Now Showing: The Hulk

The Hulk

Genre: Action/Superhero/Sci-Fi

Directors: Leigh Whannell

Writer: Mark Newton

Based on Marvel Comics characters

Cast: Mark Duplass, Bryce Dallas Howard, Don Johnson, William H. Macy, Jay Baruchel, Timothy Olyphant, Ray Liotta, Daryl Sabarra, Zach Gilford, Robert Patrick, Ron Perlman (cameo)

Plot: Several of the United States' military leaders are meeting at the Pentagon to discuss how they should prepare in case the alien Galactus ever comes back to Earth and that Silver Surfer creature isn't around to fend him off. Among the group is General Thaddeus Ross (Don Johnson), Admiral Westbrook (Robert Patrick) and General John Ryker (Ray Liotta). Ultimately they decide to bring in some of the world's best scientists and have them develop defense projects centered around creating a weapon like no other to defend the planet. Westbrook suggests bringing in elements of the private sector and reveals that he's already had some discussions with billionaire industrialist Victor von Doom to see what ideas he had. Ross and Ryker are wary of private business involvement as they may have different motives than the government.

General Ross and his right-hand man Major Glenn Talbot (Timothy Olyphant) meet with the world-renowned physicist Dr. Geoffrey Crawford (William H. Macy) at Desert State University in Navapo, New Mexico. Ross and Talbot tell Crawford that they want to talk to him about his research into gamma radiation. Crawford obliges and asks them what they specifically are looking for. They tell him that the US government would like Crawford to develop a method to weaponize gamma radiation to use against potential extraterrestrial threats to US soil. Crawford is torn on the idea as he doesn't love the idea of his research being used as a weapon, but agrees when they assure him that he will have no shortage of resources and select his own team for the project.

Bruce Banner nervously paces outside of a restaurant while waiting, fidgeting with an engagement ring box. He stops pacing and smiles as Betty Ross (Bryce Dallas Howard) arrives and quickly puts the ring box back in his pocket. Bruce gives her a kiss and they enter the restaurant. Bruce signals the waiter and he brings over a bottle of champagne. Bruce gets down on one knee. Just then General Ross and Major Talbot enter the restaurant, interrupting Bruce's proposal attempt. Betty demands to know what General Ross, her father, is doing there. Ross tells her that he needs to talk to Bruce about a job and that interrupting their romantic evening was just a happy accident. Talbot tells Bruce that he needs to come with them to discuss a top secret project. Bruce is annoyed but agrees to come along. Betty demands that she come along and accuses her father of trying to destroy her personal life. Ross tells Betty that the project is on a need to know basis. Betty glares at her father and tells him that she is one who needs to know. Ross bristles and tells Betty to get on the helicopter with Bruce.

Bruce and Betty are taken to a remote base deep in the desert. Bruce is greeted by his former mentor, Crawford, who offers to introduce Bruce to the rest of the team. Betty starts to follow them. Talbot is about to get in her way to stop her, but Ross tells him that it's pointless and orders Talbot to arrange for his daughter's security clearance. Crawford introduces Banner to  biochemist Dr. Samuel Sterns (Jay Baruchel) and research assistant Rick Jones (Daryl Sabara). Crawford tells the others that Bruce was his star pupil at DSU before he moved on to bigger and better things. Crawford then tells Banner that he has one more important thing to show him: the gamma orb. They go down an elevator and into an underground bunker where a large sphere floats in the room, glowing bright green. Crawford tells Banner that the orb is 100% undiluted gamma energy. Banner asks if the project is about weaponizing the gamma radiation, and Crawford nods his head.

In the research room, Crawford and Sterns are brainstorming various methods of weaponizing the gamma radiation. Bruce comments that the two of them are making it all more complicated than it needs to be and says that the basic design concepts of nuclear weapons should translate to gamma with relative ease, they just need to find the right temperature that would focus the gamma radiation rather than simply radiate it. Sterns immediately starts working up a formula on a whiteboard. Crawford comments that he knew Bruce was the right person to bring onto this project.

