Banner volunteered to use Hulk as a weapon to fight Abomination because he felt responsible in a way for his creation. I bought it.

I think Ed Norton was great, by far the best part, and I enjoyed most of the Banner scenes as much as if not more than the Hulk ones. There's always a chance Norton comes back for the sequel. Gotta believe his contract is for more than one, and I've read the "fight" with Marvel was overblown. They'll release "his" version as a special extended edition DVD and everything will be fine.

I think you'll get your wish about the smart Hulk in future movies. With him talking and beginning to think a little now, it could happen in the next movie. The ending with Banner seeking to harness Hulk's strength is another move in this direction, I think.

All in all, I think this was a very successful relaunch of the franchise. I hope it rakes in some big money this weekend. I want more.

p.s. The entire sequence from the opening montage to the end of the South America portion of the film was just perfect, IMO. The chase through the Brazillian slums? Awesome.

p.p.s. I think the CGI was pretty good. Much better than the 2003 version. Much!

p.p.p.s. Even though the ads gave away Stark's appearance and HULK SMASH, there were still some nice surprises in here. I had a total geek out moment when the Leader was born. Didn't see that coming and loved it.

p.p.p.p.s. How awesome is Liv Tyler? I have a crush.

Also, Hulk looks like he was lifted straight from the 1990s Dale Keown version.

http://littlestuffedbull.com/images/comics/hulk379.jpg

dood... Liv can't act. I would have loved to have seen Ed Norton with Jennifer Connelly tho.

I just read that Norton is NOT contracted for two more movies -- tho the director and Liv are.

Now that Marvel is pushing up the timing for a new Ironman movie and pissing off Favreau (enough for him to publicly blog it on Myspace that he could never do a sequal by 2010), it looks to me like Marvel Studios is getting too big for its britches. Even if Hulk is successful, they're going to screw up the chances for keeping the quality high just to push out a thor, cap, and Avengers flick.

And I did like the run through the slums (almost as much as the first time I saw it the first time... in the last Jason Bourne movie).

I'm getting more annoyed by Incred Hulk the more I think about it. What's with the Hulky parkour travel? The one thing that Ang Lee got right was that the Hulk can jump really high... but apparently we lost that in the re-imagining. Sigh. And how did Bruce and Betty know to go to NYC? they never showed them receiving a call or email or anything from Mr. Blue in return of Bruce sending the gamma data. Plus, since the military echeloned the email, why weren't they waiting on Mr. Blue's lab for Bruce to show? They couldn't get to NYC ahead of Bruce and Betty in a boat from NJ?

Lou Ferrigno is the man, tho.

Now you just sound like an angry fanboy. :)

First of all, Jennifer Connelly = Meh. She was part of the problem in the first Hulk movie. Liv won't win an Oscar or anything, but she was perfectly credible as Betty.

I'm still not worried about Norton returning. Money talks. If this is a legit hit, he'll be back. And it should be, considering the lack of competition this weekend.

As for Iron Man, I've heard that half the dialogue was improv anyway. I wouldn't worry about the sequel as long as the main architects are still involved.

Now, on to your nitpicks...

1) You're upset the Hulk doesn't jump really high?! Who cares! Hulk's power level is constantly waxing and waning in the comics.

2) Bruce knew Mr Blue's identity and location before the movie even started. Bruce had to be the one to contact him, presumably because he knew the guy was a leader (pun intended) in his field. It's just the other way around, that Mr Blue didn't know much about Mr Green.

3) Sure, the military could have been waiting for Bruce, but we'd already seen what happens when they try to confront him. Their plan was to wait in the wings and snipe him, which would have worked had it not been for the Abomination ruining everything.

hey, don't make me proclaim IH as Marvel Studio's own Episode 1! I'll do it.

Have you seen any of Norton's movies? he's not exactly in love with the big studios... he only did this out of nostaglia for Bill Bixby's show, and if he didn't like it, I doubt he's coming back. Pay check isn't his thing. (and again, another nail in the coffin of an Avenger's flick that would include him, Downey, etc. Ain't. Gonna. Happen.) And improv dialog is not going to mean anything to a studio bank-rolling a multi-million movie. They want their blueprint (script) first.

You're right, Mr. Green did know where Mr. Blue was -- he must have, Bruce sent him the blood -- but that doesn't excuse the army from getting their so late since they intercepted the email long before B & B got to NJ. They really should have sent in Tony Stark at that point, but hey, just cause it's a shared universe doesn't mean its logical.

All it boils down to is the movie is perfectly cromulent, but in the end it's not a heart stopper story in the way Spider-Man 2 was nor does it looke as good as Ironman did. If these were all one big TV show, this would be the one with low ratings. This is the episode of LOST with the flashback for Rose and Bernard.

You liken THIS to episode one? You're crazy!

I only liken it to Ep 1 for your sake. Obviously, this is really more an Attack of the Clones.

Check out http://weblogs.variety.com/thompsononhollywood/2008/06/incredible-hu-1.html, a great post all about the history of Ed Norton and the lies Marvel told him. He's never coming back to work with them. Which is sad. I look forward to the DVD now to see the FIFTY MINUTES of his stuff they cut. It probably will make for a much better movie.

Slashfilm has a similar story with a little more detail about what was cut and how the "fued" played out:

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/06/14/the-truth-about-edward-norton-vs-marvel/

The quotes from Leterrier about Norton's inital reaction to the fued story are very interesting.

Also, I can see why they cut the suicide scene in the Arctic. Most of this stuff will show up in the DVD and everyone wins.

I'll believe Norton's not coming back when and if they finally recast the role.

BTW, currently 73 percent of resondents at slashfilm "loved it" ... :)

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/06/14/the-incredible-hulk-what-did-you-think/