Once you go green

I saw the Incredible Hulk, and it was fantastic. Like the Iron Man film, this one modernized and built upon much of the comic book legacy of the character. The actors were good, and the script was a nice balance of character development and action. I enjoyed the FX. The Hulk and Abomination looked good. I thought it was a great job. There were cameos by Stan Lee, Lou Ferrigno, and a glimpse of the late Bill Bixby from his Courtship of Eddie’s Father days. The latter two were the star duo of the 1970s Hulk television show. The really nice touch was the manner in which the origin story is handled. The opening credits provide the origin story, and the movie proper just starts with Banner living incognito in Brazil. That was an excellent decision, and the execution of it was great.

I really enjoyed the world building seeds that were planted in this movie. For example there are the several references to S.H.I.E.L.D., the mention of the super-soldier program from World War II (Captain America film is being planned), and others. We even see the creation of a Hulk villain called the Leader. There’s a cameo by Tony Stark, which seems to lay the seeds for an Avengers movie down the road.
Okay, I know you folks that know me are saying, “That’s great Otis. You liked the movie, but you own over 1000 comics. I don’t know anything about the Hulk." Don’t worry, this picture works just fine if even you don’t know the Leader from Doc Samson. Trust me, go and see this movie. I am going to see it again at least once.