The Incredible Hulk

RATING: C+

I feel like most people think of the Hulk these days in cinema, and they think of Mark Ruffalo as his main portrayer--since that's the guy who's played him in the two Avengers films. People are starting to forget that a certain Hulk film in 2008 where Hulk is played by Edward Norton actually is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe--at least we think so, anyway. We weren't sure for a while, but then the sudden unexpected return of William Hurt's character in Captain America: Civil War seems to have put any such thought of the film being non-canon to rest. Maybe. 

This version of the Hulk doesn't exactly follow the usual backstory of how Bruce Banner became the monster; now, it happens as part of a twisted military scheme led by General Thunderbolt Ross, who is attempting to recreate the super-soldier experiments of the 1940s (Captain America, anyone?). Banner just thinks he's attempting to make people invulnerable to gamma radiation. Until an experiment goes wrong, and he transforms into the famed green monster. 

This version of the Hulk sort of leaves me with mixed feelings. The Hulk itself is pretty awesome and has some cool fight sequences, but Edward Norton's portrayal of Bruce Banner is one of the most "meh" performances I've ever seen--I found myself thinking more of Keanu Reeves occasionally, and not in a good way. And the movie moves pretty slowly for much of the first 30-40 minutes. The first actual Hulk action sequence is so layered in shadows it's hard to tell what's going on (though perhaps that was the intention). 

That said, the film still has its moments. As mentioned earlier, Hulk has some pretty darn good fight sequences--one in the middle of a park with the Army comes to mind, and in particular the battle with Abomination at the end is spectacular and helps actually makes the film memorable in general. The film also does a good job of capturing more varying emotion on Hulk's face--something we don't see much of in Ruffalo's still-awesome Hulk (just anger; though maybe it's supposed to be that way. I don't know. I don't read the comics.) 

That said, for a film that claims (from time to time, anyway) to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's far less well-done overall. Almost all of the other films in the MCU series have top-of-the-line production values, action, acting, and dialogue. All this film really has going for it is the action (although William Hurt is good). Yes, it's enjoyable to some degree, but I still am conflicted myself on whether to consider it part of the MCU or not. But then again, so is everyone else apparently. I'm just glad they did end up replacing Norton with Ruffalo in the end, though.