Title: The Incredible Hulk
Time: 113 min.
Studio: Marvel Studios/Universal
Rating: PG-13
SRP: $39.98

Feature: B

When I say “Hulk!” you say, “Smash!” Ready?

“Hulk!”
“Smash!”
“Hulk!”
“Smash!”

It should have been that easy to come up with a Hulk movie that satisfied fanboys and average movie goers alike. But Ang Lee, bless his indy heart, over-worked the concept into a muddy green mess that was too complex where it didn’t need to be and and conveniently simple where it didn’t need to be. Rest in peace Absorbing Man. Give Marvel Studios credit though for hanging in there, forging ahead despite the apathetic reaction to a reboot, and made another Hulk film. Lee’s origin spin wasn’t forgotten completely nor does it hold this newer film hostage. It was back to basics.

Three big reasons this film works. 1) Bruce Banner/Hulk (Edward Norton) is given a threatening opponent in Emil Blonsky/Abomination (Tim Roth), a formidable foe who outclasses Banner in physical ability and strength and works in Marvel Studio continuity of the super soldier serum. 2) Banner is back on the run. That’s the hook from Hulk/Banner story that the average person identified with. With the advent of cellphones, GPS, and the internet though it’s a lot harder to stay off the grid these days. The story’s taken out of the United States and into the favelas of Brazil. Banner’s only outside contact is Mister Blue, a mysterious friend helping Banner try to cure himself of the monster within. This plot is best remembered in the novelist, Bruce Jones’ stint on the comic several years ago. And finally 3) We get to see the Hulk obliterate some shit! Battle scenes were explosive, inventive, and pulled out all the tricks from Hulk’s hat. The pummeling earthquake punch, the hurricane hand-swat, using vehicles as boxing gloves and the wreckage of mass destruction left behind in his trail made for an over-the-top action pleaser.

For balance, the focus shifts on Banner’s coping mechanisms, managing his anger and emotions through meditation, self-defense, and preparing himself and others for when he does lose control. Obsessed with canning that raw power as a military weapon, General Ross (William Hurt) employs Emil Bronsky (Roth)–a soldier full of rotten teeth and an unmatched hunger for the manhunt–to bring him Banner, even if that destroys his relationship with his daughter, Betty (Liv Tyler). The architect of this drama amongst all the rampage is director Louis Leterrier who deserves to be applauded for not only having a clear vision of what a Hulk film should be, but managing his star actor who wanted to be very involved in this film.

Norton brought that special something movie viewers needed for Hulk to work whether they know it or not, the duality of a tormented soul. Affixed permanently in cult favorites such as Fight Club and American History X where his roles evolved, Norton earned his stripes for being able to pull off the transformation of a Bruce Banner, a gamma ray scientist to a monster. From the introduction you’re instantly sold on his feeble face and as he devolves down his tragic path, we believe that this is his destined path. He’s marvelous at it and it’s something Eric Bana didn’t have. For that reason alone, he was the right choice. Norton leaves the screen with a chilling grin, telling the audience he has controlled the monster within, but is he a friend or is he a foe, and more importantly will he reprise the role?

Based on the it’s less-than-expected returns at the box office, Hulk should make it back to the big screen at the very least for the Avengers film in 2011, but only Roth and Leterrier are contracted. Marvel Studios producer, Kevin Feige confirmed at Comic-Con this past summer that Hulk will return to the big screen but I implore whatever needs to be done, make it so to ensure the character stays on its corrected path. A monster return indeed.

PRESENTATION: B

The first thing noticeable on the packaging is the plastic housing is neon green, not the trademark blue. The front of the slipcase is a lenticular three-dimensional cover that “moves” when you move it side-to-side. A 30 second loop of music and clips repeats while you thumb through the menu bar on the left-hand side. Billed as a two-disc blu-ray, everything actually fits on one disc. The other is the digital copy disc (which is the new vogue extra) for folks who want to download the film onto their computer or portable media player. The digital copy is compatible with both PC and MAC computers and sits in the booklet holder with an instructional sheet. I’ve yet to have use for the digital copy discs but won’t dock the disc for anyone who does find use for them. There are 20 chapters in all although the scene selection on Universal’s blu-rays are a bit more complex with the U-Control grid included. It’s very dark and sometimes hard to see clearly. There are no clever load up screens or custom time bars. White subtitles are accessible in English, French and Spanish.

AUDIO: A+

I’ve always found DTS sound to deliver a heavier punch than Dolby Digital and that benefits certain movies–especially ones that require a lot of oomph. This DTS-HD soundtrack does not disappoint. The weight of characters’ movements are captured accurately as both Hulk and the Abomination will romp and stomp into your family room. Subwoofers will get a workout in the fights on the college campus, the bottle factory, and the climactic ending. Sound swoops from all directions at the lively parts and your floorboards should rumble throughout the the film; but the most impressive thing felt is the weight of the sound. To describe it to a flawless True-HD track would be like describing the difference between a graceful windmill dunk by Michael Jordan to a powerful and thunderous rim-shattering dunk by Shaquille O’Neal. Both will get you out of your seat but only one has that run-for-shelter effect. Also included are Spanish and French DTS: 5.1 tracks as well as an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track. You can also control the picture-in-picture volume and the button sounds.

