The direction is so good, the acting is best quality, the story is well told. It's a terrific blend of action movie and comic book story. It's full of heart, and depth. The Hulk's story is a good one. It deserves as reverent a telling as, for example, the Batman story, and it gets it here. I really enjoy the old-timey feeling - it's told in contemporary times, but with a retro, 1950s nuclear-age feel. Nick Nolte is wonderful, as always. It might not have been a boon to Eric Bana, because the movie didn't do so well, but he was really quite good in the role. Everybody played it straight, no arch acting, which is due to the Ang Lee's direction. Think about it, the actors in the various key roles have played these roles before (and since),but in this movie, there's no hammy acting - these associations are there, but, as I said, played straight. It's fascinating and wonderful to see. Sam Elliot is the gruff military guy, but is human. Nick Nolte is the loony, but human. Eric Bana is full of quiet strength as Bruce Banner, and wild strength (and freedom) as Hulk but *human*. It's not a formula action hero/superhuman movie at all, it's art. Underrated art.

Smashing His Way into the First Wave of Marvel Movie Superheroes, (The Incredible) Hulk, an at First Failed Title that only went 6 Issues in the Early Sixties, did Recover and has had a Long and Intricate Career (Grey/Green). The 1970's TV Show with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno is Remembered Fondly.

Director Ang Lee Decided to give the Tragic and Unfortunate Scientist Bruce Banner and His Gamma Ray Created "Monster" a more than Serious, Psychological, Philosophical Bent that Audiences found Boring, Slow, and Pounded on this Film with some Brutal Bashing and the Sequel was Scrapped.

Critics, for the most part, Like the Movie Much More than Mainstream Viewers. They were Kind to the Depth of Characters and Rich Story. The Movie's Supreme and Interesting Template also got Noticed.

Back to the Haters. Folks Complained about the Length (2hr 20min),Nick Nolte's Bombastic, Shouting Performance, and Not Enough "Hulk". The Big Green Guy doesn't Show Up much in the First Hour.

Danny Elfman's Score is as Usual, Good but Derivative and Repetitive. The Characters like Betty (Jennifer Connelly),General Ross (Sam Elliott),and Talbot (Josh Lucas) are 100% Dead Serious and Chew the Melodramatics Ad Nauseum.

Overall, Director Ang Lee Accomplished His Vision, but in the Early Days of the Mega-Blockbuster Summer Superhero Movie, it wasn't Welcomed and was Dismissed as a Major Misfire. Viewed Today it Holds Up quite well and Deserves a "New" Look and Appraisal.

I do remember seeing this film on TV once, and other than the visuals, good music and two or three decent performances I didn't think much of it. I was considering a re-watch, but was advised by a very reliable and trust-worthy pen pal not to. But as I have said many times about other movies, I was curious. As I do love the director and think highly of the cast, I did finally give it a chance. And my initial reaction sadly hasn't changed.

I will give credit where it's due. It is an artistically tasteful film, with wonderful cinematography and editing and the effects are great. The score is also memorable and more importantly fits with the movies' tone. And I found Eric Bana very charismatic in his role, and I enjoyed Sam Elliot too.

Jennifer Connelly does okay with what she's got, but I didn't find her character as interesting, in fact she came across as unnecessary and vapid at points. Nick Nolte I like, but he overplays here and it doesn't help that his whole story was on the misconceived side and in a way feels like a different movie altogether.

I mostly liked Lee's direction too. I am very fond of Lee, he is a great director and has a very distinctive style which comes through loud and clear with Hulk, and I love his films. Brokeback Mountain and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon are two of my favourite movies of all time, I love the Ice Storm and Sense and Sensibility is one of the better period drama films I've seen.

Although he does do a decent enough job here despite a tendency to let his style get in the way of telling the story and making us connect to the characters(the only time I have felt this about him),sometimes even impressive, there are reasons why this is my least favourite film so far of his.

First off, I wasn't all that impressed by the action. Not that it was badly edited or choreographed, in fact these scenes are done with efficient style and the choreography doesn't look all that clumsy. It is all to do with tone, most of the action sequences here don't fit all that well with the feel of the overall film, the fight with the poodles is a prime example, which felt rather silly compared to the film's intensity.

The script has some brooding lines from Bana and Elliot, but some lines feel stilted or delivered in a bland fashion. Which brings me to the story, I loved the idea and had no problem with it. It also started off great. Its problems was that the more over-complicated it got, the more leaden the pace got too and the more things were left with little to no explanation, leading to one of the weakest and most disappointing endings I've seen for any comic book movie. Ridiculous is a more ideal way to describe it.

All in all, considering the director, concept and cast involved, Hulk was very disappointing and didn't live to hopeful expectations of improvement on re-watch. 4/10 Bethany Cox