| You would think that there are some places one could
vanish from the face of the earth. Nevertheless, one little accident
at the factory causes repercussions that reach the states and before
Banner knows it, his location is compromised. Ross and his soldiers
led by hardcore Russian born Emil Blonsky, track him down resulting
in a grand chase scene reminiscent of Casino Royale. Eluding
capture, Banner heads for Culver University in Virginia where his
old flame Betty Ross (Liv Tyler), estranged daughter of the general,
is a science teacher with a new man in her life. He only wants to
look in on her, but eventually they get back together because she's
one of the few people he can actually trust. And , she still has all
the data from the experiment that afflicted him in the first place.
Banner's research was basically altruistic. He was appointed by
the government to find a way for the body to heal itself. To bad our
government (in truth as in fiction), had ulterior motives to use it
as a weapon to support their super soldier program which General
Ross is trying to re-ignite. They need to find out just what exactly
makes Bruce tick when he gets angry.
Although we still owe Ang Lee for actually jump starting the
Hulk, French director Louis Leterrier's version is a much better fit
for the present super hero generation. Remember, this man
helmed The Transporter 2 with Jason Statham. Consequently, I knew
his rendition of the emerald goliath would not be short of action,
even the stapled cgi looks more natural this time around. His Hulk
is greener and cut like a jade sculpture. He would make Sly
Stallone's Rocky envious.
Scribe Zak Penn (X2: X-Men United) enfolds enough action and
dramatic content to keep the dialogue interesting and funny. The
movie he's penned is tight, wasting no time, which is what all
comics fans want. He tries to elicit as much character development
as possible, even from the minor ones.
Lead characters Edward Norton and Liv Tyler seem to have good
chemistry as the fatally detached couple. But while Norton informs
Banner as a rightfully troubled man desperately pursuing a cure to
his "Mr. Hyde" condition, Tyler's Betty Ross lacks that emotional
punch so prevalent when she played Arwen in The Lord of the Rings.
Indeed, her most shining moment is a nasty situation with a cabbie
in New York City when it looks like she may hulk out herself.
Tim Roth has played some mean roles throughout his career, his
turn as Emil Blonsky justly reminiscent of General Thade in Planet
of the Apes. He's got nerves of cast iron, refusing to back down
from Banner's green monster, even standing toe to toe with him and
asking "Is that all you got?"
The Incredible Hulk certainly has got all that and more with
stunning special fx and a keen score by former Oingo Boingo front
man turned super hero score meister Danny Elfman. Despite the
entailed fury, it's considerably more family oriented and kids as
well as their parents will enjoy this version a lot more. |
