The Incredible Hulk is the newly created Marvel Studios "reboot" of the Hulk franchise starring Edward Norton as Hulk. This film focuses mainly on Banner's search for a cure to his gamma poisoning sickness and his battle with the villian The Abomination (a Hulkerized version of Emil Blonsky played by Tim Roth)

The Awesome

I should begin by saying that I am a fan of the Ang Lee Hulk that was released a couple of years ago. It is quite a different film than this film, but a good film none-the-less despite what many people seem to say. This film surely delivers when it comes to action. I would say that about 85% of this film is pure Hulk action delivered with great CGI (which is good, bu noticeably present) and awesome explosions. The sets are huge and well put together and make great stages for all of this action to take place on. Norton is surprisingly good as Banner (something I was at first skeptical about). The scenes where he is on the run as Banner and just on the edge all the time of losing it and becoming the Hulk are great scenes and keep this film rolling. Most of the acting is just fine in this movie, and the dialogue is not terrible (not Iron Man quality, but not terrible). Liv Tyler is a bit awkward as Betty Ross, but manages the job with the exception of a few cheesy moments between her and Norton. Two of my favorite things about the film weren't even about the Hulk, which does make me question the plot a little, but these teasers were just too awesome to ignore. First is the appearance of Tony Stark (who I still believe is being played PERFECTLY by the talented Robert Downey Jr.) and also a reference to Captain America. SPOILER BEGIN a vial of Gamma juice with the name of the inventor of the Super-Soldier serum, Dr. Reinstein, and reference to the WWII Super-Soldier program anyone? SPOILER END.

The Not So Awesome

The CGI in this film has its flaws and is for the most part extremely present and noticeable. There are a few cheesy moments of dialogue typical of most romances that happen in super hero films. Because of the heavy basis on action, the film does sacrifice character development a little bit, but still manages to receive a passing grade. Some of the action is definitely over the top, but that is to be expected and is directly in line with a film about The Hulk. Overall, not too many disappointing things, but I still feel like the film lacked some of the punch that Iron Man had (a film that is now the idea of what I hold other superhero films up to).

Overall

Overall, this film was a good popcorn film that delivers on action and fulfills some of the missing elements that Ang Lee's had while removing some of the character development that Ang Lee felt like keeping. While Marvel seems to disagree, I believe that this film works almost perfectly as a sequel to Lee's Hulk and not necessarily a reboot. It pretty much picks up where the last one left off and covers most of the back story in the opening sequence. It has some issues, but still succeeds in being another great film for the Marvel Studios line-up. Marvel Studios is officially 2 for 2. I give this film a 7.5 out of 10.