Runtime: 01:52:37
Total Runtime: 03:58:36
Admittedly, one of the primary reasons this series of reviews has taken me so long to start was this movie. It's only the second film in the MCU but is widely viewed as one of the more lackluster films in the franchise, some would even say one of the worst. As was the case with "Iron Man," and will also be the case going forward, I took notes. Fewer notes than "Iron Man," and way less than "Iron Man 2" (which I'll write tomorrow), but still. Notes.
Jumping right into the opening of the film we see a montage showing the origins of the Hulk, without showing the Hulk. We see that his origins are in Gamma radiation testing, differing from his original origins by way of accidental exposure from a weapon test. This origin is more in line with common re-tellings of his beginnings. We see the tests were taking place at Culver University, and that during his transformation he, Bruce (Edward Norton) injures both Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) and General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (William Hurt). We also see shots that show that Gen. Ross's search for Banner will utilize Stark Tech through images of the blueprints for the sound wave cannons used later in the film.
We then transition to Brazil, where we see that there hasn't been an incident involving the Hulk in 158 days. We also learn that Bruce practices martial arts to better control his breathing, an attempt to prevent changing into the Hulk, that only really comes into play a few times, and ultimately is something he completely discards at the end of the film. Bruce has been working at a bottling plant to pay for his crummy apartment. He gets cut and kills a Stan Lee with a drop of his Gamma blood that was so obviously on a bottle it could have easily been avoided.
Therin lies most of my issues with the film, and why I was dreading watching it again for the purposes of this review. The script is poorly executed, and the visuals on the screen don't help. A simple turn of his head could have solved the death that led the soldiers to his location which would have allowed him to stay in hiding relatively indefinitely. The entire movie would have been him in Brazil chatting with Mr. Blue about a cure for the Hulk. But no, we had to kill Stan Lee to further the plot.
The Stan Lee death tells Ross right where he is, so Ross hires Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), a Russian born soldier for the United Kingdom's Royal Marine Commandos - described in his arrival as an "Ace."
Hulk's intro to the movie, the first live transformation, is treated in a similar vein to a monster movie. One in which the military is fighting an unknown monster. Soldiers getting picked off one by one by some unseen, unstoppable force. Then we see his face, and it's, not great.
It's an improvement on what we got from the last Hulk movie. Though that wouldn't have taken much. This film started the trend of making the Hulk look more like the actor in the role. Unlike the later films though, this one didn't use mo-cap, so the face is way off from where it should be.
I'm admittedly, not a fan of Ang Lee's "Hulk" from 2003. Making the film look like a comic book was a cool concept, sure, but everything else about it was a wash. Louis Letteier's effort here was at least truer to the character. But something went wrong here, that didn't go wrong with any other recent Hulk film appearance. That issue is the lighting. It's way too inconsistent here, Hulk is constantly lit incorrectly, making him look less realistic, likely done to make him look more green when proper shading would have diluted the color. This is the least green Hulk the MCU has, it's also the least human-looking in muscular structure.
That being said, following the assault in Brazil, Bruce wakes up in Guatemala, that's a really long walk.
Blonsky, angry at Ross asks what he was and how he was able to "throw a forklift truck like a softball." Ross spills the beans on how Bruce became the Hulk as a result of experiments to replicate "Biotech Force Enhancement" tests done in World War II, a clear reference to Captain America. Blonsky then states that he is willing to undergo treatments to improve his physical capabilities, Ross doesn't want another Hulk he can't control, he wants a weapon. So they take it slow.
Bruce, now in America by way of Mexico, makes it to that same university and does some light stalking (don't worry, staring at ex-lovers from afar is totally not creepy, guys). He breaks into the computer lab, let in by a student played by Martin Starr - this student grows up to be Peter Parker's science teacher, Roger Harrington (source).
Eventually, they run into Bruce at the campus after he and Betty reunite, who cares about that though, they have no chemistry. Hulk fights the soldiers, destroying everything they have, and hilariously kicks Blonsky into a tree shattering every bone in his body.
Bruce and Betty runoff, eventually have a very unconvincing love scene which turns into a joke cause Bruce "can't get too excited." Betty, mind you, is cheating on her boyfriend, Dr. Leonard Samson (Ty Burrell), who hasn't done anything wrong to even remotely deserve this. In their travels together they get to New York and meet with Mr. Blue, who turns out to be Dr. Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson). The military, however, is using a SHIELD database, so they also know they're going to see Sterns.
Dr. Sterns, Bruce, and Betty all test a potential cure for the Hulk. Sterns is possibly the best part of this movie. He's funny and eccentric, literally the opposite of every other character in this movie, which makes the sequel baiting scene of him beginning to change into The Leader, very disappointing as that movie is likely never going to happen.
Blonsky comes in to attack Samuels to do tests on him so that he can become more like the Hulk. But Samuels is okay with it, for the science, and so, Blonsky becomes "an abomination." Abomination looks great. He's just a bigger skeleton-looking Hulk, but that's the problem with most Hulk villains - they're all just alternate Hulks.
The climax here is a bit more eventful than that of the one in "Iron Man," in that more stuff happens, but far less interesting. It's just two big beefcakes smashing things. Which is fun to watch but not all that engaging. Hulk claps some fire away, which is admittedly an awesome image, but sadly, the only thing of note.
Post climax the movie ends with Bruce, now in British Columbia, move from 31 days without Hulking out to 0 through meditation. He has control over the Hulk, or at the very least, the transition. Pre-credits, we get a tease at "Iron Man 2" or "Avengers," with Tony meeting with General Ross to talk with him about "forming a team." There is no post-credits scene, which makes this one of two MCU movies so far to not feature one.
This isn't that great of a movie. It's a sloppy script with some very wooden acting. Liv Tyler and Edward Norton do next to nothing to convince you of their love for one another. Banner's movie long search for a cure just ends with him accepting the Hulk in the last thirty seconds. A would-be future villain, in a movie that isn't going to happen, steals the movie with his five minutes of screen-time because he actually has a personality.
It's also worth noting that this is the second MCU movie in a row that portrays the military negatively, and it won't be the last. The MCU almost seems to have this need to make the military look bad, almost corrupt, in their attempts to get better, stronger, weapons for world domination, in order to make the heroes look good by going against them. Just have your heroes do good, they don't have to fight the government/military in every movie. Granted, some of this is set-up for the future, so I'll let it slide, for now.
Official MCU 23 film ranking:
- Iron Man (2008)
- The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Next Up: "Iron Man 2" (2010)
