Comic Book Movies & the INCREDIBLE HULK

SPOILER WARNING - Do not read this if you actually think you want to be surprised by some of the events in this film.

Opting to try and do a BATMAN BEGINS or SUPERMAN RETURNS with the HULK franchise the makers of the new film THE INCREDIBLE HULK are not dismissing the previous Ang Lee film HULK by any means they just want too move on and have fun with the character.

Apart from some stylistic flaws and some story elements at the end of the film that I didn't really care for the original Ang Lee HULK film wasn't that bad (in my opinion). It tried to take what is otherwise a throwaway genre of film - "the superhero film" and give it more credibility. This didn't happen due to studio interference and the fact that the film was five years before its time and that audiences weren't completely prepared for an all CGI green main character.

The new film THE INCREDIBLE HULK is a complete opposite affair as audiences have gotten used to the CGI characters from such films as the X-MEN trilogy, the MATRIX trilogy, and the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, to name a few. Also, the technology of creating a more realistic all green CGI character has advanced enough that the Hulk doesn't look like a cartoon anymore. This new film also doesn't have to waste time with an "origin" film and can get on with the business at hand mainly by giving the Hulk a real villain to have fun with in the appearance of The Abomination, which was always one of my favorite villains of the Hulk.

For purists of the Hulk comic the Abomination's appearance differs but as played by Tim Roth he makes for one of the best comic book to screen villains yet (in a small group that only includes Magneto, Gene Hackman's Lex Luther, and Jack Nicholson's The Joker). The film does an excellent job of slowly developing Roth's Abomination before the huge fight at the end. It's a slow an logical build up that doesn't pop out of no where like the Jeff Bridges fiasco at the end of the IRON MAN film (which in my opinion is only watchable because of Robert Downey, Jr.'s brilliant performance)