The Incredible Hulk

So this weekend we decided to watch the new Incredible Hulk film. Many of you would have remembered the earlier Hulk film, made about 5 years back, starring Eric Bana and directed by Ang Lee. You would have remembered it because the film was so incredibly devoid of action, causing many viewers to die through sheer boredom, which I think pissed off many people. Seriously, it was like The Ring - people were dropping like flies - so much so that the movie studios decided to make a new one as a "Sorry we f*cked up" gesture. This incarnation, starring the always reliable Edward Norton, goes a long way toward actually doing that.

This film will literally rock you. The action has been cranked way up, Hulk doesn't look like he glows in the dark anymore, and this movie also has a worthwhile bad guy to fight. (The first one had Nick Nolte and his dogs. Lame)

Let's look at the plot - this film doesn't serve as a introduction to how Bruce Banner became the Hulk, everything is nicely summarised for you in the first 5 minutes. Basically, an experiment goes wrong, he is exposed to gamma rays, and now - when he gets too angry - Bruce Banner turns into the super strong green monster known as the Hulk.

This movie picks up in Brazil, where Banner (Norton) works at a bottling factory whilst training himself to calm the f*ck down. He is tracked by William Hurt's character, General Ross, who is the father of Betty Ross, who is Banner's love interest, and is played by Liv Tyler. There is also Tim Roth, who helps track Banner down, and who eventually becomes the main bad guy, after conducting some experiments of his own. Basically what that means is that he also becomes a monster, and the climax to the movie is obviously then a kick ass fight scene between the two beasts.

The movie works because the actors all pull their weight, although Liv Tyler seemed a bit too pretty to be taken seriously as a scientist. I mean, I'm sure there are pretty scientists out there, but I still get a bit sceptical when I see one in a movie. It's like when you see a good-looking cop who lives in a penthouse, bangs a supermodel and drives a sportscar. That shit doesn't really fly in real life.

The special effects are right up there - the Hulk is CGI (that means he isn't actually real) but in interaction with the characters on camera it seems as if he is in fact real. Which is awesome.

My one criticism? The movie really was loud, I'm not joking when I say that it will quite easily unblock the wax from your ears, which annoyed me slightly as I was saving those for some candles I wanted to make. Also, when he does turn into the Hulk, he doesn't look like Edward Norton and has a mushroom hairstyle, which I thought was slightly strange.

Nevertheless, for an entertaining movie romp, go and see The Incredible Hulk. It scores a Steve-O rating of 3.5.





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