Rating in Stars: *½ (out of ****)
Cast: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson
Director: Louis Leterrier
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for sequences of intense action violence, some frightening sci-fi images, and brief suggestive content)
Running Time: 1:53
Release Date: 06/13/08
The most intriguing thing about The Incredible Hulk, a decidedly non-intriguing superhero movie, comes right at the beginning. Instead of regurgitating the story of the scientist whose experimentation with gamma radiation turned him into a green, supersized human with rage issues, heightened strength, and toughened skin (Perhaps screenwriter Zak Penn reasoned that, given the source comic book series, a television show of the same name, and 2003’s far superior but less popular Hulk, audiences weren’t clamoring for a re-telling), the whole origin story plays over the opening credits. What follows is constantly underwhelming.
It is an immediate sensation upon seeing how the action sequences are framed and shot by director Louis Leterrier and cinematographer Peter Menzies Jr. The beats are choppy and visually grimy, highlighting every bead of sweat upon the characters’ face to denote an exhaustion that is only the audience’s when every tired genre trope raises its head. The Hulk himself is hidden in shadow until the Big Reveal, upon which is disappointment that a character with such a crucial need for impressive effects work looks, instead, like computerized plastic. Then again, when the Other Big Reveal of his chief adversary happens, the resulting throwdown looks like something out of a PlayStation 2 video game.
The plot has all the scope of an extended chase and doesn’t have much more on its mind. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton), the scientist in question, has been in hiding in Brazil for several years under an assumed name and a false trail leading to his “death.” It happened when the Hulk took over, of course, but General Ross (William Hurt), the man who oversaw the transformation, knows he’s somewhere and is forever looking. The general’s daughter Betty (Liv Tyler) is already dating another man (Ty Burrell), whom she drops when Bruce manages to find his way Stateside after an escape from her father’s men.
One of those men is Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), a military man who is actually a power-hungry adrenaline junkie with a raging death wish and no conscience. He desires what he sees in the Hulk and blackmails Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson, who is truly dreadful here), the doctor with whom Bruce has been communicating, to transform him into a similar beast. The result is an abomination in itself. Well, actually, he’s now the Abomination, a foe of the Hulk’s from the comic books, but let’s not break the fourth wall here. It’s an epic and enormously disappointing showdown in the works.
That’s basically everything to which the film both aspires and adds up. The actors don’t help, with only Hurt escaping unscathed (and even that is mostly because he adds outward dignity and poise to a character who doesn’t have any genuine depth). Norton’s behind-the-scenes annoyance at a cut he preferred being axed in lieu of this forgettable slice of nothing is evident on his face, Tyler exists to be saved and cry (a lot), and Roth attempts to ham it up as Blonsky while revealing his boredom with a role that eventually just becomes a computerized character. The Incredible Hulk is, indeed, far from it.
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