Once Sterns has the formula pinned down, and after they successfully manage to create combustion from gamma samples, Crawford deconstructs a decommissioned nuclear bomb that General Ross acquired for them. In full containment suits, Crawford and Banner collect a piece of the gamma orb in a vacuum capsule. They then insert the capsule into the rebuilt bomb, which they dub the world's first gamma bomb. The team celebrates and General Ross commends them on making the prototype, but they still have to test the thing out. Sterns asks how and when that will happen. Ross informs them that in the morning, he will have them take the bomb out into a test location and set it for detonation. They will then come back to the base to observe the blast and monitor the radiation and blast levels from a safe distance. Betty pulls Bruce aside and kisses him. Bruce reaches into his pocket and pulls out the engagement ring. Betty is speechless. Bruce said that he planned on doing this a while ago, but they were interrupted. Bruce then gets down on his knee and asks Betty to marry him. Betty happily nods her head yes and puts the ring on her finger.

In the morning, the team sets up the gamma bomb for a test explosion, the bomb is accidentally triggered early. Bruce, Crawford, Sterns and Jones all hop onto the back of a military humvee. The vehicle speeds, barely in control, over the bumpy desert terrain. Jones isn't holding on to anything and falls off the back of the vehicle. Bruce jumps off and yells for them to stop. He runs over to Rick and helps him up. Once he has the unconscious Rick safely on the humvee, he yells for them to drive as he climbs back on. Bruce's foot slips and he falls to the ground as the bomb goes off. A large green mushroom cloud fills the sky. Crawford notices that Bruce isn't in the vehicle and turns around. As they drive back toward the explosion, Sterns finds a gasmask and puts it on Rick. They quickly get Bruce into the back of the humvee and speed back to the safety of the base.

When they return to base, Betty is in hysterics when she sees Bruce lying unconscious in the humvee. She begins running from the control booth, but is stopped by her father who urges her to wait until Bruce has been examined at least to make sure it's safe to be around him. Betty pushes her father aside and puts on a gasmask. Crawford and Sterns pull Banner out of the vehicle. Ross orders Crawford and Sterns be quarantined immediately to limit exposure to the rest of the base. Rick wakes up. Betty asks Rick what happened, and Rick tells her that Bruce saved his life. Betty demands that her father allow him to see her fiance. Ross is shocked, and then notices the ring on his daughter's finger. He takes a deep breath and assures her that as soon as they can run tests on him and the rest of the exposed team, he will make sure she can visit with him. Ross then asks Talbot to take Betty back to her living quarters for the time being.

Bruce wakes up in a quarantine room, attached to all kinds of devices. A doctor in a full containment suit takes a sample of Bruce's blood. Bruce asks what's going on, but the doctor doesn't say a word. Bruce then notices Talbot watching from an observation room and demands answers. Talbot tells Bruce that they are just taking the necessary precautions with everyone that was exposed to the gamma bomb's radiation. Bruce demands to see Betty immediately, but Talbot tells him that is not an option. Bruce gets out of bed and pulls off all the wires and asks again to see Betty. Talbot again refuses and orders the doctor to give Bruce a sedative to calm him down. Bruce becomes angry and pushes the doctor away, saying he doesn't need to calm down - he needs to see Betty. Bruce picks up a stool and hurls it at the observation window, shattering it. Talbot calls into the radio that there is a breach in the quarantine unit and that all available soldiers should ready their stun rounds. Bruce's skin begins to turn green. He jumps through the window and grabs Talbot, lifting him up off of the ground. Bruce demands to know where Betty is as his voice begins turning into more of a growl. Talbot is too stunned to speak. Bruce throws Talbot clear across the room. Bruce runs through the corridors of the base as his skin turns all the way to a bright green and his body begins to grow and his muscles expand greatly in size. Soldiers arrive and fire stun rounds at the Hulk Bruce has become, but their weapons do little but annoy him. General Ross sees the green Hulk charging through the base on the security cameras and runs to Betty's quarters. He enters and locks the door behind him. Betty asks what's going on, and Ross says he isn't sure but that there is a threat on base and it's his job - as a father, not as a general - to keep her safe. Ross checks his gun's ammunition and keeps his eyes on the door.

