My Poor Brain

5 out of 5

The green beast is back, and better than ever. Edward Norton, one of my favorite actors of all time, has done a hugely fantastical magical greentastical job at bringing us back The Incredible Hulk in true Hulk form. Liv Tyler, one of my biggest Hollywood crushes, brings Betty Ross back in sexy nerdy girl fashion that makes Hulk excited.

Unlike most people I was a fan of the first Hulk movie, but was very open to the soon-after reboot announcement. Especially with Norton on board. Even though I liked the Ang Lee version, I totally understood why the reboot was necessary to please fans. After seeing this film I am not sure I will be able to sit through the first Hulk movie again.

One thing I hate about movies is when the opening credits go on for 5-10 minutes with some pointless music and fancy background. Most of the time it is necessary, but it is nice to see people get creative. My favorites in recent memory include the Spider-Man 2 opening: in which Spider-Man 1 is recapped through art stills, and the 007 Die Another Day opening: in which 007 is being tortured with a flaming lady dancing around on him. In The Incredible Hulk, the story of how Banner became the Hulk and then the events that immediately followed were shown in a matter of 5 minutes during the opening credits. Something that the Ang Lee Hulk took about a half hour to do.

The biggest issue surrounding the new Hulk was the appearance. I thought that in Lee’s original Hulk movie, maybe that was the best they can do. It seems like a tough effect to pull off. But then you watch the NEW film and the Hulk is so incredibly realistic, scary, monstrous, and yet keeps a very human touch to the face and the expressions. The technologies haven’t changed THAT much between this new Hulk film and the last one, and so the effects team is clearly superior in this film. From the moment I saw the Hulk’s face the first time, I had chills of excitement for the rest of the film whenever he appeared on screen (which was A LOT).

The next biggest issue was probably the amount of action that would be in the film. The trailers plenty reassured the fans that they would see action. I can’t say enough about it, there was THAT much. All the action was incredible and unique and kept you pumped for more. They didn’t overuse any Hulk moves or have him run and jump around for 12 minutes and call it action(I’m slowly starting to REALLY dislike the other film as I keep writing).

By far the BEST thing they did with this film was have an ENEMY. I’m not talking about the military, they use that in every film if someone needs an enemy. ABOMINATION! Okay I say it like I actually knew who that was before this film. I’ll come out and say that I have not read more than 10 comics in my life, but am in love with the genre. It’s kind of hypocritical and I give major props to the true nerds of the genre who made these movies possible. I am a MOVIE fan. Back on the subject: The Hulk had a true enemy to battle with. The major complaint of Superman Returns was that he had no enemy to fight, he just lifted shit(I still loved the film even if that is true). And the Ang Lee hulk sort of had an enemy, the Hulk just kinda jumped around clouds and then wrestled water. But Abomination was the MOST right thing they did with The Incredible Hulk.

Edward Norton is one of the best actors ever in my book, and this film says no different. He plays the part of Banner to freaking perfection, and I really don’t even know what perfection is, but Norton is all i can think of when I think perfection(and curb stomps). Liv Tyler was also awesome as Betty Ross. I always love her in everything she’s in, and she always is up for some great almost sex-scenes(Empire Records, Jersey Girl). I am not very familiar with William Hurt but he did an incredible acting job as General Ross, and way better than that guy from the last film with the way-to-perfect mustache. Tim Roth played a great character: Blonsky, who was just a great villain right before transforming into the TRUE villain: Abomination. I also loved Lou Ferrigno’s appearance as both the security guard and the voice of the Hulk. And of course Stan Lee’s cameo was enjoyable, my only tiff with the Lee cameos is that it takes you out of the magic for a second.

I am going to say it, I LOVED THE INCREDIBLE HULK MORE THAN IRON MAN. But it’s okay because Stark made an appearance to further set up the Avengers film that is slowly but surely approaching. I think it will be hard for ANY film the rest of the summer to top this one on the FUN level, not overall level, just the FUN level. This is an absolute MUST to go see, and you should NOT wait until DVD because you will only get half the fun if you don’t see it on the big screen. HULK…SMASH!!