MCU in Review: The Incredible Hulk

Hulk - PinArt

The second installment in the MCU falls short of living up to the hype generated by Iron Man. It suffers from a collection of issues. Had some of them been handled better, the film would have been better and therefore better received. Some are issues of story and CGI. Others are issues with casting. These issues contribute to the fact that many fans skip the movie when marathoning the MCU. 

This movie takes itself way to seriously. There are very few funny moments. The only memorable one being a small joke about purple stretchy pants. And aside from the obligatory 'Hulk smash,' there are no really memorable lines either. It tries to be a serious heavy drama, which leads to extremely quiet dialogue. This makes it hard to follow. There are also a lot of dark scenes as well. This is probably to hide the obvious issues with the CGI. In the one daylight Hulk scene, outside Culver University, essentially Marvel Harvard, Hulk is awkwardly animated. He is not well rendered, so you can easily tell that he is generated into the film. And how he is 'drawn,' so to speak, is weird as well. He resembles an anime character. The pecks are not proportional and his face looks much younger and does not resemble Edward Norton's at all.

Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) - We Got This Covered

This leads into casting. Honestly, Edward Norton is a good actor. He's just not the right choice here. I said in the Iron Man review that a super hero needed spirit and fluidity. Norton feels stiff, very tight in his movement and delivery. I understand that he is portraying Banner's anxiety, but Mark Ruffalo does a great job of showing the same without being stiff in the later films. Comparatively, Ruffalo feels more comfortable in the role compared to Norton. Another issue comes from set reports. Norton is notoriously difficult to work with and reports stated that he kept pushing the script more toward the serious side. This, as well as issues regarding negotiating his contract, led to the eventual recasting of Dr. Banner.

Elizabeth 'Betty' Ross (Liv Tyler) - Marvel Movies Wikia

Liv Tyler, while somewhat soft spoken, is well cast as Banner's love interest, Betty Ross. However, her character doesn't really have an impact on the story, except to give Banner the data from the experiment that created the Hulk. Her relationship with a secondary, somewhat forgettable, character played by Ty Burrell is also of minimal importance to the story. Her character is not well used at all. And this movie could've used strong secondary characters. 

Gen. Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) - Marvel Movies Wikia

The only strong character, to me, is General Ross, played by William Hurt. While he does appear in later films to torment the Avengers with legal issues, this is, obviously, where we learn to hate him. He is deplorable. Chasing the super soldier development program and it's success in the 1940's that created Captain America, Ross is willing to destroy anything that gets in his way. Even if it's his own daughter, Betty. His main objective is getting Banner's DNA in order to replicate it and use it for the government to make more Hulks. His move to collect Banner is to bring in a top soldier from the British Royal Air Force.

Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) - Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki

Tim Roth's Emil Blonsky is pretty much a throwaway character. Only a little is given about his back story. He also has little motivation other then the pursuit of power. He receives a small dosing of the chemical that Bruce was given and it makes him both faster and stronger. This really should have been enough, considering that he becomes comparable to Captain America. But both Blonsky and General Ross believe that true success will be an army of Hulks. Blonsky later mixes Banner's blood into his own, turning him into Abomination. After a beating in Harlem, he is pretty much removed from the MCU with no true knowledge of whether he is alive or dead. 

Truth be told, this movie could have been better executed on multiple fronts. Due to the many issues, fans have basically accepted that this movie is not worth their time. It is often over looked and discounted from the Marvel-verse. And with Paramount not giving up the rights to Banner and Hulk, don't expect to see Ruffalo carrying a full movie on his own any time soon.