This is the last superhero movie of the summer, and it was probably the weakest. This movie starts with a montage of the Hulk’s origins, then we go to Brazil where Bruce Banner is hiding.
The first part of the movie is about Banner overseas running and hiding. This was obviously inspired by the TV show and I liked that. The first scene with Hulk was impressive, we don’t really see him in full light, he was more of a mysterious monster hiding in the shadows.
Once we get to the scene in the college campus, we see Hulk in day light. The CG is very well done and Hulk does create destruction, but I must admit I wasn’t very entertained in general. Even the final fight with Abomination wasn’t all that interesting to me. And I had problems with Hulk using the chain at the end. It just didn’t look right.
But I did like Banner’s struggle to control his rage, even with the help of breathing techniques. Ed Norton is physically a good Banner and his performance was as always good. His relationship with Betty Ross didn’t really work for me, I didn’t feel any chemistry between the two actors. Liv Tyler looks gorgeous, but she seems to have the same role in every movie.
William Hurt as General Ross didn’t have much characterization, but it worked. Unfortunately I didn’t like Tim Roth, it just didn’t feel like he had much motivation apart from “I want to be powerful”.
There were a lot of easter eggs for comics fans, though I didn’t catch all of them since I am not that familiar with Hulk comics. I guess I am just not interested in the Hulk as a mindless monster.
I prefer a Hulk who is not autistic, instead has his own personality and intellect. I like to see the struggle between the two personalities. But I think that’d be even more difficult to create with CGI. Creating a mindless green monster is hard enough, but someone with more humanity will be even harder. But Gollum worked, so hopefully they’ll make it work with Hulk.
The last scene with Banner does seem to point towards that direction, so hopefully the next movie we’ll see that. Speaking of which, the scene with Tony Stark was a delight to watch. That really made me want to watch an Avengers movie next. I don’t want Hulk 2, just give me Avengers.
Rating: 2.5 Stars