[on film]

Green Is In:
The Incredible Hulk transforms nicely onscreen

By: Anghus Houvouras

The words “you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry” bring to mind the alter ego of the Incredible Hulk, Bruce Banner—a stern warning he gives to those who dare push the man to the brink. If they did, they would have to endure the rage, strength and destruction wielded by the lurking monster inside of him.

Such words also seemed applicable after I walked out of the 2003 Ang Lee take on the Hulk. I was fuming with anger, raging with enough four-letter words strung together to unleash the most obscene sentence ever constructed. To readers who haven’t seen Ang Lee’s dissertation on duality and idiocy: Don’t. It’s painful—so bad that movie lovers wouldn’t believe it was made by one of the premier auteurs of the modern era. Never before had I walked into a film with such expectations, my favorite comic book character brought to the silver screen by the guy who made Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

I lined up on opening night expecting greatness, but what I saw onscreen was far from great; in fact, it was one of the worst movies I’d ever seen.

I could write an entire column on how bad Hulk was. From the expressionless, somber Eric Bana portraying Bruce Banner like a whiny emo bitch, to Nick Nolte’s cracked-out portrayal of his father, to never-ending scenes of characters exploring their feelings. This was supposed to be a Hulk movie—not a diatribe on pent-up aggression and anger often seen in episodes of “Dr. Phil.” I kept wondering when the Hulk was going to hit someone. By the time he escaped into the desert and fought a few army types, I was so drained that I no longer even cared. And of course, there was the stupidest creation of all time: the Hulk dogs. I’m a fan of different interpretations of material, but there’s nothing that can justify having the Hulk face a giant, gamma irradiate poodle. Horseshit.

So when I heard there was new Hulk movie being made, I was equally frightened and elated. Had enough time really passed to wash the sick, green bile taste out of my mouth from the cinematic slaughter that was Hulk? Fortunately, I can say that the new take, dubbed The Incredible Hulk is everything the Hulk wasn’t: entertaining and action-packed. It does a fantastic job of taking one of comic’s greatest creations and making it into something worth watching.

Doctor Bruce Banner is a gifted scientist researching the effects of gamma radiation. When his body is exposed to high levels of radiation, it transforms him into the giant, green-skinned menace known as the Hulk. It’s more of a curse than a blessing. When he becomes angry, he transforms into this monstrous creature, and his gifted mind recedes, overtaken by his most basic impulses.

The Hulk’s origins are quickly covered in the title sequence, where we are introduced to two other important people: the love of his life, fellow scientist Betty Ross, and her military-driven father, William “Thunderbolt” Ross, who wants to harvest Banner’s DNA to create an army of super soldiers. Banner, filling the archetype of the sullen superhero quite well, flees into the jungles of Brazil to try and find a cure for his affliction, using Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and breathing techniques to try and keep his anger in check. Unfortunately, the U.S. Army tracks him down and sends a team of special forces led by Emil Bronsky (Tim Roth) to bring him in. Of course, none of this goes well, and Banner transforms into the Hulk, dispatching the troops.
Bronsky is none-too pleased and asks Ross the truth about the Hulk.

Once he learns about the power Banner wields, he signs up to take treatments that will ultimately transform him into the villainous Abomination. This leads to one hell of a dust up in the streets of New York, a pugilistic smack down between two menacing beasts who lay waste to everything in their path.

The Incredible Hulk is fantastic pulp filmmaking. It abandons all the lofty goals of the previous film and instead gives fans what they’ve been waiting for: to see the Hulk inflict a whole lot of pain on anyone who gets in his way. There’s nothing exceptional about the film, but everything about it feels right. From the casting of Ed Norton in the title role of Bruce Banner, to the exceptional action pieces peppered throughout the film, The Incredible Hulk is a solid popcorn flick.

Of course, not everything works. Liv Tyler continues to confuse me with her acting style that seems built on the concept of whispering every line she utters in some kind of breathy exhale, like a bad Marilyn Monroe impression. Every attempt at humor falls contemptuously flat, and the military “intelligence” in the film blows every mission by having some hapless moron go in just a second or two early, prompting the target to take off running.

The direction by Transporter helmer Louis Lettier is competent, but not overwhelming. Truly, this film is made by Edward Norton who brings charm and energy to Banner’s role. Unlike Eric Bana who worked his way through every scene as if he was made of mahogany, Norton finds a way to make Banner likable and interesting enough to care about.

The true star of this film is the computer-generated awesomeness of the Hulk, and later the Abomination as they wallop the high holy hell out of each other. This is the kind of brutal destruction I’d been waiting for since they first attempted to bring the Hulk to the screen.

In truth, the producers of The Incredible Hulk get it. They understand why people like the Hulk, the fact that as far as superheroes go, he is the unchecked id, the sum of all the anger and rage inside of us unleashed in all its green-skinned glory.

The Incredible Hulk is another bull’s-eye for Marvel. With the success of Iron Man and now the Incredible Hulk, I’m looking forward to the next slate of Marvel superhero films to hit the screen. Excelsior.