The Rant: The Incredible Hulk

I really didn't really expect much from The Incredible Hulk starring Ed Norton, Liv Tyler, William Hurt and Tim Roth. I was a big fan of the TV show, but mainly because it was on right before the Dukes of Hazzard, which inspired me to write about the Incredible Hulk-Dukes of Hazzard effect. I passed on the Ang Lee Hulk movie based on word of mouth and that it focused mainly on emo, "I am the victim of abuse" Hulk. The Hulk I want to see is "Puny human, Hulk smash!" Hulk.

The concept of the Hulk is rare for comics as thres a duality that you can really explore and a psychology that you can take the time to examine since he's not really a hero, just a Jekyl and Hyde freak accident. Just because there's depth to work with doesn't mean it the end product will be any fun.

So, finally with a modern-day movie do-over five years later, I get what I want, and it's pretty damn fun. As usual, this is not a review just some observations. Spoilers Galore!


This movie starts out with an overview of Hulk's origin played as a background to the opening credits. It's about time that a superhero movie took this approach. We jump into the movie knowing that Hulk was the product of a military experiment gone wrong, he hurt some people including his chippie and is now on the run. Simple, easy, and it only took about two minutes of setup. I loved this sequence because the origin makes more sense this way, we don't need twenty minutes of establishing the back story, and there's no sign of that pussy Rick Jones.

So many nice little references to The Incredible Hulk TV show including a shot of Bill Bixby from "The Courtship of Eddie's Father", college newspaper reporter Jack McGee catching celphone cam footage and coining the term "The Hulk", a comical attempt to use the phrase "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry" in Portuguese,Lou Ferrigno as a security guard (and voice of the Hulk) and of course a hitchhiking scene set to "The Lonely Man". Those bits alone were worth the matinee price.

The pants jokes didn't work quite as well for me. I liked the first "mas stretchy" bit when he was buying pants in Mexico, but the big ass Magenta pants bit while they are on the run, just seemed too forced.

I;m not going to really take much credence with what I've read surrounding Edward Norton's unhappiness with the movie. All I know is that he was the perfect Bruce Banner. He has the natural ability to emote suppressed rage and does so much with what really isn't much for dialogue. Whether or not it was a final product he was happy with, his strength as a actor gave Banner the depth that the script may not have provided.

This is such a small bit, but it made me the happiest. Hulk is with Betty in a cave and he gets startled by lightning. So what does he do? He steps out if the cave, grabs a boulder, and chucks it at the sky. Perfect Hulk scene.


Now my favorite part of discussing comic book movies...the relationships!

Okay we have Betty Ross and Bruce Banner we start the movie and Bruce goes into an uncontrollable rage and lands Betty in a coma. Bruce skips town and gives her the silent boot. Betty starts up with a respectable nice guy. Bruce comes into town, sees her with the new guy and decides not to tell her he's back. She spots him and he runs away into an alley and pulls the old hide behind a dumpster trick. She tracks him down and gives him a place to stay. against her wishes he decides he can't stay and then he hits her up for money before he goes.

I lost my shit there, but it gets better.

Then she discovers that he actually transforms into this green mass of muscle capable of a snapping a woman's neck by batting his eyelashes and she's not horrified, but turned on. When they're on the run and things calm down, which is traditional movie sex scene time, he won't give her any, even though she's willing to risk (or encouraging) him turning into a giant green monster capable of killing thousands. After all this, she's still left pining away for him at the end of the movie after he skips town...again. Come to think of it that relationship isn't nearly as preposterous as Carrie and Mr. Big.

Speaking of which, I really want to like Liv Tyler. I mean her back to back roles in Empire Records and That Thing You Do had her in the TC and M pantheon of hot actresses, but she's kinda ridiculous in this. Everyone else in the supporting cast is awesome though, Tim Roth especially.

When it comes down to it, The Hulk isn't a superhero movie, it's a monster movie. The director plays to this as we finally get a good monster versus bad monster throwdown with billions in collateral damage. This is what good monster movies are all about. Hulk doesn't disappoint. In fact, when he uttered his first words, "Hulk Smash", I nearly shed a father like tear. When Hulk vanquished Abomination and let out his victorious scream of rage, happiness, confusion and perhaps some sexual release, I wanted to give him a standing ovation, then run out into the lobby and rip shit up. I haven't had a movie inspire me to vandalize since Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Final Banner, scene? Not gonna spoil that one, but it's a killer.

As for the Tony Stark/RDjr cameo...I wish they hadn't plugged it and moved it from easter egg after the credits status. I know it's supposed to tease an Avengers movie, as it played out, all it did was leave the audience thinking, yeah I guess Hulk was good but Iron Man was still better.