Every week, a group of friends and I are rewatching a Marvel movie in preparation for the next Avengers film. Might as well talk about them on the way, right?
Review: The Incredible Hulk
Yikes. This movie is a mess from start to finish. There’s little I can say, really- if you’re reading this you probably have already know how bad a trainwreck it is. So let’s cover the good stuff:
The movie seamlessly integrates with Captain America: The First Avenger. The Hulk, rather than being a complete accident, is actually a resurrected form of the Captain America super soldier serum.
The sci-fi of the super soldier project is consistent with what comes later: Tim Roth’s character, whose name I don’t care enough to google, is kind-of-a-dick in the beginning, and when he gets super-soldier-serum’d, he becomes a complete dick. In 2011’s Captain America, 2 years later, the serum is described as enhancing all aspects of the person both physical and mental. So that was a nice touch.
The post-credits scene takes place before the end credits, and so we don’t have to sit through the whole credits of the movie we hated! Good thinking, old-school Marvel Studios!
The pre-credits scene features our very favorite Tony Stark!
There are some cool shots here and there?
Shit, is that it?
The script falls apart under even the slightest scrutiny- not a damn bit about this movie makes sense. Does Banner’s blood poison and kill people, or does it turn them into Hulks or Hulk-like creatures? “Fuck you,” says the movie, before continuing on to say, “Let’s cast Liv Tyler and have her whisper every line like she was still Arwen. People still like Arwen, right?”
Ed Norton is famous for being hard to work with, and boy does it show in the final product. There’s no chemistry. Anywhere. Watching Incredible Hulk is watching a bunch of actors have a steady 9-5 job for which they have no passion. Tim Blake Nelson, Dr. Samuel Sterns, was the most interesting part of the movie simply because he was wild and quirky. He was the only person who seemed to want to be there.
Honestly, I could go on, but I’m tired of thinking about this crappy second entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We’re still excited that they’re putting together the Avengers… but really only because we’re leaning heavily on the charisma of Robert Downey, Jr. Speaking of which, the next movie is Iron Man 2.
How did this franchise get off the ground when 2 of its first 3 entries are crap?
1 thought on “The Incredible Hulk”