Edward Norton has entered the realm of superhero stardom by taking on the role of Bruce Banner, a mild mannered scientist who transforms into a giant brutish creature called 'The Hulk' when he gets pissed off.
I was hesitant at first-- why should I spend twenty bucks on tickets for me and my womanfriend to see what has historically been a crap film? But, you know how sometimes you just NEED to see a movie, it doesn't matter what? Yeah, we were feeling like that. So we threw up our hands and went anyway. It was a good choice.
I have never seen a superhero movie with more gorgeous locations, better acting, and a script that was as true to the comic as The Incredible Hulk. I wasn't expecting to be completely enthralled by Edward Norton's portrayal of Banner, but he surprised the hell out of me. Liv Tyler's acting style has always reminded me of a cinder block, but as Betty Ross (Banner's sweetheart and former colleague) her terrible acting was barely noticeable. And, needless to say, Tim Roth and William Hurt as the military badguys were amazing.
With new movies like Thor, Silver Surfer, and Nick Fury coming within the next two years, I'm excited to see how the Marvel universe comes to life onscreen.
Cool. I've never known much about the Hulk character, and I'm one of the people who thinks Ang Lee's film was a meritable experiment and a very interesting movie, if not good. As I hear it, about 20 minutes of Norton-written character developmental scenes were cut in order to give more Hulk Smash.
The consistency of Marvel-based films has been pretty good in recent times, maybe excluding Fantastic 4 and X3. Wonder if the upcoming adaptations will be any good.
I remember enjoying Ang Lee's Hulk at first, but it was impossible for me (personally) to watch again. I know I wouldn't mind seeing either Iron Man or The Incredible Hulk again... hell, even in theaters. Marvel has made some pretty great films in the past couple of months and I'm itching to see the crossovers and sequels that blend these hero's stories together. They're already setting up an Avengers movie as we can see from some of the things included in both The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man, and while that whole section of comic book lore is not my favorite, I'm excited to see how they look on screen.
Also, unrelated to the above, I had no idea they cut 20 minutes of development. I would have paid good money to see that.
post-Hulk reaction: yeah, it was pretty good. I thought it could have been slower and more brooding, but I'm sure they didn't want to redo Ang Lee's. Tim Roth was great. Liv Tyler was, uh, Liv Tyler as usual. And the Tony Stark appearance was fun. Altogether, y'know, worth the ten bucks or whatever movie tickets cost these days.
