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..Gary
Dretzka
..Noah
Forrest
..Leonard
Klady
..R.J.
Matson
..David
Poland
..Douglas
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
..Kim
Voynar
..Michael
Wilmington
The
Incredible Hulk
Directed
by Louis Leterrier
There's every reason to approach The Incredible Hulk with undue skepticism. A previous attempt to explore the latter-day Jekyll and Hyde superhero was a serious exploration into the darkness intrinsic to the situation - a man trapped inside a Frankenstein-like body whose very presence invokes fear. He is neither a monster by choice or volition.
The decision to do a non-sequel sequel by implication is a refutation of all that had been done previously. One could well imagine the filmmakers tilting toward the vapid caricature of a kid-friendly incarnation a la The Fantastic Four.
The new Hulk ultimately finds its place by ignoring the existence of the earlier film and television series. It isn't bothered by repeating its origins (briskly accomplished during the credit sequence) or serving up the familiar dramatic tensions of circumstance and character conflict.
What's chiefly intriguing and potent is that for all its anger management issues and inevitable effects charged confrontations it is a love story. It is Beauty and the Beast or King Kong and in the present landscape of angst ridden heroes, such an approach is refreshing. The emotional core provides it with a spine few of its recent brethren have evinced and whether intended or not (one suspects the latter) the film becomes a commentary on the entire genre.
For the uninitiated, the story centers on research scientist Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) who believes his experiments for the military have altruistic intents. He is charitably a naïf and comes off far worse with his decision to conduct tests with himself as guinea pig. Of course there's a hideous miscalculation and Banner's exposure to radioactive elements causes him to mutate into a giant, green-skinned creature with super human strength.
Whereas Banner would give himself up for experimentation, his alter ego has a more acute sense of self preservation. Away from the fray, the sobered scientist concludes he must disappear and work furtively to secure an antidote that will rid his blood of its high gamma dosage. Scientific mumbo jumbo aside, he turns into a monster when his anger and rage explode. His preference is to be that lab-coated nerd that has a blissful home life with colleague Betty Ross (Liv Tyler).
Director Louis Leterrier appreciates the simplicity of the dramatic thrust and festoons the early sections of The Hulk with moody lighting, anxious music, jittery editing and awkward framing. It's admittedly over produced but understandable as he begins to frame the possibilities that will ensue. Sequestered in Brazil, he takes a day laborer job in a bottling factory and communicates via the Internet with a blood specialist who might be able to unravel his plight.
When his cover is blown and military assassins move in, the filmmakers create a chase through the favelas that's taut, exciting and fresh for anyone unfamiliar with The Bourne Ultimatum. He also gets mad and his other self emerges. And it's here that the story's other thread emerges. Team leader Blonsky (Tim Roth) sees the monster as a worthy adversary and when he later learns from General Ross (William Hurt) that Banner and "it" are the same, he wants what the scientist is so desperately trying to expunge.
There's no question that Banner will get back to the States in pursuit of the "cure." What hangs in the balance is whether there will be a romantic reunion - brief or lasting - and the extremes that Blonsky is willing to expose himself to in order to eliminate a threat he takes very personally.
The Incredible
Hulk is unquestionably one of the more compelling screen adaptations
from the comic book realm. It taps into the humanity of characters that
made the Marvel sensibility of the 1960s so much apart of the zeitgeist.
At times that simply dwarves the vain attempts to visualize emotions gone
amok employing CG effects (the film's least inventive element) …
but that's a quibble best cast aside.
