You Won't Like Him When He's Angry

What you want to know is this: Is the new The Incredible Hulk movie better than Ang Lee's Hulk movie from a few years back? Not really. But the good news is it's not any worse. It's just different. For example, the story is much better, more focused, and more faithful to the comic book source material than Ang Lee's daddy-issues epic was. And the first two-thirds of this film are certainly more enjoyable than most of Ang Lee's film was. But that's pretty much where the good stuff ends. Ed Norton brings too much baggage with him to be a believable Bruce Banner; the dichotomy of Banner's gentle soul and the Hulk's aggression can't work when the guy playing Banner is so well-known for his own intensity. And most importantly, this Hulk is so poorly rendered that he never once seems real. Given a choice, I'd choose the creature from Ang Lee's film — or even the TV show's Lou Ferrigno, who, along with the departed Bill Bixby, makes a cameo appearance here. You may not have liked the movie he was in, but at least Ang Lee's Hulk had character and emotion, and real presence. This Hulk never seems like more than a special effect. And whereas Ang Lee's film was full of brighter colors, of bold greens, wide panoramas and actual style, this film is filled with more muted colors and darker tones, and the last third is so disengaging that ultimately, the whole thing just feels lackluster. So that's why I'm giving the new Hulk a less-than-incredible B-.