The Incredible Hulk Movie!

We just watched the movie earlier today. Simply amazing! Hands down much better than the Hulk back in 2003 and, best of all, there is a promise of a continuity among the succeeding Marvel movie franchises in the future!

Graphics are astoundingly realistic. They sure made good use of those powerful computers to create the graphics; Hulk's skin shows texture and a very high level of detail. This can be clearly seen in the two major battles that took place; Hulk vs. General Ross' (William Hurt) forces on the Culver University field (too bad this clip did not show the sonic tanks), and Hulk vs. Abomination somewhere downtown New York.



While it takes off mainly from where the 2003 Hulk movie ended, with Bruce Banner (Edward Notron) getting "angry" in the forests somewhere in South America, Brazil I think, the plot is completely independent of the previous one. If they wanted to package this movie to be not a sequel while still continuing the plot from the first movie without a toal reboot of the Hulk origin, then they made a pretty good job.

The connection between the two movies is very loose, as can be seen from the flashbacks. Also, there are minor differences such as Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) seeing the Bruce transform to Hulk for the first time in this movie (note that Gen. Ross commented that now she will see, referring to Bruce's transformation into the Hullk).

Don't want to reveal the rest of the plot for those who haven't seen it yet, so I'll stop the plot analysis here. :)

The cameos are also great. Three cameos I think are worth mentioning: Like most Marvel movies, Stan Lee is there again -- this time, unlike his previous ones, his cameo was of significant importance since that led to Gen. Ross to finding Banner in South America! Also there was Lou Ferrigno, who was the original Hulk of the 70's show, posing as security guard bribed by Banner. Lastly, Robert Downey Jr., as Tony Stark, aka Iron Man.

That last cameo promises, finally, a continuity among the Marvel movies. Crossovers and guest appearances are common in Marvel comics. Why should Marvel movies be any different? Imagine Iron Man taking on the Hulk, Fantastic Four teaming up with Spider-Man, Avengers taking on the Masters of Evil, whatever. The possibilities are endless.

Official word is that the Avengers movie is slated to be release by 2011. Is this the team that Iron Man was referring to? Could be, but the roster would be a little different; in the comics, the Hulk was one of the original Avengers, so I don't see the screenplay following the "canonical" origin of the team.

Many elements are also taken from the Marvel Universe comics but have been changed to suit this movie. Weapon Plus, for example, is part of Wolverine's mythos, being the program that created Weapon X (Wolverine) and others such as Weapon I (aka Captain America).

Also, Spider-Man fans would recognize the Incredible Hulk poster as a nod to one of the most iconic covers of the Amazing Spider-Man.

Stark Industries is of mentioned (I'm still wondering if it's really the Avengers is what he was referring to; the Hulkbusters, I think, would have been a better fit, with him leading the charge wearing his Hulkbuster armor), as well as Nick Fury and SHIELD.

Maybe not the best movie out there, but IMHO one of the best storylines Marvel has created so far. And like most comic readers, I want good stories and this one is one of the better ones out there.

Getting sleepy now. I better get some rest. :)