Despite the rather poor attempt to recreate the green giant from the comic book to the big screen in 2003 with “Hulk,” the superhero has returned with another attempt at box office glory, and only five years later. Just to clear things up, “The Incredible Hulk” is not a sequel to Ang Lee’s film in 2003, and to be fair no references will be made to it during this review. 

“The Incredible Hulk” starts off with the scientist Bruce Banner (played by Edward Norton) living a peaceful life in Brazil, who hasn’t turned into the Hulk for nearly five months. The director Louis Letterrier made a wise choice with explaining the “accident” of how Bruce received his power in the first few minutes during the opening credits so the movie can kick off immediately. As usual, poor Bruce is desperately searching for a cure to his unnatural power and is on the run from military forces in America. 

Unfortunately, an accident at Bruce’s work leads them to him, and he soon finds his home being broken into in the dead of night by a squad of soldiers. Although he tries as hard as he can to keep his anger at bay, the Hulk is released, and havoc follows with him. The squad is easily defeated by the Hulk’s brute strength and the only one left alive is a soldier named Emil Blonksy. 

I definitely enjoyed seeing the Hulk within the first half-hour of the film, as the temptation to actually witness the deadly monster began as soon as I sat down in the theater. 

One fight leads to another and eventually Bruce meets his long lost love Elizabeth Ross (Liv Tyler) and finds his rival Blonsky has overcome a major transformation. This leads to the film’s final battle sequence between two of the most powerful creatures in comic book history. As you can see, The Incredible Hulk has tons of the action Hulk fans have been craving to see, and the special effects will probably amaze most viewers. From every anger and emotion of the Hulk to the tiniest tint of green in his eyes, one can definitely tell how far motion picture technology has come.

Another few things I loved about The Incredible Hulk were the hints and cameos. Not only do we get to see Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno (for the kids reading this they were from the old Hulk television program) but there is also a special appearance, which comes just before the credits that I dare not reveal.

Overall, between the non-stop action and hidden hints for fans, The Incredible Hulk is a knockout when it comes to the growing superhero film franchise. After the spectacular Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk stands right beside it as yet another thumbs up film from Marvel.