This is a "reboot" and not a sequel to the 2003 Hulk starring Eric Bana and directed by Ang Lee. It has a very much higher percentage of screen time dedicated to the rather yawnsome spectacle of giant CGI chaps pounding the crap out of one another, and is therefore said to be more satisfactory to the fans of the comic and tv series. It has Edward Norton doing his pained look, it has Liv Tyler being extraordinarily sentimental, it has William Hurt rather good as the General, and it has Tim Roth, way beyond even knowing where the top was as an improbably elderly British SAS-type and then as Mr Yellow to the eponymous Mr Green (rather sweetly voiced by Lou Ferrigno, who I'm sure you all remember played the Hulk int the seventies tv series).
The best bit of the film is the opening sequence, where Bruce Banner is working anonymously in a bottling plant somewhere in Brasil when the US military track him down and attempt to take him into custody, with predictably entertaining results. The moment the audience was thirsting for, the transformation of mild-mannered Bruce into giant green Hulk, was daringly prolonged and very rewarding when it came.
Interestingly Norton is said to have rewritten the role of Banner when he agreed to do it; he has no-one but himself to blame for the resulting colourless mess. It was an odd role to pick for an actor who specializes in interiority and subtlety. There was a definite sense that the audience didn't like Banner very much and couldn't wait for the next appearance of his alter ego. Definitely nowhere near as good as the Ang Lee movie, but the kids will enjoy it.
Andrea Hopkins, 17/06/08
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