The Hulk continues his march through the base. Each time a group of soldiers converge on him, he quickly incapacitates them with his immense strength. He finally makes his way to the living quarters section of the base. Betty and General Ross hear loud thumps coming from outside of the room. Betty asks what exactly the threat is, and Ross says that it was some sort of green hulking monster, at least that's about all he could make out from the security footage. The loud thumps suddenly stop seemingly right on the other side of Betty's door. The door suddenly flies into the room, hitting and knocking General Ross out cold. The Hulk enters Betty's living quarters. Betty is frightened, but looks into the Hulk's eyes, recognizing them as the same eyes as Bruce. The Hulk suddenly starts shrinking back down to normal human size. The green coloring leaves the skin, revealing Bruce, who then passes out in Betty's arms. Talbot comes rushing into the quarters, rifle drawn. When he sees both Ross and Banner unconscious he orders that Banner be put under heavy sedation immediately.

Ross soon wakes up and personally goes to check on Crawford, Sterns and Jones. He orders samples of their blood be taken, analyzed and compared to the sample of Banner's blood immediately. Crawford asks what is going on, and General Ross tells him that Banner has had an adverse reaction to the gamma bomb blast and he wants to make sure that the others present for the blast aren't going to have those same effects. The blood samples show that Crawford and Sterns have moderate amounts of gamma radiation, but nowhere near the amounts detected in Bruce’s blood. Rick Jones, on the other hand, has almost no trace of the gamma in his blood and is permitted to leave quarantine. Jones goes to Betty and asks her what is going on with Bruce. Betty shows Jones the footage of Bruce as the Hulk. Jones laments that it is all his fault. If he hadn’t fallen out of the humvee and Bruce hadn’t come back to save him none of this would have happened.

When General Ryker finds out from Major Talbot about the Hulk incident at the base, he insists on coming to the base immediately. He announces that he will be taking command of the base for the time being and demands to be fully briefed on all of the incidents that led up to Banner’s transformation. Once he has all the details, he orders Crawford and Sterns to make another gamma bomb immediately. Ross questions Ryker, and Ryker reminds Ross that he saw firsthand the abilities the gamma bomb gave Banner. He then tells Ross to imagine an entire Army unit with that kind of strength and power. Ross makes it known that he doesn’t support such a dangerous experiment. Ryker informs Ross that he can leave the base if he would like, but it won’t change anything - the experiment is going to happen regardless of Ross’ feelings on the matter. 

Crawford and Sterns complete the new gamma bomb. Ryker has a unit load it into the back of a truck and gives them GPS coordinates to deliver it to and orders them to radio the base once they have reached their destination. Once the unit calls in, Ryker has the bomb detonated. Ross and Betty watch in dismay as a green mushroom cloud emerges in the distance. Ross urges his daughter to pack up her things, telling her that it isn’t safe around here for her anymore, but Betty refuses. She makes it clear to her father that she is not going to leave Bruce behind, regardless of the situation. 

