The Incredible Hulk

The second feature film go-round for the big green guy is just fine by me, but I still prefer the original film, director Ang Lee’s “deep” version, and the TV show. Still, Edward Norton makes for a good, conflicted Bruce Banner, whose exposure to gamma radiation makes him prone to bursting out of his pants when things go bad. The effects are decent, with the Hulk looking a little more haggard this time out. Tim Roth plays the bad guy, a dried-up, weary soldier who is all too happy to be injected with Hulk serum for the purpose of battle readiness. He turns into a dinosaur-looking thing that battles Hulk at film’s end, in what amounts to a master thespian smackdown. William Hurt is evil as General Ross, father of Hulk love interest Betty Ross (Liv Tyler). The movie whizzes by, making few lasting impressions. But the action does pay off, and Norton does good stuff in the central role.