Gateway

Issue date: 6/17/08 Section: Culture

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After physicist Bruce Banner is exposed to a high dose of experimental gamma radiation, he becomes the Hulk, an 8-foot tall, green giant with unimaginable strength.

Constantly pursued by the U.S. government for destruction he unintentionally causes, the Hulk isn't your typical 'cape and tights' superhero.

"The Incredible Hulk" stars Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/Hulk; Liv Tyler as Betty Ross, Banner's love interest; Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky, a Yugoslavian special ops soldier recruited to bring in Banner; and William Hurt as General Ross, the man in charge of the Super-Soldier experiments that led to the creation of the Hulk and, consequently, the man responsible for his capture.

The general is also Betty's father. I imagine it's not very fun having your own daughter run around with the Hulk, who serves as a constant reminder of your greatest failure and was the main cause of death for many of his soldiers.

This movie is not a sequel so much as a reboot of the 2003 Ang Lee version. This film picks up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with amazing shots of the labyrinthine housing districts as the stage for "Bourne Conspiracy"-like foot chases on rooftops.

The Hulk has not been seen for 157 days, and Banner has been working on a cure for his condition while taking anger management classes.

From there, Banner is pursued across both North and South America. Blonsky volunteers to undergo a treatment of an experimental Super-Soldier Serum that eventually turns him into the Abomination, a stronger, more twisted version of the Hulk.

The final fight in this movie takes place in New York City, of course, and this time around, comic book fans and average moviegoers will not be disappointed.

Being a huge comic book nerd, I enjoyed this immensely and anyone with a pulse will too. It deserves five purple pants out of five.

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