Strongest One There Is? (An Incredible Hulk review)

With four days to go until the UK release of Avengers Assemble, I've decided to review the five Marvel Cinematic Universe films leading up to it, in order of release, one day at a time. Iron Man has already been reviewed here, so let's take a look at its sister film.

Poster by Marko Manev.

Cast your minds back to 2003, and the release of Hulk. Directed by Ang Lee and starring Eric Bana as the titular meek scientist-turned-green goliath, audiences had gone in expecting a rousing blockbuster of summer fun where Hulk smash stuff, and Hulk smash stuff a lot. What they got was a sombre, cerebral, brooding exploration of a brilliant scientist still reeling years later from his abusive past, who blows off steam through his destructive monstrous alter-ego. When put like that, it sounds like an arthouse film. It sounds like a comic Harvey Pekar or Daniel Clowes would write, published by Vertigo as a deconstruction of the Hulk concept. You can understand why audiences felt betrayed, especially since the marketing and advertising made them think they were getting just another dumb action flick.

Hulk was not a financial success, but it did brisk enough business to warrant a continuation of the franchise. Marvel Studios were in charge of producing the next film, which was a reboot, but one that picked up from where the original left off. They hired Louis Letterier, best known for directing Jason Statham vehicle The Transporter, to make it a more traditional "Hulk smash" affair, adhering close to the TV show and Bruce Jones' run on the character. Edward Norton signed on to play Bruce Banner, and ended up rewriting Zak Penn's script significantly (though he remains uncredited for it). Most significantly, Marvel Studios got Robert Downey Jr to make a quick cameo as Tony Stark, talking about "putting a team together". They were serious about putting an Avengers film together, enough that Stark Industries, Nick Fury and SHIELD even get quick mentions.

But what of the film itself? Make sure you're firmly behind lead shielding because we're looking at The Incredible Hulk.

Bruce Banner (Norton) enters an experiment led by General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (William Hurt) supposedly to see whether humans can be made immune to gamma radiation. In reality, the experiment is an attempt to create a "Super Soldier", and backfires when Banner transforms into a gigantic green-skinned monster, destroys the lab, and injures his girlfriend Betty (Liv Tyler). Fleeing the military, he has been hiding in Rio de Janeiro for the past five years, attempting to suppress and cure his condition. But you can't hide forever, and one small mistake is enough for a black-ops strike force to track him down, Hulk him out, and force him to return to America, in the hope he can rid himself of his irradiated alter-ego once and for all.

Right from the opening sequence, the filmmakers want to assure you this will be nothing like the other Hulk movie: Banner transforms (albeit off-screen) as soon as possible, and in a compressed - if weirdly disjointed - introduction, the audience quickly gathers the situation: Banner turned into Hulk, put girlfriend in hospital, ran to South America, military on his ass. In just under five minutes, The Incredible Hulk summarises all the events of Hulk, thankfully leaving out the mutant poodles (yes, that is a thing in Hulk, I'm sad too) and Nick Nolte's crazy hair. This pretty much establishes the rest of the film - muscling ahead from plot point to plot point quickly as it can to get to the action. It pulls the brakes when it needs to for some emotional introspection and for tender moments between Norton and Ross but then it's action action ACTION!

"What you looking at?"

Beyond pacing, The Incredible Hulk's second weapon in its battle to erase the last film from the audience's mind is how many cues it takes from the TV show, which is still part of pop culture. People who haven't read a single issue of the comic can tell you Banner's catchphrase ("Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."), and I'd wager those who didn't grow up with the show could as well. So we get a case of what I call "nostalgia-bombing", where familiar cues and tics are thrown on screen to take the audience back to the glory days. The film, like the show, focuses largely on Banner travelling from location to location, looking for a way to be rid of the Hulk, never staying too long. The machine that transformed Banner looks an awful lot like the one from the series. Strains of the famous piano piece "The Lonely Man" can be heard in parts of the soundtrack. Lou Ferrigno even voices the CG Hulk.

The Incredible Hulk is the flipside to Iron Man in a lot of ways, the other side of the coin: Iron Man was all about innovation, doing new things with the superhero film, while Incredible Hulk is more nostalgic and old-fashioned. Iron Man neglected the action in favour of fleshing out its story and characters; Incredible Hulk gives comparatively little concern to it outside of its protagonist, and uses the plot as a vehicle to get to action beats. There's nothing wrong with that, necessarily, but what is glimpsed is so tantalising, it's frustrating we don't get more.

"Calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean..."

Norton was ultimately denied a writing credit for the script, as it was argued he hadn't made any dramatic changes to Penn's original draft, but his work was certainly enough to convince Marvel Studios this was a project worth filming from a creative standpoint; a Hulk film could just be Ol' Greenskin taking on successfully bigger threats for 90 minutes and it would have made a profit, but Norton was adding more. First, the compressed origin story - a smart move, and one David Fincher considered doing when he was attached to directing Spider-Man in the late 90s, as your audience already knows the back story. Iron Man needed one, but Hulk didn't, so you might as well trim the fat. The opening scenes of Banner in Rio are interesting and engaging: he's learning meditative and respiration techniques to control his anger. He wears a watch that checks his heart rate, so he's always aware if he's in danger of Hulking out. He learns Portuguese off of Sesame Street, actually a solid tool for linguistics (children's books and TV are great for those wishing to learn a second language). He communicates with an online friend "Mr. Blue" on finding a possible cure.

