the Marvel comics created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

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