Urban Thought Collective

THE INCREDIBLE HULK (PG-13)

MAJOR PLAYERS:
Actor/co-writer Edward Norton (Fight Club), Liv Tyler (Armageddon), Tim Roth (Gridlock’d), William Hurt (Vantage Point), co-writer Zak Penn (X2), and director Louis Leterrier (Transporter 2).

Wisely dispensing with the origin story in the opening credits (gamma ray experiment gone wrong when scientist turns into 15-foot, monstrous green freak, yadda yadda yadda), “Hulk” finds Bruce Banner (Norton) hiding out in the slums of Brazil, living a very low-key, stress-free life (um, you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry).

His breathing exercises and anger management are interrupted by General Ross (Hurt), who’s been chasing him for five years to harness and replicate the genetically mutated strength of Banner’s fury into a government-enhanced super-soldier. Pissed off and all Hulky, Banner’s on the run again, this time heading back towards home where an internet persona who’s helping him figure out a cure awaits, as does his old girlfriend Dr. Betty Ross (Tyler), who still carries a torch for him. Even though her father - ahem, Gen. Ross - does his best to snuff it out. And all that’s before career soldier Emil Blonsky (Roth) begins down his slippery slope of fascination with the power of the Hulk.

Sorry, (fan) boys - this here “Hulk” is a love story. Bruce and Betty. General Ross and control. Blonsky and power. THE REEL DEAL and “The Incredible Hulk.”

“I am so excited right now, you have no idea.” So tumbled out of the mouth of this sometimes jaded movie critic to his screening partner, as stuff blows up spectacularly to the best action score of the year. Much in the same vein as “Iron Man,” I cannot say enough how ridiculously entertaining THIS version of the “Hulk” is. All the old TV series touches (yes, you embryos under 25, there WAS a great TV show based on Stan Lee’s iconic comic) are back: an homage to the musical theme, a Bill Bixby sighting and…Lou Ferrigno?!?

I know Edward Norton famously, er, allegedly tried to hijack this movie in the editing bay much as he did with “American History X” to make it more contemplative and serious, but this is a battle that he has happily lost. The movie is nonstop energy - not hyperkinetic or over-edited like some action movies, just well-paced and deftly plotted. As much as the fangeek blogosphere mourned into their monitors when the oh-so-accomplished director of the Jason Statham modern-day classic “Transporter 2″ was named to helm this version of the “Hulk,” the choice of Louis Leterrier is almost too much like right.

His is the anti-Ang Lee “Hulk,” with frenetic, favela rooftop chases shot with the same intensity as a rain-soaked, tear-drenched kiss (more on this later). What a novel idea: get action directors to do action films! You wouldn’t have Michael Bay direct “Sense & Sensibility,” now would you? Leterrier’s “Hulk” is the Big Green “Fugitive.” Action film as explosive artistry. Oh, did I mention that the MUSIC (original score by Craig Armstrong) is ridiculously exciting, too?

Tim Roth’s Emil Blonsky is cunningly played, a Special Forces careerist how knows nothing else - and cares about nothing else - but the thrill of the fight. So when Hurt’s relentless Gen. Ross introduces the prospect of testing some of the U.S. Army’s weaponized serum on him, Roth’s Blonsky snarls at the chance to become a gamma-mutated junkyard dog, an Abomination, if you will. Tim Blake Nelson provides a nice, wondrous scientist turn to the proceedings, more awed by the unnatural power of science than afraid of it.

Classing up the joint by his mere presence but not in overplayed Edward Norton is patently believable in the role that Bixby made famous and that Bana nearly buried. Downplaying his charisma into an everyman-like scientist who struggles to keep a lid on his emotions (with gas prices and the economy in the tank, don’t we all?), Norton gives the whole affair instant credibility, a man trapped by his own body and fluctuating blood pressure.

Liv Tyler does weepy-eyed damsel in distress better than anyone in the business, even offering a few sparky flashes of anger herself (my friend, enthusiastically: “It’s like Hulk and Hulkette!”). With some serious longing going on between the two, there’s an oddly tangible love story here, one that doesn’t derail the propulsive nature of the action but, instead, girds the narrative with emotional import. In other words, you actually give a damn about Bruce getting his Betty! Just the way that Tyler’s Dr. Ross is down for her man had me sucking my teeth and declaring, “Now that’s a good woman right there!”

“This film is so good - I love it!” - Me, again. Told you it was a love story. Gonzo special effects, a no-frills, all-thrillsy emotional script penned by Norton and Penn, plus a Tony Stark drive-by (!)… There’s nary a hole in “The Incredible’s” Hulky resume. The CGI destruction in the climactic, Hulk-a-Hulk battle gets a wee cartoony in the end, but that’s a small price to pay for such unyielding, first-class entertainment. And if that’s not enough for your $10.50 ticket, have I mentioned the music???

“Hulk…SMASH!”

@@@@ REELS
(FOUR REELS)
An urban legend/instant classic.

UTC’s resident film critic Edwardo Jackson is the author of the novels EVER AFTER and NEVA HAFTA, (Villard/Random House), a writer for The 213 Magazine, and an LA-based screenwriter. Visit his website at www.edwardojackson.com where his new novel I DO? is available NOW.