Truly a divisive curio, when this film was released there was a definite pervading opinion that comic book movies should be ‘mindless summer blockbusters’. This movie suffers precisely because it’s not a ‘mindless summer blockbuster’.

Made during a clearly painful adolescence of Marvel comic book movies (now all grown up in the shape of The Avengers), the little depth this movie has is lost on the people who want to watch Hulk smash shit up constantly for ninety minutes (See Norton’s emo, by-the-numbers, dull The Incredible Hulk to satisfy those people).
Some people have called this the ‘worst Marvel comic book movie ever made’, do these people forget the so-so Punisher movies x3, Daredevil, Elektra, Fantastic 4 x2, Ghost Rider x2 and flipping Howard the Duck? Even the CG in Spiderman was as ropey if not ropier than the much maligned CG sequences in this. Is it worse than non-Marvel movies like Judge Dredd (sacriledge!) or the truly awful Schumacher Batman films? Put in to context, sure it’s slow and there’s not much of a plot but the emotional reach, the overall dark tone, the artistic touches and the masterful editing are fascinating. Ironman, Cap and The Avengers excluded, this smashes all other Marvel adaptations in to the ground.