The Incredible Hulk Review

When watching superhero films the biggest feature I always look forward to is inspiration. The Incredible Hulk doesn't really need that to categorize it a superhero film, but it does have to rely on other factors. Did the movie have cool action scenes? Yes. An A-list cast? Yes. Was it able to visually create a big, green giant? Yes. However, none of these ingredients matter if the core is stale. The action scenes were those I expect from a comic book page, but there was no stable storyline. The time lapses did not correlate. One scene would show Banner walking around shirtless in the jungles of Guatemala and the next would display him in the same appearance in the streets of Mexico. Sure it's a movie, but is it too much to add a little thing called "common sense"? On that note, what kind of fight scene takes place at a university with no students around? It is hard to invest into a film when it causes one to question almost every detail. That's where the "cool action scenes" comes in. They made up for the lack of logic within the plot. Those scenes were heavily focused on in aspects of screen time, character understanding, and visuals (i.e. Hulk's transformation).

Now the cast. Edward Norton and Liv Tyler are excellent actors, but their characters lacked emotion. It was hard to care for them when their performances felt flat. To me, an easy solution to give soul to their characters is to have picked up any Hulk comic and understand the characters. Tyler plays Betty Ross, Banner's ex-girlfriend and an accomplished biologist. Throughout the movie, she played the "girlfriend" role pretty well. She helped Banner hide and stood up to her dad, but she did not really give any solutions or reason as a scientist as she would in the comics. Both actors performed well, but when there's material from where their characters are based off there comes an expectation to how they should act.

The biggest praise I have for the film is the visual of Hulk's appearance. The Hulk looks like a green giant instead of being a large man painted green or a appearing like a large, green gummy bear. As mentioned before with the action scenes, seeing the Hulk in action was phenomenal. The way he used his strength and speed to fight and destroy his enemies made him look unstoppable like in the comics. The film did justice for the character. They created a monster who gets angry and smashes things. Does the Hulk come to mind when one names an inspirational hero? Probably not, but many people can relate to being mad and wanting to smack some things around.

Final Score: 7/10

The film has the right features, but the final outcome did not reach the potential it had. A basic review: It's a fun action movie that doesn't require a lot of thought.