Thanks for checking out our review of The Incredible Hulk! ***SPOILER CITY AHEAD!!!! DON’ T READ IF YOU WANT TO BE SURPRISED!***
The General Idea
Plot outline from IMDB: Depicting the events after the Gamma Bomb. ‘The Incredible Hulk’ tells the story of Dr Bruce Banner, who seeks a cure to his unique condition, which causes him to turn into a giant green monster under emotional stress. Whilst on the run from military which seeks his capture, Banner comes close to a cure. But all is lost when a new creature emerges; The Abomination.
The Good
Ed Norton was great as Bruce Banner. He was always muted, calm and in control. He was Vulcan in his discipline and really sold the idea of how much work it would take to be in control of your emotions 24/7. His portrayal of Banner wrestling with himself added struggle and depth to the character and a surprising amount of tension to the film.
This film has 3 main battle sequences and I liked them all for different reasons. My favorite was probably the courtyard battle, because we can clearly se what is going on and the use of sonic cannons was outstanding. The first battle in a bottling plant had the best “throwing shit” segment of the film and the third act allowed us to see the Hulk duke it out against a worthy adversary. The Hulk pounded the ground, threw tons of stuff and often used massive foreign objects as makeshift blunt weapons. I was pleased with the choreography of the violence and the myriad of ways in which they delivered it.
For much of the story we are following Banner as he runs from authorities. For much of the show the film had the feel of a chase movie, and that suited me just fine. It was cool to see Banner in different situations using ingenuity to not only outsmart those chasing him, but the beast within.
The Bad
I really didn’ t care for much of the camera work in this film. I will be honest, some scenes it just down right bothered me. Breakneck editing and shaky cam made for some very indiscernible moments. I like to see the environment and soak in the images, that is the point with cinema after all isn’t it? I understand that quick editing will give a sense of action and mayhem, but I think a long shot where you see a car fly across the screen into someone’s face speaks for itself.
There was a sub plot in the film where Bruce solicits help for a cure, and I found it to be incredibly lame. I can understand that he may be looking for a cure himself, but I never bought that he would get assistance from anyone else (let alone send blood in the mail). When Bruce meets with the scientist that has been helping him over the internet (Mr. Blue), they try to administer a cure which may or may not work….. and 5 minutes later in the film – they hope it doesn’t work. I was left wondering – what’s the point? If this entire sub plot had been stricken from the story, it would have been much better for it.
This film would have gotten at least a 7 from me if it didn’t let me down so much at the films climax. Although it wasn’t my favorite fight scene of the film – the last battle with Abomination was building to an amazing crescendo and had everyone in the theatre abuzz with excitement. At the moment where Hulk is about to unleash true justice upon Abomination – Betty says “don’t” and he doesn’t. The whole fucking scene went down like the Hindenburg and was totally spoiled. For the last action scene in The Incredible Hulk – that is flat out unacceptable. Hulk is violence, and you need to give us the best.
Overall
Criticisms aside, I enjoyed the Hulk and recommend that you see it. The pieces were there to make this film great, but a more liberal use of the editing knife and a superior climax would have made this a much better film. I thought the film was good, not great, and out of 10 give it a 6.5 (but I want to give it a 6.8).
