The Incredible Hulk
So I’ll say right off the bat that I’ve never been a huge fan of the Hulk. First off, the whole concept of the Hulk has never appealed to me. Just a big monster who’s only real skill is extreme violence. Second, I’ve never really been impressed with any of the other Hulk movies. There was the TV version, in which he is played by Lou Ferrigno, which had 3 movie length features, and then there was the film in 2003 starring Eric Bana. The former couldn’t really portray the character’s true power, and the latter made him look like a cartoon in a live-action film.
But here, I think they began to get it right. Now played by Edward Norton, The Hulk got another makeover. He looked so much more realistic than the previous versions. His skin wasn’t such a neon green, his face looked more like a real face. And let’s face it, the Hulk’s look is very important when it comes to the believability of the character. That‘s not to say this version was perfect, but it was the best we’d ever seen. And the quality of the representation only got better from here on out.
Edward Norton was great. He got the differences between Bruce Banner and the Hulk. He played both sides of that coin and it was pretty awesome. As Banner, he showed intelligence, and a keen awareness of his particular condition. At this point in the character’s overall arc, he had absolutely no control over the green monster. If he allowed himself to change into the Hulk, he was liable to destroy, hurt, or even kill, with no hope of controlling his actions, and so he did his best to not make the change. But inevitably, the transformation would happen, and the carnage would begin. Now here, they were finally able to display his true awesome power, his raw savagery. He was fast, vicious, and just an absolute force of nature. But one notable difference, they showed that he still had a little of Banner’s intelligence when fighting. He used a makeshift shield, two halves of a police car as boxing gloves, and the infamous Hulk Clap to put out a fire.
The only person that was safe from his rage was Betty Ross, played by Liv Tyler. The first time I ever saw this movie, I’ll be honest, I didn’t like Tyler’s portrayal. Something about the actress just rubbed me the wrong way, and I don’t exactly know what it was. But the more times I have watched the movie, the more she grows on me. She did just fine, so really, I have no complaints there. Betty’s father Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, played by William Hurt was such a great antagonist. He was an egotistical military man that is so easy to hate.
And then there was Hulk’s main rival, Emile Blonsky, aka, the Abomination, played by Tim Roth. He was an interesting character, in that in order to fight the Hulk, he becomes obsessed with becoming a bigger monster. I actually don’t know much about how the comic books treat the Abomination, so I can’t comment on how the two compare with each other, but here, he felt a little generic, just a grey version of the Hulk. But really, who else could they have pitted him against in the film that introduced him to the MCU? Though, as I’m thinking about it. I understand that even though the Eric Bana Hulk was not officially part of the MCU, this movie essentially picked up where that previous movie ended. And this movie made the Hulk kind of cool in my mind. So now I might have to go back and watch that other film, just to get a little more insight into the character.
Now, I’ll briefly address the elephant in the room. This was the only time Edward Norton played Bruce Banner / the Hulk. In all his subsequent appearances in the MCU, he was replaced by Mark Ruffalo, who I actually like better in the role. I’m not saying Edward Norton was bad. I just can’t imagine what direction the character would have gone in, if Norton had continued to play the part.
Top 10 Favorite Parts
- Banner is running from the military and Blonsky. ParKOUR!
- Hulk destroys the bottling factory.
- Banner reunites with Betty, and cannot make love to her.
- Banner is trapped in the bridge at the University, and changes into the Hulk.
- Hulk fights an enhanced Blonsky and saves Betty from being killed by Thunderbolt Ross and his men.
- Banner suppressed the change in Dr. Stern’s lab.
- Blonsky gets injected with Banner’s blood and becomes the Abomination.
- Banner jumps from a helicopter and only changes into the Hulk after hitting the ground.
- Hulk defeats the Abomination.
- The post credit scene where Tony Stark pays Thunderbolt Ross a visit.