6-13-08, 12:11 pm

The Incredible Hulk Directed by Louis Leterrier

Original source: Morning Star

The not so jolly green giant is back to battering the US military machine, which is still seeking to discover the secret that they believe will help them to produce an army of such mutant monstrosities.

Clearly designed to further the Marvel film franchise in the superhero stakes, this outing also marks a return to the sort of screen action that Ang Lee's version forgot in its hurry to appeal to the art house sophisticates.

As for the Hulk, he's not so jarring. The CGI artists have created a menacing monster that doesn't clash with the scenery, which enables the mutation from human form to appear more seamless.

Edward Norton plays Bruce Banner who, while hiding out in Brazil and communicating with some mysterious chat room correspondent about his attempts to find a cure for his condition, has an accident in the bottle factory where he works.

Naturally, this leads to him being discovered, allowing Colonel Ross (William Hurt) to send in a snatch squad led by our very own tiny Tim Roth, who does his devilish best to portray a Russian psychopath called Blonsky.

The action comes when Banner turns up in the US to spy on his former girlfriend Betty (Liv Tyler) and Blonsky transforms into a super-size villain.

Cue the destruction of Manhattan, which is rather low key when compared to Spidey and Doc Ock but proves a marathon maul worthy of anything in Madison Square Garden.

Basically, it is a chase movie with a romantic interlude before the fight of the century.

Despite the homage paid to Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno as the original TV versions of Banner/Hulk, it hasn't the same self-deprecating humor as the recent Iron Man.

And, just so you know, the franchise obviously has every intention of continuing to exploit the financial spin-offs of the Hulk hokum.

From Morning Star