The Incredible Hulk (2008)

If you think of it only as a film about a giant green monster smashing a city, The Incredible Hulk shows an unexpected face. This work’s starting point is not destruction but flight. It is the story of a man who, dreading the monster within himself, hides away at the ends of the earth and struggles to find a way to control that power. As the second film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it stands somewhat apart from the blueprint of the series as a whole when seen today, but for that very reason it holds a distinctive tone, concentrated on the tragedy of the Hulk as a character.

What it’s about — A fugitive chasing a cure while mastering his heartbeat

Bruce Banner (Edward Norton), exposed to gamma radiation in an accident during a military experiment, becomes a body that transforms into a hulking green monster of immense strength whenever he grows angry or his heart rate spikes. The film opens with him living under a hidden identity at a bottling plant in a Brazilian slum. He manages his heart rate through meditation and breath control to prevent transformation, and works with an anonymous online collaborator to find a cure that will return him to normal. But the military’s pursuit, bent on turning him into a weapon, begins again, and as Banner reunites with his former lover Betty (Liv Tyler), he once more takes the road of flight.

Direction — Lending the Hulk a mythic atmosphere through darkness and rain

Louis Leterrier is a director who understands the rhythm of action direction well. The early chase weaving through the narrow alleys of a Brazilian slum keeps you on edge, and the late showdown between the Hulk and Abomination in the city center delivers the satisfaction of a weighty collision. Unlike an earlier film of the same character, which divided opinion with its contemplative tone, this work clearly foregrounds the velocity of a flight thriller.

What is interesting is the direction of bringing the Hulk out, as much as possible, in darkness or on rainy nights. There was surely an intent to mask the computer-graphics limitations of the time, but the result lends the Hulk’s appearances a mythic atmosphere. The method of building tension through shadow and silhouette before he fully reveals himself is effective. That said, as the proportion of action grows, the room to dig into the character’s inner life shrinks, and some visual effects show the wear of time; these remain limitations.

Performance — Edward Norton, a scientist living with a time bomb inside him

Edward Norton lends Bruce Banner the impression of an intelligent yet weary fugitive. He looks less like an action hero than a scientist carrying a time bomb inside his own body. The acting of constantly checking his pulse and revealing terror in his eyes the moment emotion boils over grants the character plausibility. The Betty played by Liv Tyler does not stop at being a mere love interest; her will to protect him at the risk of danger adds emotional weight to the story.

Tim Roth plays Blonsky, a soldier who becomes a monster himself out of obsession with the Hulk’s power, impressively rendering the process by which a craving for strength gradually turns into madness. With the hardline military commander played by William Hurt added in, the characters’ lines of conflict go beyond a simple battle of good and evil.

What the film says — Mastering rage rather than erasing it

At the heart of The Incredible Hulk is the question of how to coexist with a self you cannot control. For Banner, the Hulk is both a curse and the force that keeps him alive. He tries throughout the film to eliminate that power, but by the ending he begins to accept the way of mastering his rage rather than suppressing it. Embracing the most dangerous part of yourself rather than denying it: that is the small realization this film arrives at, at the end of its flight.

Ratings & reception

The reception is decent. Its IMDb rating is 6.6 out of 10, placing it in the middle of the pack among Marvel films, its Rotten Tomatoes freshness is 68 percent, and its Metacritic score is 61 out of 100. Critics praise its velocity as a flight thriller and Norton’s earnest performance, while lamenting that the character’s depth was not fully realized. It is sometimes assessed as a work somewhat detached from the flow of the series, but its completeness as a standalone film is solid.

Verdict

For all its weaknesses, the dated visual effects and restrained characterization, The Incredible Hulk holds clear appeal in portraying the Hulk not as a hero but as a tragic fugitive. The force of the action and Norton’s humane performance strike a balance that keeps you absorbed to the end. For viewers who want to see a different texture of early Marvel, it is a work that offers ★4.0 worth of enjoyment.

Recommended for

• Viewers seeking a hero film focused on flight and pursuit over destruction
• Those who want to see Edward Norton’s earnest performance
• Anyone who wants to take in the early works of the Marvel Cinematic Universe across the board