Review of the 2008 film the Incredible Hulk

So, I picked a great time to think about reviving my review blog. I had a relaxing day in, including an opportunity to watch a film. I recently got the Avengers box set, and the only film in it I hadn't seen was the Incredible Hulk.

I knew it hadn't been as well reviewed as some of the others, but I wanted to see it anyway. Mild spoiler warnings ahead, folks.

Well, the start was okay. It took the interesting approach of joining Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) several months (maybe even years) after the accident that leaves him with his impressive green alter-ego. I think just about everyone who'd bother to watch a Hulk film knows his back-story, so it was a good way to get to the part of the story they were trying to tell..

The opening credits give a brief run through of Hulk's genesis, and then as soon as they fade out, we cut to Bruce in Brazil, working in a bottling factory and trying to cope with his inner demon. It hints at relationships at the past, Elizabeth “Betty” Ross (Liv Tyler) and General Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt), but leaves most of that exposé for later.

So far so good?

Well, the first twenty minutes were actually reasonably promising in some ways, which just made it all the more galling when it fell apart completely later. The initial problem was with Bruce; I saw the man struggling with the Hulk, but there wasn't any hint of the brilliant scientist. Having seen Avengers Assemble (ie Hulk done well) I really felt this absence. And then there was the General, who's after Bruce, to try and unlock the secret of the Hulk to make more of them. Well, as motivations go, it's a little shaky, but we'll go with it.

He sends in a hit squad who have no clue what they're up against, you know, for fun? There's an entertaining if mindless free-running chase sequence, ending with the inevitable appearance of the Hulk, and the military's humiliating defeat. The hit squad is led by Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), who rather than being put off by the fact that his squad is torn to shreds, is instead entranced by the Hulk's power, and decides to go after such power himself.

Motivations just get shakier as time goes on.

Bruce is the only one that really make sense in the film; he's in touch with a mysterious scientist “Mr Blue” who claims to have found a cure for Bruce's condition. Fine. But, in search of this, he walks to America. Yes, that's right. Walks. From Brazil. (And this is about the point where I started to go “really? REALLY?”)

While trying to find some data about the original accident, he runs back into his old love interest, Betty. Her characterization is paper thin, and I felt like she was on sedatives. She isn't given the luxury of a motivation, even a shaky one. In terms of Liv Tyler's roles, this made Arwen look like the Princess of Good Character Development. Her one sympathetic moment in the film is when she snaps into a rage at a taxi driver.

Characterization was weak, motivations poorly explained, and plot was just a way of getting from one fight scene to the next. So, was the action worth it?

I'm a fan of mindless action movies, and I like fight scenes, and random explosions as much as the next slightly crazed geek, but the action sequences could not make up for the film's failings. Far from the big green Rage Monster, Hulk actually looked too restrained and controlled at times. He tears the army apart systematically, and then protects Betty when she Does Stupid. The fight scenes were mostly iterations on 'Hulk throws heavy object,' and 'Hulk hits heavy object with other heavy object.' Then there are at least a couple of occasions where they could have easily avoided a confrontation with the Hulk, and didn't because of poor decision making and worse pattern recognition.

The final battle sequence is lacklustre. Rather than rage-ful, the Hulk looks rather bored and unimpressed by the whole thing. I don't blame him. Oh, and he claps his hands out to put out a fire. Really? REALLY?

The last nail in the coffin for me was that through all of this, the film seemed to take itself far too seriously. When you're acting all serious business with crazed marines and THE HULK around, you can't then throw in the old crowd-pleasing lines without it jarring slightly. And it jarred quite a lot.

So, I'm going to relegate this to lowest-tier Marvel along with Iron Man 2. Whatever happened, Joss Whedon Fixed the Hulk in Avengers Assemble, so I think we'll all be happier if we pretend this didn't happen and move on with our lives.