Hulk Packs a Fun Punch

It’s no Iron Man, but The Incredible Hulk is a crowd-pleaser that comic book devotees and action fans will appreciate, critics say. The second adaptation of the Marvel comic in five years avoids the missteps of Ang Lee’s 2003 moody bust (Hulk) and “embraces its identity as a sci-fi-summer-action-blockbuster extravaganza,” writes Mick LaSalle in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Director Louis Leterrier piles on the “crushing, body-slamming death matches the average 13-year-old sociopath will lap up like Gatorade,” writes Michael Phillips in the Chicago Tribune. Claudia Puig of USA Today forgives the plot holes, calling the flick “reasonably entertaining, mostly because of Edward Norton's engaging portrayal of scientist Bruce Banner.…As a popcorn movie steeped in action, it keeps our attention.” (More The Incredible Hulk stories.)