Review: The Incredible Hulk

* *

Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, William Hurt, Tim Roth. Written by Zac Penn, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Directed by Louis Leterrier. Rated PG-13. 114 minutes. Universal Pictures.

The Incredible Hulk, director Louis Leterrier’s (Transporter 2) new version of the Marvel Comics superhero franchise, had its work cut out for it even before a single frame was shot. Largely hoping to emerge as a corrective to Ang Lee’s much-maligned 2003 version The Hulk, roundly despised as a depressing psychological trip with few thrills, the new version is less character-driven but just as unwieldy. A promising action film that flirts with interesting ideas about self-control, the new film goes nowhere quickly and its energy ironically dissipates in its second half as the special effects come fast and furious.

The picture begins with a bang, featuring a rapid-fire expository credit sequence handily shuffling the events of scientist Bruce Banner (Edward Norton, unlikely but solid) and his accidental radiation poisoning, an event that, as everyone knows, causes him to unleash a very large, very green, very monstrous rage should he become excited or angry—and the film makes sure that he does, frequently.

Living underground in Brazil under a new identity, Banner communicates in code with an American scientist (Tim Blake Nelson) working to solve the riddle of his DNA while he pines for former love and cellular biologist Betty Ross (Liv Tyler). A clever stroke finds him working on breathing and self-control with a martial arts guru who advises him on peace, while he counts his “days without incident” by learning Portuguese and laying low as the lone gringo on clean-up duty at a soft-drink factory.

When a drop of his blood inadvertently finds its way into a bottle and ends up in the U.S., the feds quickly intervene, led by archenemy General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt), who seeks to capture Banner and bring him back to America exploit his unusual condition. He enlists the help of former KGB agent and spy Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), whose own power hungry notions get the better of him later in the film.

Their pursuit launches a commando-style raid in Brazil and the film’s most fun sequence, a thrilling rooftop chase ending in a factory showdown where the Hulk first emerges, in shadow—a smart move given that the creation looks fake later in the daylight. He escapes and incognito, treks through Central America and back to the States where he teams up with old flame Ross, daughter of the sadistic general, and the picture goes almost immediately off the rails. It does manage one funny joke that keeps the lovers from consummating their reunion for fear of the beast that might emerge.

At this point, whatever momentum director Leterrier has built comes to a screeching halt. Once Banner and Ross reunite, the flimsy film essentially becomes three effects sequences with underwritten humans and villains in between. The romance goes nowhere. The Hulk looks strangely lifeless in a university confrontation with heavy army artillery. Shades of King Kong emerge. And by the time Blonsky injects himself with massive combinations of radioactivity and becomes another hulking character named The Abomination, the film has tossed its humans, story and—fun—out the window.

I can buy Tim Roth as age 39 about as much as I can buy Liv Tyler (excellent in The Strangers) as a scientist, but a central problem with this “Hulk” is the lack of compelling villains. The great actor Roth, who has memorably played bad guys before particularly in the notable Rob Roy, is not the right choice for this underwritten role, which requires a larger-than-life quality that the detailed thespian does not project. Hurt, typically fine, and more of a bystander here than a traditional bad guy. They chase, and chase more, and on it goes.

Most disappointingly, The Incredible Hulk devolves into yet another routine, digital slugfest over Manhattan between two herky jerky, CGI action figures while good actors Hurt and Tyler are left stranded, agape. Studio foul play is obvious in this over-the-top climax, where Norton is off-screen during the battle between the artificial, familiar, lumbering creations. Why filmmakers continue to believe audiences care about fake-looking creatures waging fake-looking battles is beyond comprehension.

A clever final coda features Iron Man’s Robert Downey, Jr. in a single scene that, with his quicksilver wit, only underlines what’s missing in this picture, despite a brief and funny Lou Ferrigno cameo revealing the still buff prototype to have not aged more than about a day in three decades.

The Incredible Hulk has a been there, done that much better vibe.

Not recommended.

- Lee Shoquist

lee@atnzone.com