DVD: Incredible Hulk

Super, smashing, lovely

There is, clearly, a lot of fanboy passion out there for the Incredible Hulk. So, as with all such comic book adaptations, the reaction to this new big screen version was mixed. And, frankly, it’s hard to see why.

It’s decently acted, it’s witty, it’s exciting and the CGI – despite early fears – is pretty good. Some fanboys will still say it’s unrealistic and you know what? Until they learn what deodorant’s for, they can shut up. Besides, he's a huge, green, radiation-induced, musclebound freak: just how “realistic” do you expect him to bleeding look?

This Hulk is a pedal-to-the-metal thriller that generally manages to balance the interesting character angle — Banner's fear of who he becomes — with the traditional blockbuster levels of collateral damage.

Director Louis Leterrier focuses on chases and battles rather than spending an hour establishing the back story. Indeed, the whole Hulk “legend” is covered by the opening credits, then there's some 10 minutes of set-up — Banner (Edward Norton) is still on the run and working in a Brazilian soft drinks factory — before we're full pelt into the first clash between the Hulk / Banner and a team of crack soldiers led by General Ross (William Hurt) and, in particular, his “guest star” Royal Marine turbo-nutter Blonsky (Tim Roth) who's willing to seek chemical solutions to the Hulk problem.

The film follows the same formula throughout: a little bit of character development and exposition, followed by a huge action set piece. As such, it feels a little, well, predictable.

However, while the structure is conventional (it's probably called “post-Spiderman superhero formula number two” or something), it works well enough and Leterrier still manages to have a little fun, from the cameos (Stan Lee, obviously, TV Hulk Ferrigno and, well, an uncredited guest star to hint at the nature of the sequel) to Banner's attempts to blend into Brazil, learning Portuguese from Sesame Street.

This leads to a delightful throwaway gag, when Banner confuses his vocabulary and tells an obnoxious colleague: “Don't make me hungry. You wouldn't like me when I'm hungry.”

On the downside, love interest Betty (Liv Tyler) once again feels like a token gesture but hey, show me someone who watches The Incredible Hulk for the romance and I'll show you a... well, a girl.

Probably. On the plus side, the Hulk v Army clashes are thrilling and the Hulk v chemically-altered Blonsky, while silly, is gleefully so. Plus you can't underestimate the quality of Norton. While he doesn't get much opportunity to flex his thespian chops, he's a very, very solid presence, putting Banner's flaws and (literal) innner turmoil across well in the minimum time he's allowed. Not perfect, but not awful either. The Incredible Hulk is just very acceptable escapist entertainment.

Extras: Alternate opening, Around 25 deleted scenes, Assorted featurettes, including The Making of Incredible (“brought to you by Volkswagen”?!) Hulk, Becoming The Hulk, Becoming The Abomination, Anatomy of a Hulk Out and From Comic Book To Screen.

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