I would love to be able to say something witty like "this Hulk is incredible" or "Hulk smash... as in hit," but I just can't come up with anything; so I guess I'll just say a dose of green gamma rays this summer is good fun.

The first thing everyone will want to know about The Incredible Hulk is whether or not it's better than Ang Lee's version of the Hulk. I gotta be honest, I liked Hulk and didn't think it was nearly as bad as everyone else thought, so I can't really say that this new version is better. It's certainly not any worse, but it's also a completely different type of movie, so I have a hard time comparing the two. What I can say is that Marvel has once again done a solid job of bringing one of their characters to life on the big screen and they've done so while remaining true to the source. This is another very good comic book film from Marvel, and it's obvious that they're enjoying the fruits of having direct control over their movie properties.

Like Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk moves along at a fairly quick pace, which again means that the dramatic moments lack the punch they might otherwise have had if they had more room to breathe and develop. There are a lot of nice nods to not only the comics but also the classic television show (at one point, you even hear a musical cue from the old TV show, which is a nice touch). There are some funny moments, but overall Hulk lacks the light-hearted fun that made Iron Man so enjoyable; but I think that's fairly appropriate for this character.

The cast overall does a solid job. I kept getting distracted by Liv Tyler because I still think of her as Arwen, but she does a good job as Betty Ross. Tim Roth brings an appropriate amount of menace and madness to the guy who eventually becomes Abomination. William Hurt plays the role of General Ross perfectly, and even looks a lot like his comic book counterpart. In fact, the only real weak link was Edward Norton. I know some may disagree with me on this, but I felt his Bruce Banner was... well, boring. What I'm guessing was supposed to be reluctance, reclusiveness, brooding, and worry came across as wooden, emotionless, and monotone. There are a few scenes where this isn't the case, but overall I just didn't really connect with the Bruce Banner character. But then again, Bruce gets about the same amount of screen time as his green alter ego, so I guess it doesn't really matter that much.

Speaking of the Hulk, I'm sure there'll be some debate about how he looks in this new movie as compared to the last. I say that he looks more like his comic book version, which lends a more comic-booky feeling to the film as a whole, but I thought it was fine. Abomination looked appropriately scary and weird, and when the two behemoths are on screen are some of the best parts of the movie... although at that point it feels like you're watching an amazingly-animated CG movie as opposed to a live-action one. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I just thought I'd mention it.

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