The Hulk

Forget what you think you know: You'll like Hulk just fine when he's angry. It's just that many of the other bits of this desperately sombre adaptation of the Marvel character that prove to be bothersome.

On first glances, the story sticks pretty closely to that of the television show: Research scientist Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) is exposed to extreme levels of gamma radiation. However, instead of dying, whenever Bruce gets aggravated, he turns into a large, aggressive green man (boasting a nice line in crotch hugging purple pedal pushers). The whole metamorphis isn't Banner's only concern, as he's plagued by nightmares about his past, accelerated when his father (Nick Nolte) re-appears in his life.

Any movie directed by Ang Lee is not going to be short on ideas, but it's to Hulk's detriment that he never successfully channels his ambitions into a cohesive whole. Taking itself far too seriously, the film lies between a faux Greek tragedy and a traditional blockbuster, leaving the fluidity of the narrative in a rather bleak, thankless place. The CGI Hulk works well, which is a lot more than you can say for his bland human manifestation, Eric Bana. He's a curiously timid presence, while Nolte seems under the impression that he's auditioning for the role of a Shakespearean anti-hero. Someone should have told him and Ang Lee that sometimes big and dumb works is more than acceptable.