Wonderful character development!

Sorry, this movie sucks

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

In a few decades, cinema-goers will look back and dub these times the golden age of superhero movies. Of course, they are still going strong, but 2008 was the year it all really kicked off, with three key movies in the genre, two of which helped kick off Marvel's Cinematic Universe. The year saw one of the very best superhero films, The Dark Knight, although for a comic book adaptation it keeps its feet very much grounded. Nolan's movie will always be loved, and so it should, but elsewhere Marvel were planning on doing something never before achieved by a major studio: to truly bring a comic-book universe to life. Iron Man came first, and was a bigger hit than anybody expected, propelling Robert Downey Jr. from a risk with heavy personal baggage to one of the highest paid actors in the business. This was followed up by The Incredible Hulk, a film now with a reputation as Marvel's runt of the litter. Yet, despite the fact that Edward Norton was eventually replaced by Mark Ruffalo as mild-mannered scientist Bruce Banner, the black sheep label is incredibly unfair.The origin of Banner and his alter-ego the Incredible Hulk was attempted back in 2003 by acclaimed director Ang Lee, and while his desire to literally bring the panels of a comic-book to life was admirable, Hulk was an absolute bore, failing to add any dimension to its central character and struggling to bring the Jade Giant convincingly to life with special effects that simply weren't advanced enough at the time. Director Louis Leterrier's 2008 semi-reboot sort-of accepts Lee's introduction, and starts its life with Banner already living with the unexpected effects of his exposure to gamma radiation. Hiding out in Brazil away from the clutches of General 'Thunderbolt' Ross (William Hurt), Banner is searching for a cure, spending his downtime working in a bottle factory and keeping his heart-rate below 200 beats per minute to keep the angry brute inside of him at bay. Ross views Banner and his powers as property of the U.S. government, and wants him captured in order to harness his abilities to create an army of unstoppable soldiers.It's a simple premise, but one that compliments the character. Ang Lee tried to find deeper themes in Banner's story, but it just didn't work, and when Hulk finally smashed, it either came far too late or was shot in darkness. It doesn't take long for the transformation to take place in Leterrier's movie, and when notorious Royal Marine Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) shows up with his army pals, the special effects don't disappoint (although they are dated by today's standards), allowing Hulk to smash and batter with coherency. It isn't all brainless action however. When Bruce inevitably leaves his hideaway to return home, he reconnects with his former flame Betty Ross (Liv Tyler), who also happens to be the General's daughter and dating nice guy Leonard (Ty Burrell). It's here Banner hopes to connect with his contact 'Mr. Blue' and cure his affliction, while side-stepping various attacks by General Ross and an increasingly powered-up Blonsky. While I prefer Ruffalo, Norton is an excellent Bruce Banner, and it's fun to wonder what could have been had he stayed in the role, although it's difficult to imagine him trading quips with Chris Hemsworth on an alien planet. The Marvel universe seemed to go on ignoring its existence before Hurt's Ross turned up again 8 years later in Captain America: Civil War, but its importance in the creation of this now-massive world shouldn't be underestimated. I still remember the goose-pimples as Tony Stark swaggered into that mid-credit sequence

This is the marvel movie that marvel longs to forget. I however do not understand why. This movie felt like any other superhero movie and like other superhero movies always seems to have the same faults. This movie, like other Marvel movies, has a problem with its villain. The villain is lazily thrown in there and comes out of nowhere. It turned one of the military men who are chasing after The Hulk into another huge green monster with little explanation as to why. The villain did not have really any character development and as a result, it was hard to feel an accomplishment from the overcoming of the villain.One thing that Marvel movies usually exceed at are fight scenes and this movie is not any different. In short Hulk is a beast that pretty much destroys everything he touches and it is very visual pleasing. It was entertaining.I can see why Marvel might be a little embarrassed by this movie, but there is no real reason to almost completely ignore it as a whole. Sure it has it's flaws, but overall was an entertaining film to pass the time. With overall decent acting and exciting action, I would recommend this MCU movie just so to have experienced it at least once.

I think it was a good Incredible Hulk movie. I would see this again if I had the time since there's aren't many good Incredible Hulk movies strangely. The story or plot was good and interesting to follow. I really liked the action scenes. But what I am truly disappointed about is that there hasn't been a sequel, and I don't understand why considering how popular the Incredible Hulk is in the Marvel Universe. It's getting to the point where it's pretty embarrassing considering the ending. When I saw the ending, I was actually excited for the "sequel" to come, but that hasn't happened since, and probably never will. It's five years too late for my liking. I'm not happy since this movie looks wasteful. It looks like the Hulk had the easy ride or something compared to his other superhero counterparts. Someone such as Iron Man and Captain America had three movies whereas Hulk has only one movie to show. There should've been three movies for Hulk by now. Anyway, The Incredible Hulk is one of my favourite movies within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Edward Norton version of The Incredible Hulk is a lost nugget in the MCU. As a stand-alone film, it does more to connect the universe than any Avengers film when you consider all the references to the Avengers, yet it's one of the more forgettable films in the MCU. And it's not because it's a bad film-because it's not. It's because this isn't the Hulk that Mark Ruffalo embodied and turned into the fun-loving brute with anger management problems that we've all come to love. This is The Incredible Hulk as envisioned by a producer at DC, not Marvel-dark, brooding, yet competently executed. It's entertaining, just not memorable.The film starts in South America, with Banner in hiding, mastering breathing techniques from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters and working at a bottle factory. He works with a band of scummy warehouse workers who sexually harass their co-workers and taunt him. Of course, they're just props for the Hulk to justifiably smash in between social messaging a scientist who is supposed to help him find a cure. Of course, Banner can't take a leak without the government tracking his scent, and the mad dog sent to track him is Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), an angry Black-Ops guy with age insecurities. Luckily, the government just happens to have some of that handy Captain America super-soldier serum to give him, and unlike Rogers, the serum amplifies Blonsky's worst attributes. When Blonsky attempts to go one-on-one with the green one, and it ends with nearly catastrophic results for Blonsky. So note to Cap, don't fight don't Hulk. Leave that to Thor. Liv Tyler stars as Banner's estranged lover, Betty Ross, the daughter of the stone-faced general Admiral Ross, that's hunting the Hulk. She's completely wasted as a whispery and dotting ex who seems to serve the male gaze and not explore Liv's talents as an actress.The film boasts some thrilling action sequences, so it has that going for it. The first battle between the military and the Hulk is fast, hard-hitting and badass. It's a huge improvement over the Ang Lee version that lulled audiences to sleep with psychedelic colors, mutant dogs, and real-life comic book frames that played out simultaneously to confuse everyone. No, this film doesn't make that mistake; it makes new mistakes. Instead of building off of Blonsky as a human super soldier threat, they decide the only way he can battle the Hulk, is as a Hulk, or as comic book fans know him-Abomination. I wouldn't have a problem with that if the creation of Abomination happened earlier and presented an increasingly difficult challenge for the Hulk. At no point do you ever feel like the Hulk might lose? Abomination is literally a throw-away character that even Marvel chooses to forget about when it comes to the MCU. Toss in the dark and muddy tone of the film, and you have yourself just a run of the mill smash 'em up film in New York. But if that's what you came for, then this is a smashing good time.