The Incredible Hulk: Iron Man he ain't

The Incredible Hulk is a classic example of the Marvel Comics formula brought to the big screen: there's a misunderstood good guy who fights a power-hungry bad guy, a girl who understands the misunderstood good guy, and an ineffectual U.S. Army that idly looks on whilst blowing things up.

True, The Incredible Hulk is as predictable as a Mennonite yard sale (the plot can be gleaned from the trailer), but that’s probably not the point. After all, the film boasts one of the more spectacular fight scenes in recent superhero history. Ultimate-fighting fans and anger enthusiasts will love it.

The three big names in the cast — Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, and William Hurt — put in appropriately cartoonish performances that work quite well with the script. Tyler is her typically gentle flowery self, and Norton is solid, if subtle. Hurt, who plays the cigar-sucking General Ross, wears a salt-and-pepper moustache nicely.

Iron Man comparisons are inevitable, and Hulk loses hands down. To be fair, though, a B-list superhero has the distinct advantage of novelty, while the more historied Hulk has a difficult legacy of rage to live up to.

The representation of gender identities is always hilarious in these movies, and Hulk doesn’t disappoint. The lesson to be learned here is that men express fear through anger, and women have the gift of telling them it’s okay. The kitten-esque Tyler spends most of the movie diffusing old greeny’s rage.

The Incredible Hulk may very well be the roast-beef dinner of superhero movies: There aren’t too many surprises, but the allure of a big slab of cow is undeniable.