Tweet
Released by: Universal Studios
Released on: October 21, 2008.
Director: Louis Leterrier
Cast: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt
Year: 2008
Purchase From Amazon
The Movie:
When Ang Lee's The Hulk failed to set the world on fire it didn't look like we'd see another movie based on the toils and tribulations of noble, cursed Doctor Bruce Banner for some time but low and behold, the powers that be at Universal Studios give to us The Incredible Hulk, a second attempt to bring Marvel's jolly green giant to life. This time around, things work a little better.
The film begins in Brazil where Banner (played very well by Edward Norton) is hiding out and working at a soda factory. He gets cut on the job and a drop of his blood lands in a bottle that gets filled with soda and sent to New York City where an unsuspecting old man (co-creator Stan Lee… excelsior!!) drinks it and quickly dies from gamma poisoning. When General Ross (William Hurt) gets wind of this he sends in a team of commandos lead by Major Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) but they fail to capture him when he Hulks out and kicks all of their asses.
Banner makes it back to the United States where he reunites with former flame and daughter of General Ross, Betty (Liv Tyler) who now works as a scientist but Blonsky convinces the General to inject him with some gamma in hopes of turning him into someone that can best the Hulk. They plan to bring Banner in, experiment on him, and turn his meaner side into a weapon against his will. As the movie goes on, the experiments on Blonsky show some very unusual results while Banner and Betty flee to New York City (or, if the Zanzibar and Sam The Record Man signs are any indication, Toronto doubling for the Big Apple) to try and find a cure before it's too late…
This time around the emphasis is not on brooding or the melancholy life of a man who can't control his 'Mister Hyde' but on slam-bang action scenes and big, dumb explosions. The plot is simple - it's basically a chase film, but Norton makes for a likeable enough lead and he carries the film well. His relationship with Betty Ross is believable enough and Liv Tyler just comes across as genuinely nice, it's hard not to care for the two of them even if she ditches her boyfriend for Banner like a bag of burning poop. Roth and Hurt do a good job chewing up the scenery as the heavies and they make for good foils for the Hulk when he decides to do his thing… and it's there that you have to take issue with the movie. On one hand, it's hard to imagine the film without CGI, on the other hand… it's still CGI. Both The Hulk and the Abomination that Blonsky turns into look less like real, breathing monsters than like video game characters and as cool and detailed as they may be, they lack soul.
If you're able to overlook that and enjoy the film as a movie where two giant green monsters beat the crap out of each other and lots of stuff blows up, however, then you're sure to have a decent time with this picture. The picture doesn't take itself too seriously and it throws in a few references for long time fans to pick up on. The ending, which leaves itself wide open for a sequel, at least feels right for the film and is done with a wink and a nod to Marvel buffs who will find it hard not to appreciate what's bound to come next in the mythos.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The Incredible Hulk looks pretty damn good in this 2.35.1 1080p VC-1 encoded anamorphic transfer. There's a whole lot of nice detail present in each and every frame of the movie and the colors look nice and natural. There aren't any problems with mpeg compression artifacts or edge enhancement to complain about and the image is always clean and stable. Some of the CGI effects look a little hokey but that's not a problem with the transfer itself so much as it is with the inherent hokiness of CGI in the first place. Overall this is a very well authored transfer of some very nice looking source material and it leaves little room for complaint.
The best track on this release is a thumpin' English language DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 that makes excellent use of all channels and the subwoofer to provide a very enveloping surround sound experience. Optional Spanish and French DTS 5.1 Surround Sound tracks are included as is an English 2.0 Stereo track but none of those compare to the HD track on this release. The action comes at you from every corner imaginable with a rally detailed mix allowing you to pick out each and every gunshot and explosion with ease. Dialogue is always easy to understand and the low end has an absolutely awesome rumble to it that makes the movie really come alive anytime that the Hulk decides to mess stuff up.
First up is a commentary track with director Louis Leterrier and actor Tim Roth. This is reasonably interesting stuff though you have to wonder where Norton and Tyler are. Regardless, the pair has a good sense of humor about themselves as they talk about the film and provide some interesting insight into how it was all put together. They point out some of the in-jokes that those who aren't familiar with the character might not get and they talk about the effects as well as the location shooting and the cast. All in all, it covers pretty much everything you'd hope it would and it does so in an entertaining and interesting fasion.
Up next are some interesting featurettes starting with The Making Of Incredible which, believe it or not, is brought to you by Volkswagen. It runs just over half an hour and it covers what it was like on set, shooting some of the more effects intensive scenes and more. There are some good cast and crew interviews in here as well as some good behind the scenes footage that makes the half hour run time move by quite quickly. Becoming The Hulk is a look at how CGI was used to create the monster that Banner becomes and Becoming The Abomination is really just more of the same - both scenes are quite interesting from a technical stand point. Related is Anatomy Of A Hulk Out which explore the three big 'hulk out scenes' in the film and shows how they were created.
If that weren't enough, through Universal's U-Control functionality you can enjoy all manner of interactive features while the film plays out in front of you. The picture-in-picture technology works well and you can check out different behind the scenes clips and interviews that pertain to the specific portions of the movie that you happen to be watching at any given time.
On top of that, this release is Blu-ray Live capable, meaning that if you've got a Blu-ray player with an internet connection you'll be able to log on to Universal's sub-site for this release and interact with other Hulk fans and check out some exclusive content. It's an interesting idea and one that seems to be becoming more popular as of late and while it's probably not the way some people want to watch movies, it does work quite well and those who dig social media will probably appreciate this.
Also included inside the lenticular keepcase packaging is a digital copy of the movie on DVD-Rom so that you can take the film with you on your portable viewing device. Rounding out the extras is an alternate opening scene (that hints at a Captain America movie!), twenty-three minutes of interesting if inconsequential deleted scenes, a six minute animated comic book featuring a scene from Hulk: Grey with artwork by Tim Sale, animated menus and scene selection.
The Final Word:
The Incredible Hulk is rock solid popcorn fodder - it isn't deep, it doesn't give life new meaning, and it doesn't try anything new with the material or the character. That said, it works. Norton is great in the lead and the supporting cast are all fun. The CGI gets tiresome at times but as far as big budget 'blow stuff up and watch monsters fight' movies go, this one is a lot of fun. It's not a classic, but it's a good time and Universal has done a great job on the Blu-ray release.