The Incredible Hulk
Review
by Sean Lynch
The Incredible Hulk Interview - Christina
Cabot
It
never quite clicked in
my head why anyone would think about risking a whole wad of cash to
remake a film that came out a few years earlier.
Sure, if the first
film was made back in the days of Dick
Tracy, then why not? A bit of spit and polish would be
in order.
But in the case of The
Incredible Hulk, any surprises of "How Will They Do It"
were usurped by Ang Lee's much-maligned Hulk
in 2003.
So
this latest flick is the cinematic equivalent of scrunching up a piece
of paper and starting all over again on a fresh notepad.
The
Incredible Hulk kicks off an all-new adventure for the
green machine, an explosive and action-packed epic adventure at that.
Quickly skimming over the origin story and a brief Batman Begins-style
"learning & training" phase in a foreign country, the flick
gets
underway at an incredible pace.
Scientist
Bruce Banner (with Edward
Norton taking over the role originally played by Australia's Eric Bana)
is desperately hunting for a cure to the gamma radiation that poisoned
his
cells, unleashing the force with him - better known as The Hulk.
The
thing is - there is an entire army wanting to avoid a cure, with Banner
being the living prototype of a "Super Soldier".
With
the technology in the hands of the wrong people, the world is soon
confronted with a monstrous new enemy known as The Abomination (played
by Tim Roth), whose destructive strength exceeds The Hulk's.
Since
acquiring back the rights to all of its characters,
Marvel has made
Hollywood their own self-serving publicity machine, making quality,
action packed movies for
the fans.
And there are plenty more coming; Thor, Iron Man 2, Captain America
and The Avengers
are all on their way in an elaborate decade-long Marvel-Universe roll
out.
While "Hulk : Take 2"
offers up quite a few self referential gags (Lou Ferrigno, purple
pants,
Stan Lee,
Stark Industries, "Stanley's Pizza", "Norton Computer Systems") it
more than often takes itself far too seriously and, sadly,
drops the
unique editing styles implemented by Ang Lee - easily that films
strongest point.
Norton tries his best to give something to
the character of Banner but delivers nothing more than a beige
performance -- which is hard for me to say, because the guy is usually
awesome in
everything. Tim Roth meanwhile gives as good as he gets, belting out
one of
the better villainous performances thus far in this vastly
over-populated
genre.
That said, this film more than makes up for any of its flaws in
the action
department. And let's face it - that's why most people are forking out
their hard earned!
There are some great battles on offer,
something
which the first film sorely lacked, with TIH clearly using Spider-Man
3
as a reference point. And, most importantly, we finally get to see what
the Hulk is actually capable of (keep an eye out for the green
machine's
ingenious use of a halved police car!).
A fun popcorn flick,
which still seems about 37% redundant, ultimately helps build the
excitement
about the Marvel Universe - the most exciting revelation in the film
coming in the
final scene which involves a welcome familiar face. And a performance
which upstages any of Norton's feeble attempts in the 90 minutes
prior.
HULK... Box Office.... SMASH!
3.5 out
of 5
The
Incredible Hulk
Australian release: 12th June,
2008
Official
Site: The Incredible Hulk
Cast: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler,
Tim Roth, William Hurt
Director: Louis Leterrier
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