And it was okay. Actually, it was pretty darn good, just a well-executed action adventure flick, and Edward Norton makes a fine Bruce Banner. The Lou Ferrigno cameo was cool, but even better was using Lou for the voice of the Hulk. The line "Hulk Smash" did send a little thrill up my spine.
It was certainly better than the 'don't make me Ang Lee, you won't like me when I'm Ang Lee' version. But while Ang Lee made a very interesting failure, Louis Leterrier has made a conventional, somewhat uninteresting success.
On a different note, I noticed something in the credits. There was a line at the end stating that the smoking portrayed in the movie was for dramatic effect only and not intended to promote smoking. Then they repeated the Surgeon General's warning. I don't remember the exact words, and I don't know if it's shown up in other film credits.
Now here's the deal. I know smoking is bad, I know images of smoking in popular entertainment can influence kids. I know there are groups that want movies automatically rated R if there's any smoking in them ("The Incredible Hulk" is PG-13). But I also understand the free speech arguments, and the fact that the aesthetics of smoke on film is just really cool. And, for the record, I didn't see anything pro-smoking in the movie. In this debate I'm firmly in the free speech camp, let them show smoking in the movies. But if anyone thinks putting a little message at the end of the credits where nobody will read it (the theater was about half full, I was the only one left by the end of the credits) will make this issue go away, they're an idiot. It's like they've intentionally chosen the least effective way to address the issue. And that's all I've got to say about that.
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