Often forgotten under the tirade of recent comic book adaptions, Louis Leterrier’s realisation of the angry green behemoth was one of the first films that would eventually lead up to The Avengers, arriving after Iron Man in 2008. Overshadowed by Jon Favreau’s super hero offering, The Incredible Hulk is the second time the green giant has been given the big screen treatment, with Ang Lee’s disappointing Hulk released in 2003. Leterrier reboots the character, prepping him so he ties in nicely with The Avengers, establishing a new back-story in which Bruce Banner (played by Edward Norton) is an unsuspecting pawn in a military scheme.

The opening credits briefly detail the background of the characters, and why Banner is on the run. It’s a great way to introduce the story, meaning that without any prior knowledge of the Hulk, the audience know enough to understand what’s going on. We start with Bruce Banner living alone in Brazil, away from the event in America that changed his life and evading the US military. To begin with, Norton does a fantastic job as Banner, showing a vulnerable side to the character through his struggle to cure himself of his irradiated anger issues. After all, this isn’t the first time Norton has portrayed duality within characters as shown in Primal Fear and Fight Club. However he becomes a vanilla protagonist and most of the emotion is fed into his alter ego; any inner demons become a destructive force and chaos through CGI. The only saving grace is his relationship with Liv Tyler’s character, the heartthrob of the film.

Tyler’s character provides the film with a much needed dynamic and female presence. Her relationship with Banner is realistic and touching; the edge Norton’s character needed. It’s not overemotional and is contrasted against her bluntness with her on screen father, General Ross (William Hurt). Tim Roth gives a menacing performance as the films main antagonist, Emil Blonsky, with a threatening presence even among the Hulk’s destructive habits. The real fun begins when Roth becomes an equal threat to our main character.

Watching the Hulk jumps from building to building, rip a car in half and proceed to use them as boxing gloves is one of the reasons why the action sequences in this film are so entertaining. When Roth’s character takes an advanced form of the radiation effecting Banner, he becomes the mammoth ‘Abomination’ several times the height and strength of the Hulk. Cars are thrown about, pavements smashed up and punches thrown as both behemoths clash in the films climax. It’s exciting and fun, and watching the Hulk shout the infamous line ‘HULK SMASH’ as he rips up a road will please many comic fans. On the other hand, the fact that it was completely done in CGI (with only Roth providing motion capture) takes something away from it and what with the film being four years old, the animation has aged.

Fans of the comics will be content with The Incredible Hulk, along with the many nods to following films (Captain America, along with both Iron Mans) but those not familiar with the green giant may find parts of it a little bland. It’s paced oddly, with jarring contrasts between the frantic Hulk acts and Norton’s internal fight with his emotions. Although, a few laughs here and there, it misses out on the humorous spark that was present in both Iron Man films. It’s a fun ride though, with impressive set pieces and action scenes and is recommended for anyone wishing to gain some back-story for The Avengers.