The Incredible Hulk is Better than You Remember
Spanning over a decade, the Marvel Cinematic Universe boasts an incredible track record when it comes to their films. Regardless of how critically received they've been the vast majority of fans would be hard pressed to find failures amongst the bunch, and sadly one of those films is The Incredible Hulk. Reserved for the bottom tier of many fans ranked lists, The Incredible Hulk is one of the foundations of the MCU and, arguably, better than most remember.
Being the second hero out of the gate the MCU had yet to establish a consistent tone, and so after Iron Man's serious drama it was time to have a good ol' fashioned monster movie. Leterrier films this installment with eager excitement as he sets up Bruce Banner as a character traveling the world and learning techniques to calm his anger. The constant fear of the monster inside him looms over the whole film, and is played with expertly in the first act until we get the reveal of the Hulk; one of the MCU's best character introductions.
In a previous post I talked about how Marvel and Disney changed the Hulk's story arc once Norton was recast (Did Disney Ruin the Hulk? ). I won't go over that again, but will emphasize that Ruffalo's Hulk is very different from this deliciously savage monster we got here. Now The Incredible Hulk isn't without its flaws. The romance subplot had no chemistry, and one could argue that Liv Tyler was miscast. The military presented here can be one note and the pacing had its dips. Compared to the films we're getting now, though, The Incredible Hulk feels like a small movie and that's a good thing.
Emil Blonsky is a great villain and one with motives you understand. The scientist vs soldier conversation the film has is a neat dance between General Ross and Bruce Banner as Norton's character arc is one of self acceptance when confronted with Abomination. When Norton is in Hulk form the monster inside him has so much personality and character compared to Ruffalo's and establishes that he's a separate entity. It's just that all these good scenes are mixed between the average and poor.
There's a sense of horror whenever the Hulk is presented and comes out to play that is quickly discarded in later installments. He actually seems like a threat and is shown to think and grow over each combat encounter which leads to the film's stunning third act. Abomination vs Hulk is one of the all time best fights the MCU has put to screen. It's savage, barbaric, and an absolute blast as two giant monsters with different fighting styles clash and punch civilians across the street. They ruined Harlem, but in the process we got to see the Hulk reign supreme.
The Marvel films have changed drastically since their first phase of heroes. The tone, stories, and characters have all erupted into CGI smorgasbords, so yeah I'm a little biased when it comes to their earlier works where you can see the small budgets. But it's because of that we get creative and challenging characters, and just because we have a new actor playing Bruce Banner and Marvel has retconned the Hulk's character growth doesn't mean this is a forgettable film. It's not great, but it's not bad either. It's just different, like the Hulk, and maybe if you see it again you too will see the charm it brought to a fledgling universe.
