SYNOPSIS:
Scientist Bruce Banner is living in the shadows,
scouring the planet for an antidote. But the warmongers who
dream of abusing his powers won't leave him alone - nor will
his need to be with the only woman he ever loved, Betty Ross.
Our brilliant doctor is ruthlessly pursued by the Abomination,
a nightmarish beast of pure adrenaline and aggression whose
powers match the Hulk's own and a fight of comic-book proportions
ensues, threatening New York city with total destruction!
MOVIE REVIEW:
The Incredible Hulk actually made me missed what Ang Lee attempted
to do with the Hulk back in 2003. That older Hulk flick tried
to dig deeper into the rational behind Bruce Banner’s
inner rage and fears which trigger the monstrous transformation
and although it wasn’t that successful, kudos need to
be give for such at attempt at Bruce Banner’s dark mental
state.
This
newer and semi reboot to the Hulk franchise never really take
the cerebral approach and it was an all out action flick that
fall comfortable into the brainless / predictable summer blockbuster
category. Hulk in this version is made to go through what
he is most famously presented in the comic and TV media. Hulk
runs (from military), Hulk fights (back), Hulk Bruce
Banner wants to be normal and lastly Hulk is needed (to save
the day). It’s so predictable and routine that by the
finale fight, there is a numbing sensation that all this had
been seen and done to death in better fashion.
What
made it even less impressive was that even with 5 years in
between, it seems that very little improvement or advancement
had been done for the Hulk. Although this new Hulk looked
impressive, the special effects weren’t leaps and bound
from the last one. Even the fight choreography, the fight
set up and location weren’t that memorable as the previous
time when Hulk took on fighter jet up to the outer realm of
earth atmosphere.
That’s
not to say that The Incredible Hulk is without any merits.
As part of the plan to introduce the eventual Avenger movie,
The Incredible Hulk was filled with links to set up the mega
superheroes movie. The reference to the serum that created
Captain America, the cameo by certain Tony Starks and many
others would give the comics fan boys something to cheer about.
There might be other subplots and clues to the future cross
over movie planted in this flick and one could try to discover
them by watching (or rewatching) this movie on a Dvd (like
this one).
Then
there are the setup of characters and events that could be
play out in future sequels. There’s the foreshadowing
of Hulk’s brainy arch villain, The Leader. Even though
it seems that a sequel to this better “received”
Hulk looks rather impossible, it was a nice touch to create
such an introduction to a major player in Hulk’s rogue
gallery.
damn ticking watch
Last
but not least, the sexual innuendo played out between Betty
Ross (Liv Tyler) and Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) was strangely
entertaining. It was funny to see how one try not to lose
his cool during foreplay especially when in this case, losing
cool could mean a lot of destruction. There was also the manner
how the beauty was able to tame the beast in desperation times
that gave Betty Ross a more meaningful dimension in Bruce
Banner / Hulk’s world.
The
bottom line is that The Incredible Hulk is an unapologetic
straightforward blockbuster film that seems to finally somewhat
appease the mass consumers. They get the simple angry Hulk
that they knew all along and most people seem to be happier
than they were with the 2003 release.
HULK Smash
SPECIAL
FEATURES:
Commentary with Director Louis Leterrier and Actor
Tim Roth
After
hearing the Director talks about the production of The Incredible
Hulk, it was tempting to give another half star for the movie.
The Director’s passion for this Hulk production was
contagious and it revealed plenty of interesting information
behind the making of The Incredible Hulk. From the homage
to the old TV series and the comics to how certain movie magic
in this movie were done, the lively bantering between Louis
Leterrier and Tim Roth kept it engaging and informative to
listen through (unlike other boring commentaries that I had
heard before).
Sadly,
there are no other extras to be found, especially the huge
amount of deleted scenes and the much talked about alternate
opening could not be found in this HVN’s one disc edition
of The Incredible Hulk.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The
Incredible Hulk is presented with 3 audio options; The English
5.1 Dolby Digital, English 2.0 Dolby Digital and Thai 5.1
Dolby Digital. There are English, Thai, Korean, Cantonese,
Indonesian; Mandarian subtitles options to choose from. The
Visual is presented in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING:
Review by Richard Lim Jr
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