Reflecting On The Movie “The Incredible Hulk”

“Hulk – Smash”

I just got through watching The Incredible Hulk for the first time, starring Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, and William Hurt. What a roller-coaster ride in just under two hours (around 1 hour 48mins) !

Bruce Banner (played by Norton) is in constant hiding and on the cusp of finding a cure for his strange affliction, with the help from the secretive Mr. Blue (who turns out to be Samuel Sterns who eventually mutates into The Leader – a popular nemesis for the Hulk), but the military are closing in on Banner at every turn. Blonsky (Roth) joins the military unit run by (Hurt) and they conjure up a plan to use the same gamma radiation techniques on Blonsky to give him the edge in finding and capturing Banner. Roth stands his ground against the raging Hulk and clearly wants some of it – heading towards his own abomination – however he mutates differently and may be stronger from the outset but as we know the angrier the Hulk gets the stronger he gets. Liv Tyler plays her part well and offers a softer side to the adrenaline charged plot.

The origins part of the story is told in a sequence of flashbacks produced for this movie but doesn’t particularly pay any nod to the earlier Ang Lee version, which starred Eric Bana in the lead role, and probably has more in line with the late 70’s television series which featured Bill Bixby (who Norton has clearly based Banner on).

There are plenty of nods to the television series and Edward Norton is clearly at one with the material in the movie – which is a good thing for us Marvel fans:

• It was fun to see Lou Ferrigno pop up in one scene
• Bill Bixby even appears on the television.
• One of the reporters on the scene was named Jack McGee as another nod
• The TV theme tune plays as Banner walks down a road
• When Banner receives the package at the end of the movie it is addressed to David B. whereas Norton is playing Bruce Banner (David B. was the pseudo name used in the TV series).

The effects for the Hulk himself were top notch, feeling more realistic, darker, (dare I say more human like), and less cartoonified than the almost pixel based Ang Lee version. A thoroughly enjoyable movie.

There is a rumour that the Hulk plays the bad guy in the upcoming Avengers movie – could this really work?