That's
incredible!
Coming
only 5 years after Ang Lee’s controversial and not entirely
successful film about the same character, Louis Leterrier’s
The Incredible Hulk might be seen as a project that’s
simply too close to its predecessor. But this new version firmly
stakes its own claims, and in the process, resoundingly re-establishes
the franchise.
Actually, “new version” might be going
a bit far. This film basically starts where the earlier film left
off, although it’s not a sequel in the traditional sense.
The opening sequence economically recounts the mishap
that turned Dr Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) into the Hulk (this
was the core of the earlier film). From there, it goes down a
rather different road, following attempts by the military, led
by Gen. Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross to capture him
for their own purposes. Of course, Banner has to stay one step
ahead to avoid detection; something he does successfully until
a freak accident gives away his location in Brazil. The general
sends a crack team, which includes the marginally psycho Emil
Blonsky (Tim Roth) to capture him, but the confrontation causes
him to turn once more into the Hulk – with disastrous consequences
for the soldiers. Making his way back to the US, Banner tracks
down his sometime girlfriend Betty Ross (Liv Tyler), who happens
to be Thunderbolt’s daughter. Despite what he has become,
she still loves him, and decides to help him try to find a cure
for his condition. But Blonsky – having been roundly thrashed
in Brazil – is keen for revenge and, with Thunderbolt’s
assistance, will stop at nothing to achieve it.
Leterrier, working from a script by Zak Penn and
Edward Norton, maintains some of the key elements of Ang Lee’s
film. In particular, the film is a lot more cerebral than many
superhero flicks. There’s a rather subversive undercurrent
running through the film concerning the struggle between individual
liberty and governmental regulation. It also, in common with the
recent Iron Man (with which it shares more than a passing
connection), questions the role of the military in society and
its quest for ever more-powerful weapons. Additonally, in the
film’s “quiet” moments, it taps into Lee’s
key theme of the struggle between the human in Banner and his
“dark side” represented by the Hulk.
But
Leterrier, who cut his teeth on the Transporter action
movies, ensures there’s plenty of comic book action (heavily
reliant on CGI); including three set-pieces, each one bigger and
more extravagant than the last. This blend of the cerebral and
the spectacular makes The Incredible Hulk a rather more
balanced effort than Lee’s. As a result, I’d expect
this to appeal to a broader audience, satisfying both action fans
and those seeking something a bit more substantial than your average
superhero movie.
As for the CGI itself, it’s pretty well-done.
Even in the over-the-top final action sequence, there’s
at least a skerrick of credibility to the sequences. Perhaps that’s
because a large proportion of these scenes was filmed with the
real actors, using motion capture to give a degree of fluidity
and naturalness to the movements. And the CGI is actually more
skilfully blended with the real-life action than you might expect,
being almost seamless in one particular instance.
Edward Norton isn’t perhaps an instinctive
choice to play Bruce Banner, but manages to pull it off. His rather
skinny physique actually makes his transition into the massive
Hulk all the more spectacular. Tim Roth probably falls into the
same category; but is still quite believable as Blonsky. William
Hurt appears to have a great time as the driven but ruthless Thunderbolt.
On the other hand, I personally found Liv Tyler a bit bland as
the love interest, although to be fair, her character is the least
developed of all the majors.
Overall though, despite a few quibbles, The
Incredible Hulk is an exciting and quite captivating action
movie. It invites comparisons with Iron Man (another
from the Marvel stable) and is probably on a par with it. It has
a solid foundation in a good script, and Leterrier follows through
on that with a nicely balanced and surprisingly thoughtful film.
David Edwards
