The Incredible Hulk - B-

In theaters. Rated PG-13, 112 minutes. Trailer.

Ang Lee's version of the Hulk story was a critical and commercial failure. I did not see it, but read enough to know it was not worth my time. This time around, Marvel studios signed up a stellar cast (Ed Norton, William Hurt, Tim Roth, and Liv Tyler) and enlisted the help of C list director Louis Leterrier to try and squeeze some more green from this storyied comic book franchise, and lay the groundwork for the Avengers movie. Parts of it are really good, if familiar, while others are paint by the numbers boring. Click below for more on HULK:

The film tells the story of Bruce Banner (Norton), a university scientist duped by the military (a cigar chewing William Hurt) into creating a super soldier. After an accident contaminates him with gamma rays, he turns into a green beast every time he gets mad (or his pulse gets above 200). Banner is in hiding and trying to cure himself while the government hunts him down. After the military find his hiding place he is forced to come back to the US to try and find a cure for his sickness and try and reunite with the comely Betty Ross (Liv Tyler). The General (Hurt) enlists Blonsky (Roth) to receive a partial gamma injection to fight the Hulk, and the generic fight ensues, with you know who winning in the end.

I expected to hate this movie, but it wasn't that bad. The first 20 minutes in Brazil are very good, action packed fun, with several cool shots of the shanty town hills, especially a shot of Banner fleeing his captors on the mountain. The only problem is it feels like we've been here before with Jason Bourne, and had a better time. The film then starts to get goofy, with lots of cliched scenes (Hulk wipes away Liv's tear, can't have sex due to pulse issues, etc). The screenwriter, Zak Penn, did a good job of avoiding the generic superhero issues, but got caught up in a Bourne/Fugitive angle that drew unflattering comparisons.

The Hulk is pretty believable, and all of the action sequences are well staged and fun to watch. The worst part of the film is any scene involving the military. Hurt and Roth are wasted in off-the-rack military megalomaniac roles that are as stale as they can be. Liv Tyler was surprisingly good, and I forgot how appealing she can be. Norton is fine as Banner, nailing the earnest search for a cure and the determined lover of Liv.

The last scene has been leaked online, and involves Iron Man, setting up the forthcoming Avengers movie.