The Incredible Hulk

Considering I had never heard of the Hulk until Ang Lee's movie came out in 2003, I was quite surprised how much I looked forward to Marvel's production of The Incredible Hulk. I was never fond of comics--every superhero I know, I know them only from the big screen. But Edward Norton is a name that intrigues me--an actor who, I felt, has what it takes to introduce me to a whole new superhero. So after I recovered from the initial confusion and realized Marvel is rebooting the franchise (I thought it was a TV series when I first saw the trailer on YouTube months ago), I felt compelled to watch it, one way or another.

I have to admit, I went in with certain expectations and preconceptions because I had visited way too many spoiler websites before I saw the actual movie this morning. But overall The Incredible Hulk surprised me in several ways that I wasn't prepared for from watching trailers and digging its plot details in advance.

The first and most significant was probably how much I loved the storyline about the relationship between Bruce Banner and Elizabeth Ross. All along, I thought I couldn't care less about such a "cliché" love story because that is what every testerone-driven superhero story falls back on--a strong and powerful man breaking down in the presence of a beautiful woman. But love is never treated as a cheap commodity or a mere plot device in The Incredible Hulk. Instead, the Banner-Ross relationship is what gives the film its soul, and make the audience realize why the Hulk goes such great lengths to rid the monster inside of him.

Partly because of this human dimension so beautifully depicted, I felt like the movie loses its focus whenever Bruce transforms into the Hulk and begins to wreak havoc while combating the U.S. Army. Yes, the Hulk is his identity and it is why we have come to watch him. But the fight scenes are just a mess when there is nothing but smashing and hurling cars at tiny soldiers. Destructive as he is, the Hulk seems a little too unhuman for us to really care. Maybe monsters no longer intrigue or frighten young adults like me. That's why if you were to ask, I'd say the Abomination looks more sinister when he is still in human form.

In terms of my cinematic experience, I would say that The Incredible Hulk succeeds more on its dramatic merits than technical ones. Not that the special effects were disappointing, of course, or that this one long aerial shot of a hillside Brazilian village just totally blows my mind. My biggest complaint, instead, is the incoherence between scenes. While the story itself connects, the filmmakers seem to want to rush through minor details to get through to the next showdown. Did Bruce Banner really just teleported himself from Brazil to Mexico to the U.S.? And why did General Ross so readily consent to letting Hulk fight Abomination when he had just captured Banner minutes ago and threatened to put him in jail for the rest of his life?

These rather minor omissions add up after some time, and what I'm left with is the impression that the script is still not good enough--regardless of how much attention Edward Norton has gotten for having basically rewritten the whole thing. I wanted Liv Tyler to have a bigger role and more time onscreen, and I wanted Tim Roth to play Blonsky with just a little less of that cartoonish grin. Rumor has it that Louis Leterrier (the director) and Edward Norton disputed with the producers over the final running time: the former wanted a longer version while the latter wanted shorter. It only makes me wonder whether the movie would have been better if Louis and Edward had their way.

I readily admit that I was disappointed the rumored opening shot of Banner trying to committe suicide didn't make it into the final cut. They said it would be too intense for "kids". But in my opinion, the whole Incredible Hulk is too intense for kids. What I wanted to see was more emotional dimensions to the story. That's why I felt that the arctic scene, if left standing, would have given the film more depth in exploring the kind of emotional turmoil and isolation Banner experiences because of his condition.

Maybe the director's cut will come out on DVD, or maybe it never will. But I'm glad I saw this movie on its opening weekend because it was a good movie. I really enjoyed it. The four friends who watched it with me all said they liked the movie, so there you have it. The Incredible Hulk may not be perfect, but it sure was an incredible ride.