VIDEO: A-

The film was shot in 1080p high-definition 2.35:1, AVC encoded and everything is rock solid. The night grotto scene reproduces nicely, as well as gritty textured bottle factor and favelas. The computer-generated scenes are much improved over the last film, and have more high speed camera work, but everything looked very clear. Through no fault of the transfer, there are scenes where you’re taken out briefly because you can easily tell it’s CG work, other times it all blends together. The nature of HD can work against the film sometimes because you’re taken out of the moment ever so slightly. I found this especially distracting with Spider-Man 3, but think it’s been improved greatly with The Incredible Hulk. Pay close attention to all the detail on the skin of the close-ups of Hulk and Abomination. Rhythm & Hues raised it to the look of these characters to higher level and that work shines in high def.

EXTRAS: B+

Universal put a nice package of substantial extras that’s light on the marketing fluff while places you in the director’s chair. Letterier, Norton and Roth participate extensively in the featurettes by way of interviews and behind-the-scene footage. Some other important contributors seen throughout the extras are Kevin Feige (Marvel Studios Producer) Kurt Williams (Visual Effects Supervisor), Laird McMurray (Special Effects Coordinator) and Kirk M. Petruccelli (Production Designer) who along with their respected crews can be proud of the assembly of supplemental material. All of the featurettes except the alternate opening are in DD 2.0 Stereo, anamorphic widescreen, 1080i/p high definition.

A lot has been made about the arctic ALTERNATE OPENING (2:34) (shown in widescreen and 5.1 DTS-HD) because of what’s hidden in its landscape. As Marvel Studios continues to roll these films out, the universe begins to flesh out towards an imminent Avengers film and to avoid spoiling anything or for those not internet savvy, just look in the snow at the bottom left as the scene ends. It’s best to go frame by frame, then rewind it and watch it from the beginning and see why the current introduction works better. Like this scene are 23 more DELETED SCENES (42:45) that are longer takes of Bruce in the favelas, Emil Bronsky with his superiors, the pizza delivery angle, and more of the Leonard, Betty and Bruce triangle. It’s a big slug to take all at once but you can always break it up individually. The MAKING OF THE INCREDIBLE HULK (29:54) has the most promotional fluff but touches on all of the success points of the film like courting Edward Norton, scheduling and logistics, the effects, the favelas, working with the military and giving Yonge Street in downtown Toronto a Harlem facelift. In both BECOMING THE HULK (9:22) and BECOMING THE ABOMINATION (10:14), the digital effects team, Rhythm and Hues explains how they got Norton and Roth to resemble their digital counterparts. Lots of motion-capture work is shown and especially their faces with a different technique than I’ve seen using a bright neon face paint as they act out different emotions. It’s noticeable throughout the film in close-ups that even though these guys are not physically on the screen, they are a part of these creatures. ANATOMY OF A HULK OUT breaks down the stuntwork and practical effects behind the three most complex shots: The Bottling Factory battle, On Campus and In Harlem. This will appeal greatly to people who can’t get enough of the filmmaking process and probably my favorite of all the extras.

Comic book fans will enjoy FROM COMIC BOOK TO SCREEN (6:33) where an exceprt from Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s Hulk: Gray graphic novel was used to inspire the grotto scene. I had hoped they would have done the same for the Mr. Blue sequences and Dale Keown art. In an ideal world, these types of extras would inspire someone to pick up the better runs of the comics. Louis Leterrier and Tim Roth team up on the AUDIO COMMENTARY. Both men have accents, not heavy but could be enough for those who don’t have ears for European accents to turn up the volume. They keep on topic, their conversations constant, quick and casual adding insider notes on specific scenes and anecdotes and much laghter throughout. Leterrier proves himself to be a hands-on director and one willing to really open his process to the fans.

The blu-ray exclusives start with Universal’s patent U-CONTROL experience used best on the subsequent multiple viewings of the film. At different moments of the film, the user can see SCENE EXPLORER where screens pop-up with four quadrants that can be expanded to fill the screen displaying the storyboards, the animatics, and multiple angles documenting the shooting. THUNDERBOLT FILES detail General Ross’ factoids full of intel tracking Banner, mission overviews and active personnel. PICTURE-IN-PICTURE pops up to show some behind the camera footage of that particular scene. The COMIC BOOK GALLERY is supposed to show iconic images that complete scenes were designed around. It is a waste though as only four images pop up when there should be a lot more. Longtime Hulk readers will recognize the Hulk’s appearance resembles Keown’s artwork from the 1990′s era so there was potential for this to be an extensive interactive experience but fell well-short of my expectations. The BD Live features include cutting up the film and sending those clips to your friends and a live chat while you’re both watching the film.

One thing noticeably missing are the theatrical and teaser trailers. It’s not asking too much to have these standard in every blu-ray release, is it?

HULK LIKE THIS BLU-RAY! Overall: B+

If you come in with reasonable expectations, The Incredible Hulk provides what we had all hoped would have been the first attempt at a Hulk film. Try, try again as they say and everything comes off better in this mulligan: the computer generated Hulk, Banner, General Ross, and the idea that this guy is walking amongst us or in isolation plays on the imagination much-much better. On blu-ray, the jealous green giant gets a technical spa treatment with booming sound and sterling video treatment.