What can I say? It was definitely a great improvement over Ang Lee's version. Don't get me wrong, I loved "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" but his directing style simply didn't work well in making a movie about the HULK. For starters, the HULK is comic book hero. We're talking about primal rage and fury here, HULK SMASH! Bah! Puny humans! Leave HULK alone! HULK is strongest one there is! It's simply bigger than life nearly-mindless monster mayhem!
Anyway, I certainly think Edward Norton gave a solid performance here and appears to have taken a lot of hints from his predecessor Bill Bixby (from the Hulk TV series). No more deep psychological scars to delve into this time. It's really about Banner trying to get rid of the emerald demon lurking inside of him, and how his nemesis, General "Thunderbolt" Ross wants to dissect him and learn what makes the Hulk tick so he can use this knowledge to create an army of superhuman soldiers. It's a classic good-versus-evil with a twist. The good guy (Banner) turns into a mean, green rampaging machine whenever the bad guys (the military) try to capture him. But when you look at all the collateral damage, you gotta ask yourself, who's really the bad guy here? Tim Roth does a really good bad guy soldier with a bad case of God-complex. He's shown himself as a power-hungry fighter who would go to any lengths to attain an edge over his opponent regardless of the cost. He literally goes mad in his quest for power. Needless to say, the viewer is treated to a classic HULK vs Abomination showndown that turns an entire city into a war zone. William Hurt does an equally impressive General Ross. He sure knows how to put the evil in the military. Liv Tyler looks great! I don't have too much to say about her acting here, really. In any case, she did really great in getting Banner's pulse up (among other things I bet) in a rather intimate moment. The scene actually made me wonder if Liv was aiming to give her character a fetish for making out with the Hulk (kinda makes you want to let your imagination run wild eh?). :P
Some interesting tid bits for Hulk fans:
1) We get to see another cameo by Stan Lee (this time as the unlucky buyer of a bottled drink accidentally contaminated by a drop of Banner's Gamma-irradiated blood). He apparently gets hospitalized because of the Gamma radiation which catches the attention of a vigilant General Ross.
2) Bill Bixby (Banner from the original TV series) is shown briefly in one of the TV shows Banner is watching.
3) General Ross retrieves a vial containing a blue experimental "super-soldier" formula. The canister containing the vial is labeled "Weapon X". Ross also mentions that the super soldier program was started during WWII (the time when Captain America fought the Nazis).
4) In the opening credits, you can see Nick Fury's name and Stark Enterprises on some of the confidential files being shown.
5) At the end of the film, Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark / Iron Man) makes a cameo appearance and mentions to General Ross about his preference for "hardware" instead of the super-soldier serum. We are left with Tony Stark telling Ross that "they" (presumably Stark and Nick Fury) are forming a "team" (obviously the Avengers).
6) While working as a laborer in a bottling plant somewhere in Portugal, Banner tries to protect a woman from an obnoxious co-worker and utters the phrase "Don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when i'm angry" (popularized in the TV series by Bill Bixby) in Portuguese. However, his broken Portuguese ends up being translated as "Don't make me HUNGRY, you wouldn't like me when i'm HUNGRY". Totally hilarious!
7) One of the characters Betty is dating is a psychologist named "Leonard". (Doc Samson anyone?)
8) "Mr. Blue", a scientist trying to help Banner (a.k.a. "Mr. Green") find a cure to his Gamma radiation borne "Hulk-outs", is wounded when Tim Roth forces him to use his Gamma research to give him more power. This is the part where the Abomination finally makes his final transformation and entrance. The gamma-irradiated blood sample of Banner ends up dripping on his open wound. We see his head start throbbing as if his cranium is undergoing a transformation. However, we don't see anything else after the Abomination makes his exit from the lab. This looks like an opening for another classic Hulk enemy ("The Leader").
9) Sonic weaponry makes an appearance. The sonic "canons" are mounted on Humvees and used against the Hulk to great effect. Obviously, this is a not-too-obvious nod towards the contribution of Stark Enterprises to the advancement of military weaponry.
10) Hulk uses his trademark powerful "hand-clap" to extinguish the flames from the burning helicopter Betty is trapped in. In the comics, he can clap his hands and cause gale-force winds to slam against his enemies (like blowing away troops & vehicles).
I think Marvel is certainly on the right track with its properties this time. I just hope they don't mess it up in their upcoming movies (Captain America, Iron Man 2, Thor, Avengers, Wolverine and Punisher). They hit the nail on the head with their attempt to cross-pollinate their characters with one another and give the viewers an impression that these characters all exist within the same universe (the Marvel Universe).
Mazinkaizer --> the super-heavy-duty version of Great Mazinger Z
