eserved scientist Bruce Krenzler (Bana) is not the man he seems. As he is about to discover, he has inherited a dangerous legacy from his biological father, a mad but brilliant scientist named David Banner (Nolte), whom he believes to be dead. David's experiments on himself before Bruce was born have manifested as a latent genetic anomaly in his son that will prove to be both a blessing and a curse.
It is this anomaly that saves Bruce when he is exposed to a nearly lethal dose of gamma rays as a result of an experiment gone wrong. To the relief of his fellow researcher and ex-girlfriend, Betty Ross (Connelly), Bruce survives the accident seemingly unscathed, but he soon discovers that the radiation has awakened a force within him that cannot be controlled.
One night in the lab, Bruce loses his temper and transforms into a massive green creature that later comes to be known as the Hulk. After tearing apart the lab, Bruce wakes up the next morning, unaware of the destruction he has caused. His mindless rampage has not gone unnoticed by the military, however, and a unit led by Betty's father, Gen. "Thunderbolt" Ross (Elliott), arrives to investigate the threat.
Ross seeks to destroy the Hulk, a task that proves impossible even with the unlimited resources of military firepower at his disposal. David, who has been closely following his son's progress, has other plans for the creature. Betty wants to help him conquer his demons. But ultimately it is Bruce who must deal with the painful truths locked inside him and the violent alter ego lurking just beneath the surface.
This Hulk is not quite a smash
These days, it seems that Marvel Comics has the formula down. Take one popular comic-book franchise, one visionary director and thousands of dollars in cutting-edge CGI technology, sprinkle in a few talented cast members, mix them all together and you have a successful movie. It works in theory, but unfortunately Hulk is less than the sum of its parts.
The one element that makes or breaks a film like this is the story—compare, say, Daredevil with Spider-Man—and this story is unbalanced. It focuses heavily on the psychological and scientific setup early on, then becomes more action-oriented once the Hulk finally appears. Neither aspect is deftly handled. It's never really made clear, either, what Banner is actually trying to accomplish with his pseudo-scientific research. And although it's almost immediately evident that the Hulk is indestructible, the military keeps sending helicopters and tanks after him, making for some very long and pointless action scenes.
The film is not without its bright spots, however. Director Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) makes wonderful use of split screens, multiple panels and visually interesting transitions, all of which give the impression of a comic book coming to life on screen. The computer-generated graphics have been rendered in meticulous detail, from the dirt on the Hulk's skin to the veins in his eyes. And the transition scenes in which Bana becomes the Hulk are particularly seamless and well conceived.
It's obvious that Lee has put a lot of stock in the central metaphor of the character as a physical representation of our psychological repression, but that may be too didactic an approach for summer movie audiences. For better or worse, this is not your typical Marvel adaptation, nor is it your typical popcorn movie. The effort is definitely there, but the result is less than satisfying.
