This is an exciting, thrilling movie which manages to banish all memory of the dire 2003 ‘Hulk’.
A word of warning – if you’re planning on seeing this for the sight of the big green one smashing things up you’ll have a long wait because the film’s first priority is to develop the characters and their relationships with one another.
It’s a fair while (maybe 30-40 minutes) before the Hulk makes an appearance and even he gets to be a rounded character – make no mistake this film has buckets of character development and tons of plot.
Edward Norton and Liv Tyler have a great chemistry as Bruce Banner and girlfriend Betty and both William Hurt and Tim Roth do a great job of ensuring their gun toting soldiers have a little more depth than a standard superhero movie would call for.
There are some great moments for longtime Hulk fans. The film opens with a scene setting montage which includes a homage to the 70’s TV version’s title sequence and, to cheers of delight from the preview audience, Lou Ferrigno (who played Hulk in the original series) makes his obligatory appearance as a security guard and there’s a small snippet of ‘ The Lonely Man’ – the theme used at the end of the TV show as Bill Bixby’s Dr. Banner would walk along yet another deserted highway to his next adventure.
The film is littered with some great moments but to try and describe them here would mean revealing too much of the plot but I can promise you’l not leave this film disappointed.
The effects are out of this world. Both the Hulk and foe The Abomination are beautifully realised and very believable with Hulk having a range of facial expressions and some great movement. Standing about 10ft tall he isn’t absurdly big but at the same time is lage enough to make his power seem credible.
Action fans will be pleased to hear that the finale really delivers and allows Hulk to establish himself as one of the good guys, setting the scene for more big screen outings.
Towards the end Hulk speaks the immortal line ‘Hulk smash!’ and I predict that when it comes to box office records he’ll do precisely that.
The Incredible Hulk opens at cinemas across the UK from 12th June