By Edwin Hopkins
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Super

It was quite apparent from it's near 70% drop in it's second weekend and a gross of less than $20million that Ang Lee's 2003 version of the Hulk was not what Marvel fans expected. Personally speaking, it wasn't that bad. It's just that Lee decided to combine a 40 minute pre-Hulk change origin tale and a psychological father/son spin with a pretty sufficient amount of action that in the end, was not completely satisfying.

For those who've seen Lee's Hulk , this reiteration may seem like a sequel. It picks up where we left Dr. Banner five years ago, South America. Hiding out in the favelas of Brazil, Banner works in a bottle factory, tries to learn Portuguese, takes anger management breathing classes to prevent his "hulking" out and last but not least, works
on a cure for his green skinned alter-ego with help from some guy known only as Mr. Blue. Also, he's still the obsession of General Thunderbolt Ross, played this time by a more hirsute William Hurt who warrants that Banner's whole body is the property of the U.S. Army.

DVD
 

Eluding capture, Banner heads for Culver University in Virginia where his old flame Betty Ross (Liv Tyler), estranged daughter of the general, is a science teacher with a new man in her life. He only wants to look in on her, but eventually they get back together because she's one of the few people he can actually trust. And , she still has all the data from the experiment that afflicted him in the first place.

Banner's research was basically altruistic. He was appointed by the government to find a way for the body to heal itself. To bad our government (in truth as in fiction), had ulterior motives to use it as a weapon to support their super soldier program which General Ross is trying to re-ignite. They need to find out just what exactly makes Bruce tick when he gets angry.

Although we still owe Ang Lee for actually jump starting the Hulk, French director Louis Leterrier's version is a much better fit for the present super hero generation.  Remember, this man helmed The Transporter 2 with Jason Statham. Consequently, I knew his rendition of the emerald goliath would not be short of action, even the stapled cgi looks more natural this time around. His Hulk is greener and cut like a jade sculpture.  He would make Sly Stallone's Rocky envious.

Scribe Zak Penn (X2: X-Men United) enfolds enough action and dramatic content to keep the dialogue interesting and funny. The movie he's penned is tight, wasting no time, which is what all comics fans want. He tries to elicit as much character development as possible, even from the minor ones.

Lead characters Edward Norton and Liv Tyler seem to have good chemistry as the fatally detached couple. But while Norton informs Banner as a rightfully troubled man desperately pursuing a cure to his "Mr. Hyde" condition, Tyler's Betty Ross lacks that emotional punch so prevalent when she played Arwen in The Lord of the Rings. Indeed, her most shining moment is a nasty situation with a cabbie in New York City when it looks like she may hulk out herself.

Tim Roth has played some mean roles throughout his career, his turn as Emil Blonsky justly reminiscent of General Thade in Planet of the Apes. He's got nerves of cast iron, refusing to back down from Banner's green monster, even standing toe to toe with him and asking "Is that all you got?"

The Incredible Hulk certainly has got all that and more with stunning special fx and a keen score by former Oingo Boingo front man turned super hero score meister Danny Elfman. Despite the entailed fury, it's considerably more family oriented and kids as well as their parents will enjoy this version a lot more.