RATED: PG-13 | NO SPOILERS
Five years after Ang Lee’s disappointing Hulk, Marvel decided to reboot the comic hero with a new film, The Incredible Hulk, which picks up roughly where the 1970s-80s TV series left off; ignoring the 2003 film altogether.
The film also features fa nod to long-time Hulk fans with witty cameos of the stars from the TV series.
Mainstream critics had been lukewarm on the film, with the most scathing comments from those critics who are quick to pooh-pooh most genre films anyway.
But the consensus is that those who are looking for a great action film with killer CGI animation, this Hulk will not disappoint.
Also noted in most reviews is a stand-out performance by Oscar-winning actor, William Hurt – who make the most of his part of a military leader teetering on the edge between loyalty to his orders and loyalty to his conscience.
Some thought the message was a little too preachy and most found the end battle scene too predictable.
Below are selected reviews from prominent critics:
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- Outstanding Special Effects
- Great Supporting Cast
- Action packed
{/rw_good} –>
<!– {rw_bad}
- Too Scary for Small Children
- End is Predictable
{/rw_bad} –>
<!– {rw_score}
{for="National Post – Canada" value="5"}
"For all its ground-shaking, the final battle amounts to no more than a pause between the creation story we have just witnessed and the inevitable sequel." – Chris Knight
{/for}
{for="Christian Science Monitor" value="6"}
"Now that we've demonstrated that comic book icons can look like you and me, how about we go back to the Christopher Reeve era when they looked like square-jawed movie stars?" – Peter Rainer
{/for}
{for="CNN" value="7"}
"The climax is a bit of a yawn — it boils down to two big apes slugging it out with an entirely predictable outcome — but most of what precedes it is vigorous and sharp." – Tom Charity
{/for}
{for="Washington Post" value="7"}
"There are sequences that are genuinely beautiful, especially the scenes shot in the Brazilian favela, with its rich visual textures and evocative roofscapes." – Ann Hornaday
{/for}
{for="San Jose Mercury News" value="8"}
" The Incredible Hulk has a few annoying flaws, but it’s gratifying in many of the ways a Marvel Comics movie should be.” – Bob Straus
{/for}
{for=”New York TImes” value=”6″}
“The Adequate Hulk would have been a more suitable title.” – A.O. Scott
{/for}
{for=”Chcago Tribune” value=”7″}
“The Incredible Hulk keeps slamming everything forward, satisfyingly.” – Michael Phillips
{/for}
{for=”Entertainment Weekly” value=”7″}
“The audience, in all likelihood, will be so grateful not to see another joyless, inert, pea green dud that it may not mind that The Incredible Hulk is just a luridly reductive and violent B movie — one that clears a bar that hadn’t been set very high.” – Owen Gleiberman
{/for}
{for=”USA Today” value=”6″}
“The saga is uneven and there are plot holes, but as a popcorn movie steeped in action, it keeps our attention.” – Claudia Puig
{/for}
{/rw_score} –>
