by Daniel Cummings

Created on: June 30, 2008

After a five-year absence, Hulk finally smashes his way back onto the big screen.

Back in 2003, Hulk was unleashed onto the big screen via, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon director Ang Lee. To say the least the film was met with mixed reactions and it also flopped at the box-office. Five years on the big green guy is smashing his way onto our cinema screens again.

The Incredible Hulk as its been titled this time around marks the second film to be released solo by Marvel entertainment. It could very well be argued that Marvel have taken a huge gamble producing this one so early on in there new solo venture; based on what happened back in 2003. However Marvel have already shown they are willing to take such risks with there first release Iron Man, which has now more than passed expectations at the box-office.

With Ang Lee's Hulk now in distant memory to most people, Marvels choice of director this time around, Louis Leterrier (Transporter 2) quickly establishes the back-story of the character in the opening credits sequence thus allowing for a free-flowing action picture to ensue. Of course Ang Lee's version opted to slowly build the character throughout the picture.

After the opening credits we find Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) on the run in Rio, Brazil, where he is desperate to get rid of his gamma-infested monster and missing his lost-love Betty Ross (Liv Tyler). Its not long before General Ross (William Hurt) has traced him down though and an engaging chase through the slums of Rio proceeds, led by Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) a no-nonsense soldier always ready for a fight. Its here the pace really picks up and we immediately get a glimpse of banners alter green ego. And the pace is relentless right through the rest of the picture.

What Leterrier has cleverly done is to craft a very different film to Ang Lee's Hulk. We are treated to big and exciting action sequences combined with excellent use of CGI throughout. Including a brilliantly executed scene on a college campus after Banner is cornered and forced to turn into the Hulk. There is a deliciously inventive fight scene between Roth's superhuman soldier and the Hulk amidst the chaos. The finale smackdown of all smackdowns between the Hulk and Roth's eventual demise into the Abomination is also a treat as the two monsters smash up the streets of Harlem.

Not surprisingly then the dramatic and emotional punch that comes with this iconic character is put to the side a little. The story naturally doesn't have any real room to breathe and surprisingly for an actor of his abilities, Norton doesn't so much shine as just put in a suitably solid performance; one big positive of 2003's Hulk was Eric Bana's excellent, emotionally charged turn as Banner. Liv Tyler is subtle enough as the emotional heart beat of the movie but it is Tim Roth who turns in the best performance of the picture. He creates a genuinely intriguing foe for our green friend to tackle, something that was sorely missing in Lee's version.

There are a couple of fun cameos thrown in too for good measure. But perhaps most importantly an appearance from Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man's alter-ego Tony Stark; along with the Samuel L. Jackson cameo at the end of Iron Man as Avengers leader Nick Fury, Marvel are hinting hard at that possible Avengers movie.

Verdict:
Overall a slightly stronger film than Ang Lee's version thanks to bigger and better action sequences plus a more intriguing villain in the form of a brilliant Tim Roth.

3 Stars

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