With The Avengers conquering the world’s theaters while we Americans wait to see this spectacle of Kirby krackled celluloid awesomeness let’s continue delving into the Marvel movieverse with The Incredible Hulk.
The Incredible Hulk was released shortly after Iron Man in the summer movie season of 2008. Directed by Louis Leterrier and starring Edward Norton as Bruce Banner this movie was a reboot after Ang Lee’s Hulk film a few years prior. This time attempting to stay more true to the classic roots of the character, along with giving a few knowing winks and nods to the 70’s television series, Marvel was hoping that more appreciation of the source material would equal more success at the box office.
The story here is that Professor Bruce Banner is brought onto a military project by hard-nosed General “Thunderbolt” Ross as an expert on gamma radiation. During a fateful gamma experiment a terrible accident occurs which causes mild-mannered Banner to transform into a giant green monster whenever he experiences intense anger or shock. The changed Banner rampages through the lab, causing his girlfriend and General Ross’ daughter, Betty, to be injured. Dismayed and shocked by what has happened Banner, now a fugitive, disappears to seek a cure for his condition.
Five years have passed and we find Banner working a menial job in a Brazilian bottling factory. He spends his time practicing methods on controlling his anger and collaborating with a fellow scientist over the internet with the handle of “Mr.Blue” to Banner’s “Mr.Green.” An accident in the plant causes some of Banner’s blood to the contaminate a soft drink that eventually makes a consumer sick in Wisconsin. This is what General Ross has been waiting for. He wants to find to find and capture Banner to use as a weapon..
Ross hires a highly decorated British Special Forces soldier named Emil Blonsky. After failing to capture Banner in Brazil and seeing his monstrous other form Blonsky accepts Ross’ offer to take an experimental super soldier serum giving him a chance to defeat and capture the massive brute that Banner has become. On the run Banner decides to return to the ‘States and find Mr. Blue, hoping that his colleague can help him finally rid himself of the monster inside.
This film has some problems, while it’s enjoyable some of the scenes dealing with the Hulk are a little haphazard when it comes to visual effects and staging. Most of the scenes with Norton are very well done with Norton squeezing every last drop of empathy from the viewer lending pathos to his plight. Tim Roth brings a lot of fun to the movie as Blonsky and he really brings his A-game with his portrayal of a soldier willing to go to great lengths to remain ahead of the pack. Despite Norton and Roth’s best efforts the film really isn’t that much better than Ang Lee’s version and in some ways feels like it connects to it enough that it’s not really a reboot.
With this film being the second one in line they really added a ton more links and hints to the greater universe than the small glimpse we’ve seen before. The actual creation of the main character is one, Ross really tricks Banner, and his whole goal is to make a new super solider. Ross wants to bring back the super soldier program we’ll see in Captain America: The First Avenger. Both the Hulk and Abomination (Blonsky) are failed attempts to recreate the success of Steve Rogers. There are a bunch of scenes with little hints to the creation of Captain America and also a ton of Stark branded weapons throughout. This film also doesn’t include Agent Coulson, who we were introduced to back in Iron Man, but goes one better with Tony Stark himself visiting a defeated Thunderbolt Ross. It seems that Stark has come around to the Avengers plan and is helping Fury get a lock on Banner at a target of recruitment for the team.
Next up we return to the world of Tony Stark and his amazing armor in Iron Man 2!
