The Incredible Hulk

An obvious improvement over Ang Lee’s egregiously cerebral Hulk, The Incredible Hulk essentially picks up where its inferior predecessor left off – with Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) now living a life of quiet solitude within a small South American village. Trouble ensues as Banner is forced to go on the run after tenacious foe General Ross (William Hurt) tracks him down, with the remainder of the film following Banner’s efforts at dodging his dogged pursuers and devising a cure for his peculiar ailment. Director Louis Leterrier has infused The Incredible Hulk with an almost light-hearted sensibility that’s certainly reflected in Zak Penn’s thoroughly irreverent screenplay, as the movie’s early scenes have been peppered with an almost comical emphasis on the rigors of Banner’s day-to-day life (ie in an effort to stave off the monster within, Banner practices yoga and watches Sesame Street). And while the film’s action sequences are just as cartoonish and gravity-defying as one might’ve expected, Leterrier does a nice job in ensuring that such moments remain atypically coherent and easy to follow (ie Transformers this isn’t). There’s little doubt, however, that the film suffers from an erratic structure that’s exacerbated by an overlong running time, and it undeniably becomes increasingly difficult to look past the needless inclusion of certain sequences and subplots (ie the whole thing just isn’t as streamlined as it could/should be). Still, The Incredible Hulk is, generally speaking, a consistently entertaining and sporadically thrilling piece of work – with Norton’s expectedly strong performance going a long way towards transforming Banner into a surprisingly relatable figure.

*** out of ****