JimK:  SPOILER ALERT.  SPOILER ALERT.  Every word below this line has the potential to be a spoiler, so SPOILER ALERT!

Still with me?  OK, let’s talk about The Incredible Hulk.  It was:

Awesome.
Great.
Exciting.
Surprisingly deep.
Packed with action.
Tightly edited.
A fantastic homage to all things Hulk that have ever existed.

In short, I liked it.  Maybe more than Iron Man.  Maybe equally, I won’t be sure until I see it again.  Here’s what I know.  I loved the fact that any origin story was told during the credits and then *bam* we’re into the movie.  Perfect.  We jump right in with Banner hiding out in Brazil, working in a bottling plant and trying to stay calm.  He’s learning martial arts from Rickson Gracie, which as an MMA fan I appreciated.

The whole thing to remember when watching about this is, Ed Norton re-wrote most of the script.  Everything he did, and you can almost smell what he did to develop Banner, is totally right.  It feels like everything that you wanted Banner to be, plus everything that Bill Bixby brought to David Banner that was usable.  Everything about how Ed played him, how Banner was written…Ed deserves a TON of credit for this movie.  I loved everything about it.  If you thought that RDJ brought depth to Tony Stark, wait until you see what Norton has done with Bruce Banner.  Little things like the fact that Banner has PTSD.  Of course he does.  He’s been attacked by the military more times than we can imagine at this point.  He lives in fear of being assaulted by weaponry and of course, in fear of himself and what he becomes.  And he can’t tell anyone.  It’s a great touch that feels completely organic and natural to the character.

- Random other things I loved: General Ross and Banner share a wee little scar under their eye, attained during the “accident” that created Hulk.  It illustrates the fact that they are bound together without saying it.  The movie actually has a million little subtle moments like that, none of which are made a big deal of.  They’re there for you to find if you look, or you can just watch Hulk smash.

- The first action sequence with Hulk is all shadows and hiding, with only a few glimpses of the big green guy. 

- When he contacts Mr. Blue, I kind of hoped that it was secretly gonna be Reed Richards.  Blue, the Fantastic Four uniforms are blue, Reed is a genius…but no.  It wasn’t to be…my guess is they don’t own the movie rights to any of that for awhile.  Instead he contacts Samuel Stearns, and something happens with that, to be used at a later date I’m sure. 

- The sequence at the college was great, with full-on Hulk action.  The “Hulk saves Betty” reminded me exactly of that moment in Battlestar Galactica where Six saves Gaius during the explosions on Caprica.

- Tim Roth was great.  William Hurt was great.  The groundwork was laid for Captain America via the supersoldier serum.  The theater actually buzzed when Lou Ferrigno showed up as the guard.  They buzzed for RDJ too.

- The final fight sequence was tense, action-packed, and surprisingly, filmed/created in a way that you can follow visually.  The power clap was awesome, “Hulk Smash!” was awesome, Abomination was awesome, the whole damned thing was awesome.

- Oh!  The walking away music *barely* there for one early sequence.  Used to perfection, once, and it was perfect.  Like so many things, little nods to the collective Hulk mythology and on with the story.  I also loved the judicious use of green items without over-using it.

- Surprisingly I didn’t hate Liv Tyler in the film.  Of course her role is reduced to simply being a thing that Banner and Hulk react to.  A board could have played her part.

- I loved that the spirit of the allegory - that Hulk is representative of the power unleashed by Oppenheimer and others with the nuclear bomb - is totally alive as subtext.  The Powers That Be - Ross - weaponized science, but Banner owns up to his share of responsibility in that process.  He’s also willing to admit that sometimes you fight fire with fire, which is what drives the entire end third of the film.  We can’t excise our violent tendencies altogether, but we can learn to control them. 

You totally aren’t beaten over the head with it…it’s just there as subtext if you want to see it.  Or, again, you can just watch Hulk smash.

As far as the visual representation of the allegory…General Ross is forced to accept his role in this when Hulk - who is slightly more aware and in control thanks to Betty getting through to him - literally lays the blame at Ross’ feet in the physical form of the Abomination.  It’s an outstanding moment.

- Ladies, if you like Ed Norton, he’s half-naked for like, half the damned film.  Enjoy that. 

- Let me just say once again that the final sequence is outstanding.  The whole movie is like a tightly-stretched wire and when you think it can’t get tighter, it does.  The tension just builds and builds and builds until Hulk leaps away from the last chopper and finally we’re allowed to breathe again when the little kicker at the end shows up.

“We’re forming a team.”
“Who’s we?”
::stare::

Perfect.  You’ll see.  I’m not exaggerating.  This movie might be the most perfect creation to date that marvel has ever been involved with.  No…it IS the most perfect creation to bear the Marvel stamp.  And I think we all have to thank Ed.

Things I didn’t exactly love:

- The cave sequence was a bit wonky on the effects side…colors changed, the texture of Wet Hulk was terrible.  None of that matters though.  It’s a few seconds and it doesn’t matter.

- Tim Roth’s body paint after he was treated with the serum but before he Abominated up.  It looked fucking awful.  I realize that it’s hard to get jacked for a movie, but either do it or don’t…don’t paint striations and abs on the dude.  It was totally unnecessary to the story.  I would have believed *ALL* of it without the painted muscles.

My two complaints are minor at best.  You WILL enjoy this movie.  When the credits roll, you will say “Ang who?”  In years to come, people will think of the Ang Lee movie the way they think of the old Punisher movie with Dolph Lundgren.

Five words that sum up everything I said: GO SEE HULK. IT’S AWESOME.