Released: 12 June ’08
Director: Louis Leterrier
Screenwriter: Zak Penn, Edward Norton (uncredited)
Cast: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt
Distributor: Marvel Studios, Universal Pictures
Running Time: 112 mins

Marvel Studios launches its second assault on cinema screens this summer with the return of the big green one. A sequel to Ang Lee’s 2003 take on the character, this Louis Leterrier-directed incarnation restores Bruce Banner (Edward Norton)’s anger-management-requiring alter ego to its ‘Incredible’ status with an explosive and eye-catching extravaganza of rippling green muscles and super-strength-infused carnage.
From the opening credit sequence, which brings the uninitiated up to speed with Banner’s gamma-experiment gone wrong and his ensuing exile, Leterrier serves up a high-octane thrill ride that doesn’t let up. A pulsating Army-Hulk encounter in Brazil is followed up by a bruising face-off Stateside, and the climactic New York smackdown between Hulk and the Abomination is a bone-shuddering beast of a scrap. Screenwriter Zak Penn injects enough comic book references to keep the fanboys happy too (Banner dismisses a pair of stretchy purple pants/“Hulk Smash!!”/the obligatory Stan Lee cameo), and initial anxieties over the effects have been put to rest with a convincing rendering of the Hulk and his Blonsky-gamma-ed nemesis. The pace, too, is frenetic, so much so that it almost disguises the fact that underneath all the CGI-bombast there is precious little going on. Almost…
The problems arise from the fact that there is not much for the Hulk to do. We meet Bannner, he’s on the run, and events unfold but the initial set up is never rectified or furthered in any way. The emotional drama that underpins the Hulk’s plight, is lightweight to say the least, and is not helped by the weakness of the two central performances by Norton (too bland to anchor the action) and Liv Tyler (faceless as Betty Ross, the object of Banner’s affection) upon which it hinges. An enigmatic turn by William Hurt as the dastardly General Ross and even Robert Downey Jr’s sequel-leading final-reel cameo as Tony Stark, serve only to highlight these weaknesses further.
The main stumbling block, though, is that the script delivers neither the drama nor the story to match the action that Letterier orchestrates to such devastating effect. Characters are underdeveloped, Tim Roth’s Emil Blonsky in particular, and too little time is spent on the emotional turmoil of Banner as he battles the beast inside of him (Norton’s much publicised wranglings with Marvel over the film’s length suggest that a longer, director’s cut would flesh out these areas). It’s still an energised, and by turns spectacular, return for the tetchy one though, which suggests, particularly by its open-ended finale, that there is a healthy future in store for its temperamental protagonist.

Those familiar with the SciFiNow forum will know I’ve been on a pretty much non-stop vigil watching Star Trek Voyager. I kicked off on this mammoth ‘Trek’ with the first episode ‘Caretaker’ and have been steadily going all the way through to where I currently am, which is ‘Future’s End Pts I & II’.

I believe Voyager has had a bit of raw deal over the last 13 years as something of the poor relation to the Trek franchise; although I’ve always enjoyed it, it has been something of a guilty pleasure among the throng of Picard and Kirk fans out there willing to beat on poor Janeway and crew at any chance they could get. Ducking the verbal and physical abuse (usually from Aaron!), I’ve ploughed on. So, Sunday afternoon, with a huge pile of ironing that the wife refuses to do, I’ve been settling in with two or three episodes back to back. And so far I have to say I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. The show has its ups and downs, as would any franchise spanning so many episodes and seasons, but overall it’s weathered much better than other TV shows around 10-15 years old such as Sliders.

Highpoints so far have to be the following episodes:

1. Caretaker. This showed that the show really could be like ‘Wagon Train’ in the stars. A single ship on a long journey home. And pretty dark for Trek actually.
2. Eye Of The Needle. A great season one episode very ‘TNG’ with a cool ending twist.
3. Maneuvers. Seska, played by the wonderful and sexy Martha Hackett makes the whole story arc of an altered Cardassian agent among the Voyager crew who allies herself with the Kazon unmissable Voyager.
4. Basics Pt I & II. A huge showdown with the Kazon, Brad Dourff as serial killer Ensign Suder, and more Seska!
5. Flashback. Season three episode featuring the adventures of Captain Sulu, giving us a glimpse of the Trek show that George Takei wanted to make.

But… there’s low points too. Here’s some Voyager dross that you may want to close your pointy ears to:

1. Threshold. A real pile of Targ dung of an episode from season two. Paris and Janeway ‘evolve’ in to large salamanders and back again after Paris breaks the warp 10 threshold. Cack.

2. Prototype. Another season two poop, which sees B’Lanna activating a robot slave in a robo civil war. The effects on the robot can only be described as ‘home made’. Not even Doctor Who’s ‘Giant Robot’ can beat this for low rent.
3. Resolutions. Janeway and Chakotay play house on a planet after contracting a virus. Don’t waste 45 minutes of your life here.
4. Learning Curve. Tuvok is put in charge of ’slack’ Maquis recruits. It’s not bad as such, but the whole issue of integration of Maquis and Starfleet was done pretty poorly to be believable. It’s too easy to just accept that entrenched rebels would take on the uniform of the establishment too readily.
5. The Chute. Harry (please take me seriously) Kim and Tom Paris are stuck in a ‘very scary’ space prison. It’s not exactly ‘Prison Break’ in there.

So, I’m still going through it; I’ve got the second half of season three to go, which I’m looking forward to as the season finale is ‘Scorpion’ but so far, I’m enjoying the highs and lows of Voyager. Give it another go; it’s better than you think! Honest.