ViewGuide

Created Oct 15, 2008 07:13PM PST • Edited Oct 15, 2008 07:13PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Very Good 3.5

   A film strangely lacking in its promise, “Incredible Hulk” leaves much to be desired but actually does manage to provide both entertainment and interest, which is more than could be said for its preceding film “Hulk” in 2003. Edward Norton gives the human side of the big green guy some dramatic chops, but the film’s strengths lie mostly in its impressive effects and promise of things to come for Marvel movies.

4. Acting

   Good 3.0

   Hiring Ed Norton was a great move for Marvel, and it pays off. Having such a well-known, serious actor take up the role presents the idea that the film is trying to be more serious (and taking into account casting choices made in “The Dark Knight” and “Iron Man” this summer, sticking with the majority). Liv Tyler and William Hurt support ably alongside Tim Roth, who needs to get more film work immediately.

5. Male Stars Very Good 3.5

   Norton gives Bruce Banner a sense of anguish as he slowly realises that the world cannot handle his alter ego, and that those he loves will always suffer the consequences. Casting Norton after casting Robert Downey Jr. in “Iron Man”, Marvel were always likely to be seen to be making a gamble, but it wins out for them here as it did with Downey, and Norton could lead the way for more serious actors to take superhero films as a more serious genre.

6. Female Stars Good 3.0

   Liv Tyler, for how little she appears here, does well. Many of the decisions her character makes are ridiculous, but she manages to sell them quite well, and she doesn’t really get the screen time that her or the character of Betty Ross deserve.

7. Female Costars Good 3.0

   None, but score’s gonna be dragged up to make up the numbers!

8. Male Costars Good 3.0

   Tim Roth as the renegade soldier Emile Blonsky menaces the film, reminding this reviewer of the actor’s great turn in “Reservoir Dogs”, and his malevolent monster of a character should be reason enough for other directors to take note and cast him in more movies. William Hurt is Colonel Ross, the man trying to take the Hulk back for the U.S. Government, and he does well enough in what is pretty much an anonymous role. There are also cameo turns from Downey Jr. (in a nice little connecting scene between the two Marvel films) and Tim Blake Nelson as a wacked-out scientist who assists Banner in searching for a cure. A pretty prestigious supporting cast helps to back up Norton here.

10. Film

    OK 2.5

    The film is brisk, perhaps too brisk, but the CGI is in places quite fantastic and quite seamless. There’s some really clunky dialogue though, and the music is quite anonymous also.

11. Direction Good 3.0

    Louis Leterrier directs his first Hollywood blockbuster after the “Transporter” films he had become known for, and much of the crazed energy is apparent here. For a first big-budget film, “Incredible Hulk” feels very quick and to-the-point, and that does drag it down somewhat (more characterisation would have benefited characters at key points, and some scenes appear cut). However, notwithstanding this, Leterrier appears to be a brilliant action director, and I’m interested to see what he has to give in future.

12. Play Barely OK 2.0

    The theme of isolation and the Hulk as an illness to Banner give Norton many whiny, pathetic lines, but there are some great ones to balance them out, particularly dealing with language boundaries at the beginning. Much of the exposition is said so fast that it can’t keep up, and as a result much of the detail can be lost easily.

13. Music Barely OK 2.0

    The music was action-film stock music, and I didn’t notice anything that stood out. Apparently there’s a theme from the original TV show, but I’ve never seen it, and wouldn’t have picked it out.

14. Visuals Great 4.0

    The CGI here is pretty brilliant, and seems to seamlessly blend with the live action, which allows for some pretty crazy scenes later in the film. Making a big green human believable is next to impossible, but the Hulk looks as real as he’s gonna get, and in comparison to the 2003 film, a hell of a lot better. Leterrier obviously likes to blow things up as well, and this is made so apparent at so many points that you begin to realise that he is one of the wave of directors embracing realism over effects in that regard.

15. Content

16. Edge

    Risqué 2.5

    It’s violent, but not in a gory or exploitative way. And the most violent parts take place in a battle that is largely computer-animated, meaning it is pretty suitable for kids. No sex or profanity either.

17. Sex Titillating 2.5

18. Violence Fierce 2.5

19. Rudeness Salty 2.5

21. Reality

    Fantasy 5.0

    Just think about the subject matter for one second and I’m sure you will clearly see that this is beyond any semblance of realism.

22. Circumstantial Fantasy 5.0

23. Biological Fantasy 5.0

24. Physical Fantasy 5.0