Starting on a sidebar: Five years ago Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) directed an underrated little film called Hulk. I say little, because its international box office of $245 million was considered by the industry to be lacklustre in comparison to the ridiculous $820 million that Spiderman made the previous year.

It was also a film that polarised audiences and critics alike. It was heavy on characterisation, completely humourless, and at two hours and 20 minutes it may have alienated its target teenage audience with its heavy father-son relationship theme.

But I liked it.

Nick Nolte was simply superb, and Ang Lee was the first director to boldly adapt a comic book’s visual style, (something we’ve only really seen again with Robert Rodriguez and Sin City).
But those who liked the way the lee dealt with the dark and brooding nature of Hulk tended not to like the cartoonish nature of the action sequences that seemed intended to please the teenage boys.

So no one came away completely satisfied and no sequel was immediately planned.

Fast forward a couple of years and Marvel Comics decide that instead of sitting back and raking in truckloads of cash by licensing their characters to film studios; they’re going to set up their own film studio. This means more money and more control for them, but it also means a greater risk, and the pressure to release a product that is appealing to as wide an audience as possible.

So no more icy father-son chats under the blanket of Cold War paranoia in split-screen. No more indie/arthouse director, and no childhood flashbacks. Instead you get a runtime at less than two hours, an action movie director, and violent action sequences which adults and children alike can enjoy.

Welcome to The Incredible Hulk.

Directed by Frenchman Lewis Leterrier of The Transporter and Transporter 2 fame, The Incredible Hulk is a vastly different beast from Lee’s 2003 effort. Edward Norton and Liv Tyler replace Eric Bana as Bruce Banner/The Hulk and Betty Ross respectively. Though it is essentially, despite the filmmaker’s insistence, a direct sequel.

Written by X-Men 2 & 3 scribe Zac Penn, then rewritten by the film’s star Norton, The Incredible Hulk begins with Banner living off-the-grid in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. He’s hiding from the US military, namely General Ross (William Hurt), who considers him to be military property and would like to dissect him for research purposes.

Without needing to deal with the pesky origin storyline, Leterrier can get stuck straight into the action. After some quick re-capping and character building he has Banner spectacularly being chased over the slum rooftops and through alleyways by military hard-man Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), all the while desperately trying to contain the beast that is itching to bust out of him.

The plot is essentially a chase film, interspersed with unwinnable confrontations between the military and the Hulk, and a fantastically bombastic climatic showdown in the middle of New York City between Hulk and the Abomination (Blonsky as a big bad monster created by General Ross).

It’s all a bit like Pac-Man. 

Banner is chased all over the place by the military (the ghosts), until he eats a big bucket of angry, whereupon the tables are turned and he destroys everything in his path. This however has better graphics (though they’re not always that great).

The strength of this new film lies with its cast. Norton is pitch perfect both visibly and emotionally as the vulnerable and conflicted Banner. With William Hurt and Tim Roth delivering adequately layered performances as the guy who wants to protect his country and the guy who wants a fair fight. It’s a safe yet satisfying blend of characterisation and action that should appease your average superhero movie audience.

Marvel have also taken care to layer the film with the usual inside references and cameos, including Lou Ferrigno (the Hulk from the TV series), Stan Lee (Hulk creator), and Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark (Iron Man) in a further indication that Marvel intend to cross-breed their characters across films. They even manage to leave a large juicy thread hanging that nicely sets up a sequel.

Cha ch$ng!

The Incredible Hulk rates 3 stars.