Well, the movies at least.  According to Box Office Mojo, both big screen versions of the Incredible Hulk are pretty much head-to-head in terms of lifetime gross.  Hulk directed by Ang Lee in 2003 has made $132,177,234.  While The Incredible Hulk directed by Louis Leterrier has grossed $134,806,913.

The closeness in numbers, however, do not reflect the sentiments of fans.  In IMDB (Oct 5, 2009), the Hulk 2003 has a rating of 5.7/10 and The Incredible Hulk 2008 has a rating of 7.2/10.  I agree.  I’m a fan of the 2008 movie and do not care for the 2003 movie.

Why the Hulk 2003 sucked

Promo Poster for the Hulk 2003 Movie

While most disgusted fans point to his gi-normous size in the 2003 movie as a turn-off (he was as tall as a house), I simply point to the boring and uninspired storytelling.  There is no doubt that Ang Lee is a great movie director, receiving accolades for dramatic masterpieces such as Brokeback Mountain and Sense and Sensibilities.  But his attempt to turn an action comic book hero into an art house icon just did not work for me.

Perhaps Ang Lee shouldn’t take all the blame.  The writers of the screenplay also deserve some tongue lashing for creating a lackluster storyline.  The Hulk vs his dad?  Are these guys stuck on Star Wars?

The Hulk universe has already been nicely laid out for them by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Marvel Comics.  All they had to do was take pieces from this universe and package it for a film — the Hulk, his friends, the Army, and bad guys.  They had to write-in the Hulk and Betty.  They got the US Army’s role correctly.  But the bad guy being the Hulk’s mad scientist dad who at the end turned into a monster?  Not what I’d like to see as a fan.

They could have chosen from the Abomination (bad guy for 2008 Hulk, Incredible Hulk Vol 3 #25, Tales to Astonish #90), the Leader (Tales to Astonish #69, The Incredible Hulk Vol 2 #115), the Rhino (The Incredible Hulk Vol 2 #104), and Wendigo (Hulk #162).  All great bad guys in the Hulk and Marvel Universe.  All proven to be worthy of repeat performances.  The writers did not have to create a new one.  By doing so, the writers lost me and many other fans.  We just didn’t care why the Hulk was fighting his dad.

The way the writers wrote the Hulk’s nemesis in the 2003 movie pretty much tells me that they didn’t get what the Hulk in the comic books was all about.

Why The Incredible Hulk 2008 is better than the Hulk 2003

Incredible Hulk 2008 Movie Poster

There are plenty of reasons to like Louis Letterier’s Hulk over that of Ang Lee.  First, the action is much better.  I particularly like the “Oh Shit” look on the US Army Special Forces hunting Dr. Banner in Brazil when they suddenly find their weapons and training ineffective against a brutal and superhuman target.  They simply didn’t know what hit them and did so convincingly for the benefit of the movie audience.

So what will the military do if they didn’t have enough firepower in the first go around?  In the case of The Incredible Hulk, they bring more hardware.  The battle scene on campus has plenty of action for those militarily inclined.  And the same goes for the New York city scene.

The showdown against the Abomination is very entertaining as well.  I like how the Hulk was getting the beatdown until Betty Ross got in trouble and he had to get mad to get stronger in order to save her.

What I like most about The Incredible Hulk is the way the writers wove in various aspects of the Hulk and Marvel universe.  They wrote in elements from the Hulk comic book storyline, including other super hero storylines that the Hulk may have crossed over with.  They also paid homage to the great 1970s TV series.  And they even acknowledged the 2003 movie by holding the first few scenes in South America.  That’s where Dr. Banner ended up in the Ang Lee version.

See Hulk movie DVDs for sale on eBay.

See Hulk movie Blu-ray discs for sale on eBay.