Review of The Incredible Hulk (2008) by Shininglion — 23 Mar 2019

What could have easily been a mediocre and all-too-familiar origin story turned out a really fulfilling cinematic experience thanks to straight-up good filmmaking. This film is objectively better from a technical standpoint than its predecessor, Iron Man.

Cinematography is done artfully and carefully with lots of attention to pleasing compositions and meaningful movement and framing. The locations, environments, lighting, and weather are all used to great effect to give mood to the film's various situations and arcs.

The score by Craig Armstrong, one of my favorite film composers, enriched each scene with appropriate energy and emotion. The performances of the main cast were convincing. I really felt the connections between the characters and the emotions of the characters.

For a film that's relatively light on story, it really makes up with it with pleasing characters, visuals, and action. The action scenes were thrilling and handled particularly well, much more fun to watch than the action scenes in Iron Man, as these are more carefully planned and coreographed, with some truly surprise moments.

I found there were moments of sheer awe and horror in the brutality of The Hulk and his fights with the menacing villains. I was even kind of surprised to see later parts of the film take on the feeling of a monster movie, evoking feelings of Godzilla, Cloverfield, and others of that genre.

It worked very well and helped us feel the surrounding characters' fear of the "monster" they'd created in Bruce Banner. Great movie. I'd watch it again. It has a few weaknesses, namely every moment involving Mr.

Blue, who gave a rather grating performance. There are a few moments that feel rushed, or forced, or cheesy, but all-in-all for such a simple story this film worked really well for me. I'm sad to see Ed Norton didn't keep the role, because I highly prefer him to Mark Ruffalo for this character.