It’s now titled “The Incredible Hulk.” But is it incredible?
Just five years ago, Universal Pictures released Ang Lee’s version, called simply “Hulk.” The sophisticated Oscar-winning auteur attempted a thinking fanboy’s comic book superhero movie. But apparently, that phrase might be an oxymoron. 2003’s big old bore is only memorable for its laughably cheesy CGI images of the Lean Mean Greeny bounding across open landscapes.
This time the studio distributes for Marvel, which follows up on May’s “Iron Man,” its smash-hit debut as a production company for its own properties. Employing Ed Norton in the title role under director Louis Leterrier (“Transporter 2”), Marvel restores the action orientation of the popular late-’70s/early-’80s TV show and uses special effects more judiciously — at least until the inevitable over-the-top showdown in the last act. It delivers to male geek target audiences (and friends) their anti-establishment revenge fantasy fun.
Of course, why the culture still obsesses over these souped-up, butt-kicking mutants remains an open question.
Touching only briefly on how scientist Bruce Banner actually becomes the Hulk, the popcorn adventure picks up five years later. Banner attempts to elude the authorities — led by the megalomaniacal military-industrial warmonger General Ross (William Hurt) and his “gamma”-tinged enforcer Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) — so our hero can find an antidote to the massive experimental gamma exposure that turns him lime when things aren’t fine. Liv Tyler plays the ever-loyal, molecular biologist love interest Betty Ross.
Fans will find cameos and inside references to the CBS series, which starred Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno, and to the Marvel Comics universe. (I won’t give away the best of those surprises, even though one of the TV ads already does.)
For those of us less enamored of the overworked superhero genre, today’s “Hulk” does offer its compensations. Namely, it’s the choice of the compelling, introspective Mr. Norton here. As they did for “Iron Man,” the filmmakers wisely eschewed empty matinee idols to cast another mature, deeplytalented character actor to play the lead.
But Norton isn’t as funny or edgy as Robert Downey Jr., and the “Incredible” script by Zak Penn (behind the two “X-Men” sequels) lacks the punch and cohesion of early summer’s better blockbuster.
Incredible? No. But then, let’s not get too uppity. After all, It’s a friggin’ monster movie!
“The Incredible Hulk”
***
