Hulk smash?
In the pseudo-sequel to the 2003 super-flop "Hulk," he most definitely does.
That's a good thing. It's rare enough that a movie gets a second chance, and the Hulk franchise most definitely was not going to get a third try.
It's not quite a direct sequel to the aforementioned flop - in fact, the only real plot point that carries over is Bruce Banner fleeing to Brazil. Otherwise, it shares almost none of the backstory of the first film. However, it does tie into Marvel's ongoing program of creating a setup for 2011's "The Avengers."
This is a good thing. It means that we'll get to see more of Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, and in a lot of ways, this is what made this movie worth watching - as opposed to "Hulk," in which Eric Bana merely made it painful to watch. It's almost as if Norton was destined to play this role - there isn't all that much distance, psychologically speaking, between the Hulk and "Fight Club" character Tyler Durden. The moviegoing public should definitely look forward to any future silver screen appearances of the Hulk, as long as Norton is involved.
A few of the other performances were not as impressive: Liv Tyler was forgettable. Her main role in the movie was to squeak a lot and to look concerned at pivotal moments. Tim Roth was a lot of fun as Emil Blonsky - aka the Abomination - but his motivations as a character were not particularly convincing. He was simply evil for the sake of being evil, with a little bit of lust for power thrown in as an afterthought.
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On the other hand, William Hurt's portrayal of General Ross was almost on par with Norton's Banner. Ross isn't evil for evil's sake. He's a much worse kind of evil - he's the evil that thinks that he is doing good. However, Ross is one of only two characters in the movie that actually change and grow.
The other one is the big green meanie himself - the Hulk. While Norton plays Bruce Banner, he doesn't really play the Hulk. In one of the more interesting twists of Hollywood influence, it's Lou Ferrigno's portrayal of the Hulk in the 1970's TV show that most obviously influenced the graphic artists and programmers who created the Hulk's unique countenance. In fact, Ferrigno provides the voice for the Hulk's few speaking lines. Over the course of the movie, the viewer sees the Hulk's transition from rampaging beast to superhero. That's not an easy transition to pull off when working in CGI, especially when the character in question has an IQ of about 75 and the strength to crack worlds in half.
"The Incredible Hulk" was not without its flaws. It isn't a perfect movie by any stretch of the imagination - but it certainly isn't a boring movie, which was the primary sin of Hollywood's first foray into the genre of unlimited male aggression.
