This is one of the first pair of movies self-produced by marvel studios (Iron Man being the other one.) I believe their next self-produced film will be in 2010. And while I loved Iron Man, I wasn't as pleased with The Incredible Hulk. But don't get me wrong, this movie was way better then "The Hulk" released a few years ago but it lacked the depth that Iron Man had.


This movie skips the creation of Bruce Banner getting transformed and starts out with him being a fugitive in South America. The Army has been looking for him and after an accident (with a silly cameo) Bruce has been found out. The Army views him as a weapon and property of the Army, whereas Bruce is trying to find a cure and does not want any part of him to be used as a bases for a super infantry weapon. And so most of the movie is a cat and mouse game with an action/destruction packed ending.


The story was very predictable. I predicted the entire movie (except for one lab scene) within the first 15 minutes (memory of a preview might have help some.) So there was no surprises or real twists to make you go hmm. This I thought was the worst part of the movie, it was just a typical fugitive type story. The writing and dialog was well done. It made sense. It felt like it was sentences that real people would say. There wasn't anything convoluted or confusing.


The acting was pleasing, they all did their job and did it well. I felt as if these characters actually had real relationship with each other, had real feeling and emotion, and had their own personal motivations. The actors did the best they could have with the tools at their disposal.


The character building was well done. We learned what we needed to when we needed to. They didn't start off slow at the beginning to explain who Bruce was or why he was there. His personality was peeled off in layers in a carefully scripted fashion. The other characters were also revealed in a similar fashion. But the characters were also not that complex. I would have like to know a little more about the nightmares Bruce had or the conflict going on in the minds of some of the other actors.


One of the things I liked (for the most part) was the choreography of the action scenes. Some of it was like a beautiful dance while other parts was like a battle taken place in a sumo ring. Granted there was other scenes that was just smash and run. So if you want action you won't be disappointed. What is even more impressive to me is that some of the scenes was a combination of CG and live actors. They did a good job.


One of the things I did not like about the move was the romantic connection. It felt awkward and made me wonder, why? Ya, you needed the heroine and the relationship between the two lovers, but there was a couple of scenes that just did not help the movie. These were the only slow parts the interrupted an otherwise well paced movie.


Music was fine but forgettable. It did its job but didn't inspire me.


My other complaint about the movie is it is not complex or deep in any fashion. If you've seen it once then you've seen it all. There was really nothing to ponder nor was there a deep investigation into the human psyche. The only message was do we have a right to mess with human genetics, and I find that idea to be old and out of date. The characters were not deeply explored and their deep internal conflicts never came up. I like that in my movies and books.


Will I see it again? Probably not. Will I buy the DVD? No




The key players
Director: Louis Leterrier
Screenplay: Zak Penn
Music: Craig Armstrong




Ratings
Yahoo users: B+
Yahoo critics: B-
Metacritics users: 7.8
Metacritics critics: 61
Rotten Tomato: 67%
RT community:88%
My score: 3.28


MPAA rating:PG-13


Running time: 114 minutes


My recommendation.
I recommend this to anyone that wants to see a well written and entertaining action flick.


Other action movie reviews of movies I recommend.
Iron Man
Ghost in the Shell
Ninja Scroll

Recommended: Yes