So, this is Marvel’s second in-house production, and many are asking questions such as “can they keep the momentum going?” and “if this movie is so good, why are they promoting it on American Gladiators?” or “wait, this is an in-house production?” Well, while this may not be as great as Iron Man was, The Incredible Hulk is the next logical step toward an Avengers movie, and actually good at the same time. More after break.

Louis Leterrier, director of Incredible spent hours watching 2003 Hulk , trying to figure out what the movie did right and wrong. It ended up getting rid of a lot of the ridiculousness of that movie, such as the CGI Hulk - the CGI Hulk in this movie is actually, compared to the previous version, somewhat believable - this was a major strength.

Secondly, the film differed because of the editing. We all know about Norton and Leterrier’s fight with Marvel to make this movie longer, but honestly, the film was able to provide character development for all of the major players in this movie whilst providing lots of action (those of you who were disappointed with the Iron Man/Iron Monger fight in Iron Man will be pleased with the ending of this movie). While this might not be what Leterrier was going for, it is actually a welcome departure from one of the problems I had with 2003 Hulk - those long, drawn out dialog scenes which don’t seem to add much to the film, and anyone who has seen The Transporter films will see that the faster pace of the film works better with Leterrier’s style of direction. What made this movie really good was the fact that we see Emil Blonsky naturally evolve into the Abomination while still keeping the movie interesting - we don’t get a lot of back story about Banner’s dad, failed experiments on Bruce at a young age, and the Absorbing Man.

Another plus was the fact that Thunderbolt Ross is effectively the bad guy again. Hulk fans will be happy to see a lot in the film that didn’t make it in the original that came from the source material - like Mr. Blue, or Stanley’s Diner. Although, they may not like what they do with Mr. Blue (you’re going to have to see the movie to find out, folks. I wouldn’t want to LEAD you to any false conclusions).

Essentially, this movie is able to cash in on the Hulk character’s greatest strength - he makes things go boom, and that appeals to people; the Hulk/Abomination fight really impressed me.

The acting wasn’t bad either. Despite Norton being a bit of a diva, he does good work, and william Hurt was Thunderbolt Ross. Liv Tyler was alright, but whatever. Tim Roth did a great job with Abomination - he was exactly what I assumed Blonsky would be when adapted to film.

The only major question I have is whether or not the Hulk should be as intelligent as he was in the film. Part of the difficulty in examining characters properly while keeping the film action packed is having scenes where the Hulk says things like “stay away from me!” I felt like the writer was almost making an attempt at times to justify the Hulk’s aggression, when really, he’s a big, angry person. Part of the Hulk is supposed to be the lack of control there.

This movie may not be winning an Oscar anytime soon, or even an MTV Movie Award, but it’s an entertaining way to spend an afternoon, and it’s one step closer to that Avenger’s movie.