A planned opening sequence that later got deleted from the final print would have shown Banner going to the Antarctic to commit suicide, but ultimately transforming and escaping. I can see why Marvel would have this removed, as this wouldn't sit right with their usual pro-active heroes who shun self-pity whenever they can, but it makes sense for Banner, and for Norton, who - both in writing and in performance - really gets the loneliness and isolation of the character. Banner is forever an outsider, a man who has to keep moving to avoid emotional attachment and to avoid capture. He lives in a country that doesn't speak his language, alone in a sparse room with only a dog for company, and works in a menial position at a bottling factory in an attempt to blend in. He's managed to avoid capture by the US Army for five years purely through being alone. Rather than anger or stress as the catalyst for transformation, the Hulk emerges when Banner's heart rate gets particularly high, meaning any extreme emotional reaction could set him off. In one scene, he's unable to sleep with Betty because the excitement could cause him to Hulk out; he has to avoid even displays of affection.

"In the green corner, weighing in at 1500lbs at a staggering 9', it's the Jolly Green Giant himself, theeeeeeeeeee Increeeeeedibleeeeee HULKKKKKKKKK!"

This is good, dramatic stuff, made better by Norton's performance. Best known as the nameless Narrator in Fight Club, there also playing a repressed Everyman battling his raging id, Norton's Banner comes across as tightly wound up, like a spring ready to recoil. It's basically a reprisal of the Fight Club role, but if the shoe fits, then Norton has every right to wear it. The problem is that it feels like there's so much more lurking tantalisingly out of frame that The Incredible Hulk doesn't cover in its rush to deliver the audience's requirement of adrenaline. The supporting cast are able, but never really rise above that: William Hurt is stern and authoritarian, Liv Tyler is pretty and supportive, and Tim Roth turns out another fine psychotic smirking villain as Russian-born Royal Marine Emil Blonsky.

While watching, I got a monster movie-esque feel from The Incredible Hulk, as it does embrace the grotesque elements of the character. Even in the comics, the Hulk was devised by Lee and Kirby as a spin on the Frankenstein's monster concept (Lee always thought the monster wasn't evil, just misunderstood) and the Jewish myth of the Golem. Hulk thrives in the monstrous and fantastic; a recent comic book arc showed him becoming warrior king of an alien planet to great effect, and while the film doesn't turn Norton's Hulk into a galactic conqueror, there's a lively sense of the horrific. Banner's transformations are usually accompanied by the delightful sounds of things snapping and realigning; often, his top half changes before the bottom half. Blonsky's is even more nightmarish; even while human, his spine contorts and threatens to burst from his skin, and the Abomination is all gristle, bone and sinew. If nothing else, attention was played to the physicality of the Hulk and the Abomination. Their fight in New York often resembles animals in combat, the way they tense up slowly before frenziedly beating and tearing at each other.

"And in the...orange...corner, I guess, weighing 1800lbs at an astonishing 11', give it up for the Bruiser from Britannia, theeeeeee ABOMMMMMMINAAAAAATIONNNNNN!"

The action scenes themselves have pretty of heft, but if you've seen The Transporter, or Leterrier's other martial arts number Unleashed, chances are you've seen more exciting stuff. Again, they're not bad, but I don't recall any particular action scene that left me so energised I felt the need for a post-coital cigarette. The final smackdown between the Hulk and the Abomination is engaging enough, but I actually preferred earlier set-pieces, like Banner evading the strike force throughout Rio just through his wits and knowledge of the area, or a super-soldier'd Blonsky (still human, mind you) tackling the Hulk using his newfound agility. Admittedly, Hulk vs. Abomination does have Hulk tearing a car apart and turning them into boxing gloves, but there isn't enough OTT flourishes like that to make Incredible Hulk stand out as an action film.

Compared to the last Hulk film, and as a "Road to Avengers" film, The Incredible Hulk is solid enough, if less well put together than the others. It gives you bang for your buck, and even though there isn't really enough exploration of Banner for my liking, what is there is still really good. I do appreciate an action film that tries and just misses the mark rather than one that doesn't try at all. Norton will not be returning to Avengers due to negotiations between him and Marvel breaking down, so Mark Ruffalo will replace him for the sequel. This sadly means we may not see any more of what Norton had in mind for the character, but I've been hearing positive things about his Banner/Hulk, so I'll remain hopeful.

On a final note, it's surprising how much Avengers foreshadowing is put into this film, considering all eyes were on Iron Man. Tony Stark-cameo aside, the Stark Industries logo is seen amongst military technology, SHIELD assists in tracking Banner down later on in the film, and Nick Fury gets an on-screen blink-and-you'll-miss-it mention. Marvel have stated this is set after Iron Man 2, hence why Tony's cameo is in an advisory role. What's more interesting are the ties to Captain America: the serum Ross uses on Blonsky is credited to "Dr. Reinstein", an alias for Abraham Erskine, the father of the Super-Soldier project, and the one who turns Steve Rogers into a superman. The serum is said to enhance the subject's main personality trait as well as their physicality, and this rings true for The Incredible Hulk: Banner's repressed anger created the Hulk, the nine-feet green-skinned genie in the bottle. Blonsky's love of combat created the battle-hungry, more humanoid Abomination. And remember that deleted opening sequence in the Arctic I mentioned?

Well, FirstShowing.net noted that when the Hulk causes an avalanche, a figure can be seen dislodged from the ice, lodged in the foetal position. This is meant to be Captain America.

Credit to FirstShowing.net.

It'd be interesting to see whether this is how they found Cap in The Avengers. Even now, though, this world-building, these crossovers? It's still exciting.