Avengers Assemble! The Incredible Hulk (2008)

We talked The Incredible Hulk during its initial release in 2008, and we sort of glossed over the movie at the time.

I like the two Hulk movies pretty well, I suppose.  I own them both for home viewing and I'll watch them both when they're on cable, too.  There's something about the "monster lurking inside" that's all emotion, be it rage or whatever that is The Hulk is thinking when he sees Betty Ross.  No wonder Ang Lee was so smitten with the idea.

Anyway, this was Take-2 for the Hulk character in the post Spider-Man era.  Folks had sort of complained about Lee's take on the character and it hadn't made the money Marvel had seen from Spidey or Spidey 2.

The Incredible Hulk (2008) isn't a terribly complicated movie, perhaps in direct response to the supposedly heady The Hulk (2003).  Its a fairly fun movie, and the complication between Thunderbolt Ross, Betsy Ross and poor 'ol Bruce Banner manages to carry some weight.

Despite the somewhat baffling/ brilliant casting of Tim Roth as villain Emil Blonsky, the storyline and eventual climax of the movie in a slugfest between Hulk and the Abomination just never feels much more than perfunctory.

Where Eric Bana had played Bruce Banner as a PTSD victim, I think I prefer Ed Norton's driven, desperate take.  And if you're going to replace Jennifer Connelly, I cannot complain about Liv Tyler tagging in, even if she mostly goes for dewy-eyed helplessness.

With The Avengers coming up, I'm curious to see how their Bruce Banner will fit into the mix, but I think it'll be fun, even with yet another actor coming in as Banner.