Hulk: 5 Ways Ang Lee’s Movie Is The Best (& 5 The Incredible Hulk Is)

Despite the fact that Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk has been on the big screen for almost a decade, he hasn’t been given a solo movie because the rights are all tangled up with Universal. As it stands, there have been two Hulk movies: Hulk, directed by Ang Lee, released in 2003, and The Incredible Hulk, directed by Louis Leterrier, released in 2008.

Neither of the Hulk movies is necessarily great or ranks among the best comic book adaptations, but they both have their moments. Arguably, Thor: Ragnarok is the best Hulk movie; it was partially adapted from “Planet Hulk” and has a great arc for the character.

10 Ang Lee’s Hulk: It Showcases The Hulk’s Wide Array Of Powers

The best superhero movies showcase all of their heroes’ superpowers instead of overdoing just one or two. In Hulk, Ang Lee shows off the Hulk’s wide array of powers as he bounds across the desert and rides a fighter jet into space.

In The Incredible Hulk, he primarily smashes. Smashing is what the Hulk is known for, of course, but like all superheroes, he’s more interesting when he uses all his powers.

9 The Incredible Hulk: It Jumps Into The Hulk Action Quicker

Ang Lee’s Hulk movie is notorious for lacking in action. Bruce Banner doesn’t become the green meanie until over an hour into the movie, and even then, he just fights CGI dogs.

By contrast, The Incredible Hulk jumps into its Hulk action a lot quicker. It skips past the origin story and begins with a Bruce who’s already in danger of turning into a rage monster at the drop of a dime. Ultimately, that’s what audiences come to a Hulk movie to see.

8 Ang Lee’s Hulk: It’s Not Afraid To Embrace Bright Colors

The original Hulk comics were a pulpy delight filled with bursts of color, but The Incredible Hulk succumbed to the modern blockbuster trend of dark, gloomy visuals of other comic movies.

Ang Lee’s movie has its fair share of dark moments, but it also has plenty of lighthearted moments. It isn’t afraid to embrace bright colors, especially in its desert sequences.

7 The Incredible Hulk: Tim Roth’s Abomination Was A Memorable Early MCU Villain

The MCU is often accused of having a “villain problem,” as its heroes are fleshed-out and interesting while its villains are usually disappointingly one-note, but the Abomination played by Tim Roth was a memorable early one.

He offered both an ideological and physical threat to the Hulk. Roth is set to reprise the role in the upcoming She-Hulk series, which could lead to a spot on the Thunderbolts.

6 Ang Lee’s Hulk: Bruce And Betty Have Stronger Chemistry

While the MCU oddly pushed a romance between Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff, both Hulk solo movies have a romantic subplot involving Hulk’s regular love interest Betty Ross.

Eric Bana may not have been the greatest Bruce, but he had stronger chemistry with Jennifer Connelly than Edward Norton had with The Incredible Hulk’s Betty, Liv Tyler.

5 The Incredible Hulk: It Has Much Better CGI

CGI doesn’t maketh the movie, but 2003’s Hulk has some particularly rough visual effects. The dogs that attack the Hulk and the gel that the army traps the Hulk in look especially primitive.

With the state-of-the-art effects used to create Iron Man, however, The Incredible Hulk has much smoother, slicker, more realistic VFX.

4 Ang Lee’s Hulk: It Digs Into Bruce Banner’s Psychology

In the absence of action in the first couple of acts of Hulk, Lee sinks his teeth into Bruce Banner’s complex psychology. The character has a Jekyll and Hyde dynamic that isn’t often explored in as much depth as it should be.

Lee wasn’t interested in making Hulk as an action-packed blockbuster; he was more interested in making a psychodrama. He also added a Freudian angle to Bruce’s psychology by involving his parents.

3 The Incredible Hulk: Edward Norton Was A Great Bruce Banner

Eric Bana gave a perfectly serviceable performance in the original Hulk movie, but Edward Norton brought more nuance to the role of Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk.

With his portrait of mild-mannered Bruce, hot-headed Hulk, and the Jekyll-and-Hyde complications in between in the MCU, Mark Ruffalo is arguably even better.

2 Ang Lee’s Hulk: The San Francisco Set Piece Is Breathtaking

A really thrilling set piece can elevate a whole movie. In the second act of Ang Lee’s Hulk movie, the Hulk jumps onto a fighter jet and the pilot responds by flying out of the Earth’s atmosphere, which makes the green monster pass out.

The Hulk’s lifeless body crashes back down to the Earth and lands in the ocean off the coast of San Francisco. A few moments later, the Hulk tears his way out from underneath a street in the city.

1 The Incredible Hulk: It Doesn’t Have Any Of Lee’s Weird Comic Book Scene Transitions

As much fun as Ang Lee’s Hulk movie is, there’s one jarring, distracting element. Between a lot of the movie’s scenes, there’s a weird transition that makes it look like a live-action comic book.

Lee plasters all his shots into comic book panels and swoops between them in the scene transitions. It’s a neat idea on paper, but the execution is hideous. Thankfully, The Incredible Hulk did away with this ugly editing trick.

About The Author

Ben Sherlock
(3461 Articles Published)

See also  16 Stars Who Survived Complicated Pregnancies

Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He’s currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You can catch him performing standup at odd pubs around the UK that will give him stage time. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop.

More From Ben Sherlock