The Grim Cellar

2008, US, Directed by Louis Leterrier

Colour, Running Time: 114 minutes

Cinema screening, Image: 2.39:1 Anamorphic Panavision, Audio: English language

Pretty much everybody on the planet was disappointed with Ang Lee’s interpretation of Hulk, including me, so with some trepidation I approached my local Cineworld to see if the inexperienced Parisian Louis Leterrier could repair the damage done to Marvel’s famous green monster. While this movie does pretty much ignore Lee’s film it refrains from a full blown recreation of the character’s origin, opting for a brief summary during the opening credits and getting things moving pretty quickly as a result. An experiment with gamma radiation goes hopelessly wrong leaving Bruce Banner to experience periodic physical mutation into a monster, after which the gifted scientist is forced to take refuge from the military in a hopelessly overcrowded Brazilian town. Avoiding detection by having abandoned anything that can be traced to him Banner uses an online alter ego to retain contact with another (anonymous) scientist who may be able to help cure him. After months without incident his position is discovered by General Ross, a man who in reality wants Banner under military detention due to his altered genetic structure holding the key to breeding a race of super-soldiers. During the chase Banner is transformed into Hulk, a phenomenon witnessed by Blonsky, one of the men Ross has hired to help capture the beast. Blonsky develops some sort of perverse bloodlust and in attempts to equal or exceed Hulk’s astronomical physical power he has himself injected with serum created from Banner’s modified blood cells, mutating him into some sort of… abomination.

The Incredible Hulk seems to have taken a couple of leafs out of the Batman Begins book, taking time to establish a credible lead character in the form of Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) as he isolates himself in a foreign land while seeking some sort of profound personal improvement, in this case a cure. Banner is aware that Ross has purely military interests in mind with the reacquisition of what he feels is his ‘property’, and this intensifies the drama of the chase: Ross almost comes across as a person evil to the bone and easily dislikeable, this being a nice narrative tool for involving the audience . Of course the matter is complicated further by the fact that Banner and Ross’s daughter are in love with each other. It’s really Norton himself who manages to elicit the largest portion of emotional response in the audience, creating a human being at odds with his own destiny who experiences almost constant inner turmoil due to his sicknesses - the genetic transmogrification that leads to the arrival of the monster, and the love for Betty Ross that can’t be satisfied.

What I find a little surprising with this film is that it pays homage not just to the comic books, but to an extent to the television series also. From a Marvel fan’s perspective the Incredible Hulk TV show was hardly a faithful adaptation - it changed the name of the character to David (because Bruce at the time sounded a little too gay), altered the catalyst from an atomic explosion to genetic laboratory experiments gone wrong (the latter being particularly sensible and realistic considering the period), omitted super villains almost entirely, etc. In fact it took one or two core elements of the comic book and that was about it, but in the process it created something quite unique, adult-like, and sombre in many ways despite having accrued the unwanted attentions of various critical comedians and other self-proclaimed funny people in recent years. During the opening of Leterrier’s film Banner’s experiments resemble what happened in the TV show’s pilot episode surprisingly closely. Elsewhere Lou Ferrigno (looking amazing for his age) has another cameo as a security man, and there’s one or two in-jokes such as a budding journalist called Jack McGee, a brilliant twist on the “you won‘t like me when I‘m angry” phrase originally uttered by Bill Bixby (R.I.P.), and even a snippet of the show‘s closing credit music! The screenwriters were obviously familiar with the TV show and possibly fans of it, so the fact that they have incorporated a small number of aspects into this movie is quite heart warming to older fans such as myself. There are a number of very exciting set-pieces along the way, particularly the battle between Hulk and Tim Roth’s Abomination - explosive, utterly destructive, and cinematically thrilling (aptly supported by a strong score courtesy of Craig Armstrong, a departure from his usual outings). Aside from one sickly love scene in a cave the drama and action are balanced especially well establishing excellent pacing and I rarely felt an ounce of boredom. Despite Leterrier’s lack of directorial experience this is a way better film than Ang Lee’s, and justice is done to one of Marvel’s better known and immortal characters. The small epilogue also announces in a rather cool and enticing fashion that the amalgamation between Marvel and cinema has arrived well and truly.