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Well, this is certainly the red-headed step child of the MCU. Not because of its quality, but because none of it ever gets followed up anywhere else. (Even the last scene with Tony and General Ross goes nowhere, since the Avengers end up being formed in quite a different way and Ross has nothing to do with it.)
Much has been said and written about the MCU's obsession with origin stories, but to their credit, they avoid them when the character in question has already had that story filmed in the recent past. Here, Marvel made the decision to cover the Hulk's genesis story in the opening credits and move along. On the one hand, at least that means it isn't covering the same ground as the then-recent Ang Lee version. (Speaking of the Lee version for a moment longer: I have never seen a film that misjudged its audience so badly. Ang Lee wanted to make a psychological drama about man's relationship with his abusive father and his own inner monster. The audience wanted to see the Hulk smash tanks. And the thing is, the audience was not in the wrong! Lee's film might take visual techniques from comic books, but it's just not a good Hulk story at the end of the day. In that sense The Incredible Hulk does better even if it's not as interesting to look at.)
On the other hand - without the origin story to drive it, there's not really much going on here that's of any wider importance to the MCU or even Bruce as a character. We get to see a handful good character moments for him at the end of the film - the first time he becomes the Hulk voluntarily, the scene where it becomes clear that Hulk is heroically protecting everyone from Abomination, and his apparently success in controlling the transformation at the end - but it doesn't add up to much over the course of two hours.
That's partly because, due to the actor change, nothing Ed Norton does with the part ever gets any further development. On the whole, I'm not sorry that they ultimately went with Ruffalo going forward. It's not that there's anything really wrong with Norton's performance, but I just don't find him convincing in the part and he has none of Ruffalo's charm. I feel like anyone who's casting Bruce in future, needs a large sign that says 'BRUCE BANNER IS A GIANT NERD' posted somewhere, since it took three tries to find an actor who could really get that across.
On the other hand, it's a great shame that Liv Tyler is probably never going to be in another MCU film. She sells Betty's relationships with her estranged father and her ex boyfriend instantly and makes her character sympathetic throughout. (Hopefully she sorted things out with Leonard Samson later, at least to the extent of 'sorry, I thought I was over my ex but I was wrong' and 'he actually seems like a really nice guy, sorry I called your arsehole dad on him.') And I'm really sorry we'll never get to see Samuel Sterns again, either, despite the fact that he was in the process of turning into a supervillain when we last saw him. (Maybe Hulk sorted him out some time between the first two Avengers films? If not, he is probably still out there plotting.) Unfortunately, this film is a complete waste of Tim Roth, who ends up playing one of the most underwritten and disposable of the MCU's villains. He deserved a better part.
In hindsight, it's difficult to see the point of any of this. The film-going audience already knew about Bruce and the Hulk and what their deal was. Hulk was one of the best-known Marvel heroes before the MCU came along, and if anyone was coming in late The Avengers does a more than adequate job of introducing the character. The recasting and lack of further solo Hulk films means that William Hurt is the only actor to have appeared on screen in the MCU since, and he hasn't even had any interaction with Bruce and/or the Hulk. It's a perfectly serviceable film, but in hindsight, maybe Marvel Studios should have saved their time and money for something else. Like a Black Widow film. (Or just cast Ruffalo in the first place. I probably would like it better if they had.)
As it is, if I want a Bruce Banner fix I will probably just go watch Ragnarok again, which is a hell of a lot more fun than this. And the CGI has improved a lot over the past decade.
Much has been said and written about the MCU's obsession with origin stories, but to their credit, they avoid them when the character in question has already had that story filmed in the recent past. Here, Marvel made the decision to cover the Hulk's genesis story in the opening credits and move along. On the one hand, at least that means it isn't covering the same ground as the then-recent Ang Lee version. (Speaking of the Lee version for a moment longer: I have never seen a film that misjudged its audience so badly. Ang Lee wanted to make a psychological drama about man's relationship with his abusive father and his own inner monster. The audience wanted to see the Hulk smash tanks. And the thing is, the audience was not in the wrong! Lee's film might take visual techniques from comic books, but it's just not a good Hulk story at the end of the day. In that sense The Incredible Hulk does better even if it's not as interesting to look at.)
On the other hand - without the origin story to drive it, there's not really much going on here that's of any wider importance to the MCU or even Bruce as a character. We get to see a handful good character moments for him at the end of the film - the first time he becomes the Hulk voluntarily, the scene where it becomes clear that Hulk is heroically protecting everyone from Abomination, and his apparently success in controlling the transformation at the end - but it doesn't add up to much over the course of two hours.
That's partly because, due to the actor change, nothing Ed Norton does with the part ever gets any further development. On the whole, I'm not sorry that they ultimately went with Ruffalo going forward. It's not that there's anything really wrong with Norton's performance, but I just don't find him convincing in the part and he has none of Ruffalo's charm. I feel like anyone who's casting Bruce in future, needs a large sign that says 'BRUCE BANNER IS A GIANT NERD' posted somewhere, since it took three tries to find an actor who could really get that across.
On the other hand, it's a great shame that Liv Tyler is probably never going to be in another MCU film. She sells Betty's relationships with her estranged father and her ex boyfriend instantly and makes her character sympathetic throughout. (Hopefully she sorted things out with Leonard Samson later, at least to the extent of 'sorry, I thought I was over my ex but I was wrong' and 'he actually seems like a really nice guy, sorry I called your arsehole dad on him.') And I'm really sorry we'll never get to see Samuel Sterns again, either, despite the fact that he was in the process of turning into a supervillain when we last saw him. (Maybe Hulk sorted him out some time between the first two Avengers films? If not, he is probably still out there plotting.) Unfortunately, this film is a complete waste of Tim Roth, who ends up playing one of the most underwritten and disposable of the MCU's villains. He deserved a better part.
In hindsight, it's difficult to see the point of any of this. The film-going audience already knew about Bruce and the Hulk and what their deal was. Hulk was one of the best-known Marvel heroes before the MCU came along, and if anyone was coming in late The Avengers does a more than adequate job of introducing the character. The recasting and lack of further solo Hulk films means that William Hurt is the only actor to have appeared on screen in the MCU since, and he hasn't even had any interaction with Bruce and/or the Hulk. It's a perfectly serviceable film, but in hindsight, maybe Marvel Studios should have saved their time and money for something else. Like a Black Widow film. (Or just cast Ruffalo in the first place. I probably would like it better if they had.)
As it is, if I want a Bruce Banner fix I will probably just go watch Ragnarok again, which is a hell of a lot more fun than this. And the CGI has improved a lot over the past decade.