Incredible Hulk (2008) --- "Guy Loses Love And Must Work With His Alter Ego To Save The World From An Even Worse Threat."

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Plot Summary

Scientist Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) desperately seeks a cure for the gamma radiation that contaminated his cells and turned him into The Hulk. Cut off from his true love Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) and forced to hide from his nemesis, Gen. Thunderbolt Ross (William Hurt), Banner soon comes face-to-face with a new threat: a supremely powerful enemy known as The Abomination (Tim Roth). (1)

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Review

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Hello, Movie Buffs! 

     By the end of Ang Lee's Hulk (2003), audiences were given the impression that there was going to be a sequel film. Well, 5 years later we get Louise Leterrier’s (Now You See Me, Clash of the Titans) The Incredible Hulk which is more of a reboot film, like Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins (2005), than a sequel. This was a good decision, not because Lee’s Hulk was bad but it wasn’t great enough for a sequel. Of course doing a reboot of a film can be tricky, either you could get it right or you could get it wrong, for example, The Amazing Spider-Man is a good film but it is definitely not better than the original. So if the 2003’s Hulk left you disappointed and green then fear not because The Incredible Hulk has a whole new cast, new method of storytelling, and amazing visuals.

     The cast is the perfect ensemble for this film. Edward Norton’s (The Italian Job, Collateral Beauty) Bruce Banner is so much better than Eric Bana’s (Troy) because Norton is more convincing as a skinny nerd scientist that has this dark secret. He embodies Banner’s pain and struggles as he searches for a cure while trying to stay under the radar. He was a perfect fit for Bruce Banner/Hulk in this film. William Hurt (Into the Wild, A History of Violence) and Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs) are not strangers to playing the bad guys as they have portrayed their fair share villains, and both portrayed their roles here effectively. Liv Tyler is great as Dr. Elizabeth “Betty” Ross and she really knows how to melt your heart. Tyler and Norton complement each other, both physically and emotionally, wonderfully.

     The rest of the film's elements were spot on and achieved their purpose of entertaining audiences. First, the story has some great action sequences and the final battle scene is phenomenal. The overall plot is relatively simple but this only allows for us to focus more on the action then spend our time trying to unweave a complicated story. This time the Hulk is much darker and more sinister looking than the 2003 version, so it was nice that there were some punch lines here and there that added a bit of humor to an otherwise serious film. In addition, the story had some heartfelt nostalgic tributes. There are the cameos by Stan Lee, which was expected, and Lou Ferrigno, which was memorable. Ferrigno, who plays Hulk in the old TV series, got to voice the Hulk in this film and I do not believe that there was anyone more perfect for the job. The film also included the main theme song from the old TV series starring the late Bill Bixby. Second, the CGI and visuals were awesome, especially the scenes when Hulk is in full on smash mode. The visuals were much more believable while storyline helps us understand the characters more. And finally, the stunt work was magnificent as it looked effortless and impressive.  

     Overall, The Incredible Hulk is incredible and far from being an Abomination, being better take on a great character as opposed to the 2003 version. Ending credits when Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) meets Gen. Thunderbolt Ross (William Hurt) is typical of a Marvel film. Director Louis Leterrier (Now You See Me, Clash of the Titans) and his crew proved people wrong by successfully making an excellent superhero film that many people were expecting it to be like the 2003 version. The acting is great, the visuals are stunning, the action is jammed packed, and the story has the right amount of depth. I recommend this film to anyone. 

***Marvel Cinematic Universe (In order of how you should watch them)***

Iron Man (2008)

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Thor (2011)

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Marvel's The Avengers (2012)

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Ant-Man (2015)

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Doctor Strange (2016)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Black Panther (2018)

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Captain Marvel (2019)

Untitled Avengers film (2019)

Untitled Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel (2019)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (TBA)

"Hulk...SMASH."

- The Incredible Hulk

Final Vote

Worth Seeing:  3.8 of 5 star

Worth Buying:  3.8 of 5 stars

I hope you liked this post, subscribe to my blog via email HERE, send in your comments, and watch Incredible Hulk (2008).

Movies Similar 

Ant-Man (2015)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Avengers (2012)
Avengers 2: Age of Ultron (2015)
Avengers 3: Infinity War (2018)
Avengers 4: Untitled film (2019)
Black Panther (2018)
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Captain Marvel (2019)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (TBA)
Iron Man (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 (2019)
Thor (2011)
Thor: Dark World (2013)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Cast & Crew

Directed by Louis Leterrier       

Written by Zak Penn

Produced by 

     Avi Arad                  ---      producer

     Stephen Broussard          ---      associate producer

     Kevin Feige             ---      producer

     Gale Anne Hurd    ---      producer

     Stan Lee                  ---      executive producer

     David Maisel           ---      executive producer

     Michael J. Malone ---      associate producer

     Maria Claudia Reis          ---      assistant producer

     John G. Scotti        ---      associate producer

     Jim Van Wyck        ---      executive producer

     Kurt Williams        ---      co-producer

Music by Craig Armstrong         

Cinematography by Peter Menzies Jr.

Film Editing by Rick Shaine, Vincent Tabaillon, and John Wright.

Casting By Robin D. Cook and Laray Mayfield.

Production Design by Kirk M. Petruccelli    

Art Direction by Page Buckner, Daniel T. Dorrance, and Andrew M. Stearn.

Set Decoration by Monica Delfino, Carolyn 'Cal' Loucks, and Monica Rochlin.

Cast:

Edward Norton                      ---    Bruce Banner / Hulk

Liv Tyler                                    ---    Dr. Elizabeth 'Betty' Ross

Tim Roth                                   ---    Emil Blonsky

William Hurt                          ---    General 'Thunderbolt' Ross

Tim Blake Nelson                  ---    Samuel Sterns

Ty Burrell                                 ---    Dr. Leonard Samson

Christina Cabot                      ---    Major Kathleen Sparr

Peter Mensah                          ---    General Joe Greller

Lou Ferrigno                           ---    Security Guard / The Incredible Hulk – voice

Paul Soles                                 ---    Stanley

Débora Nascimento              ---    Martina