The Incredible Hulk

Marvel has a large stable of characters, and choosing which ones deserve movies has to be tough.  Considering the Hulk is one of the harder characters to sell, the Incredible Hulk is actually a solid movie.  Frankly, it was a brave choice.  When you consider that Hulk had come out a scant five years earlier, it was jarring to see another Hulk film with completely different actors involved.  Luckily, it was a good move.  I can't compare the two films, as it has been quite some time since I saw Ang Lee's Hulk, but I can tell you all about the Incredible Hulk.

I have to give Marvel credit; they do a wonderful job with casting.  As Robert Downey Jr. makes an excellent Iron Man, so too does Edward Norton properly embody Bruce Banner.  He's a scrawny little guy who brings gravity to the role.  He's an amazing actor, and I was frankly surprised to find him in the Incredible Hulk.*  

If I see any shakiness to the casting by Marvel, it tends to be in the female characters.  I'm often unsure of the actresses they choose, but ultimately, they do an excellent job.  Ever since I watched some special about the Lord of the Rings, I've through Liv Tyler was a bit....derpy.  I think she is a fine actress, but the impression I got was that she wasn't very good at learning Elvish.  I realize that's not important, as it's not a real language, but thinking about that makes me laugh.  I like her, but she seems a bit silly to me.  She is able to carry her role in the Incredible Hulk just find though.  While she isn't on Edward Norton's level, she had what she needs to for this job.

No matter how hard they try, I just can't buy a CG hulk.  I like to think it's just because my brain refuses to accept a green giant running about and smashing up perfectly good cars and military men.  While the Hulk doesn't look real, I appreciate how Leterrier, the director, handles the presentation.  He starts out with keeping him to the shadows, but he isn't afraid to bring him out into the light.  He even goes so far as to have him running about in the rain.  He has interactions with real people, and it looks alright.  The CG is as good as can be expected.**

The Incredible Hulk tells a decent story, even though there are some plot points that are marginally silly.  Banner's interactions with Mr. Blue kept pulling me out of the film, primarily because of the encryption bar that was shown before each encounter.  Add in the lack of explanation as to how they found each other, and it becomes a weaker part of the plot.

Perhaps the weakest factor of the Incredible Hulk is the ending villain.  I'm gonna stop you right here.  If you haven't seen the film, skip the rest of this paragraph.  Like my Iron Man review, I think enough time has passed that it is safe to have spoilers in the review, but I prefer to alert you to their existence before carrying on.  Now, begone if you have not seen the film. The rest of you may read on.  Much like Iron Man's battle with a bigger Iron Man***, Hulk fights a bigger Hulk****.  While Tim Roth is successfully creepy as an aging commando, Abomination is just a big CG something.  The best part of the ending battle?  Omar.  Who doesn't love them some Omar??

All in all, the Incredible Hulk was so much better than I remembered.  I think when I originally saw it, I was expecting it to be as good as Iron Man was.  It doesn't speak to me quite as much as Iron Man, but it is a well done movie with great actors.  If you haven't seen it, you should.  It's worth your time.

*I'm still sad he isn't reprising his role for the Avengers, but I'm sure Mark Ruffalo will do a great job.

**Some people would argue that the CG could be better, possibly citing Avatar as an example.  I beg to differ.  The CG in Avatar works because those CG characters are largely interacting with CG environments.  Are the blue cat people pretty to look at?  Sure.  Did I ever believe I was really looking at blue cat people?  Nope.

***I know it wasn't a bigger Iron Man, but you get the idea.

****See above.