Once the radiation levels die down, Talbot leads a team out to the blast site to retrieve the bomb unit. When they get there, they only find one survivor: Private Ben Tibbetts (Zach Gilford), although he’s barely conscious. Talbot orders his men to load Tibbetts up and get him back to the base for observation. Crawford and Sterns are ordered to draw several samples of blood from Tibbetts. Ryker is frustrated that Tibbetts is not awake to transform, so he has Tibbetts shocked with a cattle prod. Tibbetts begins transforming, but his form is more misshapen than Banner’s, with large bumps and bulges covering his large green body. Ryker asks Tibbetts how he is feeling. Tibbetts can only reply with loud growls and grunts. Ryker salutes Tibbetts, who throws Ryker across the room in reply. Ryker’s body hits Sterns, causing Sterns to hit his head. Soldiers start opening fire on the beast, but their bullets aren’t even breaking the skin. Betty asks her father what they should do. Ross tells Betty to get down to Bruce and wake him up. Betty nods her head and runs down the corridor to where Bruce is being kept sedate. She rips all the wires and tubes away from Bruce, but he isn’t waking up. Panicking, Betty digs through a medical cart until she finds an adrenaline shot. She stabs Bruce in the chest with it. Bruce wakes up, gasping for air. Betty hugs Bruce. He asks her what is going on, and Betty says that they need his help. Bruce is confused. Betty says he needs to turn into the green monster. Bruce comments that he thought that was all a dream. Betty assures him it wasn’t and that they need him to fight a monster that is wreaking havoc on the base. Bruce says that he doesn’t know how to transform. Betty asks him what triggered it before, and Bruce says that all he remembers is feeling really angry. Betty says that must be it, and drags Bruce along back toward the action.

With Ryker knocked out, Ross takes command over the soldiers on the base. He orders them to try to lead Tibbetts outside of the building and out into the open so that they can use heavier fire power. Tibbetts chases a group of soldiers out of the building. Ross tells some men to get into tanks to fire on the threat. Unlike the bullets, the shells the tank fires are able to do a little damage, but the wounds quickly heal. Ross tells them to keep firing everything they have at Tibbetts to buy time. Talbot asks what they’re buying time for, when Betty and Bruce arrive. Ross asks why Banner isn’t big and green. At the sight of Ross, Bruce’s eyes turn green, then his skin. Finally he begins growing in size until he is in his Hulk form. Banner glares at Ross before leaving the building.

When Banner gets outside, he is surprised to see Tibbetts. When he sees Tibbetts pummeling soldiers, Banner charges Tibbetts, sending him flying into a water tower, knocking it over. Tibbetts quickly gets back up on his feet. Banner picks up a humvee and throws it at Tibbetts, who punches the projectile away. Hulk and Tibbetts begin exchanging blows, punching each other repeatedly. 

While the fight is going on outside, Sterns sneaks to the lab and starts filling his bag with gamma-radiated blood samples. Betty spots him and tries to stop him, but he pushes her aside and locks her in the lab. Crawford watches as Sterns runs away from the lab and drops a blood sample. Sterns is oblivious and keeps running. Crawford picks up the sample and upon seeing the name Banner, pockets it. 

The Hulk and Tibbetts melee leads back inside, causing the building to start to fall apart. Talbot drags the unconscious General Ryker out of the building. Ross begins frantically looking for Betty, finally finding her locked in the lab. Ross lets her out, and she tells him that Sterns stole the blood samples. Ross tells her that they can worry about that later, now he has to get her out of the building before it collapses. Falling rubble lands on Crawford, crushing his legs. Rick Jones emerges and is able to lift the rubble up just enough for Crawford to crawl out from under it. Jones then helps Crawford out of harm’s way.

As their fight continues, Hulk knocks Tibbetts into the base’s power station. Seeing water on the ground underneath Tibbetts’ feet, Hulk knocks over a large transformer, causing Tibbetts to be electrocuted and turned back into his normal human self. With the building on the verge of collapse, Hulk carries Tibbetts out of the building before it tumbles. The Hulk then turns back into Bruce. Betty hugs Bruce, who is absolutely exhausted. Ross thanks Banner and advises him to leave the area before Ryker wakes up. Bruce nods his head, and he and Betty begin walking away from the base. Meanwhile, Samuel Sterns boards a bus headed toward New York City as he tightly clutches his bag full of gamma-radiated blood samples.

General Ross reports that they were unable to make a successful weapon out of gamma radiation. Suddenly General Ryker enters the room and declares that Ross is lying and urges Ross to tell Admiral Westbrook and everyone else at the Pentagon about “The Hulk”.

Mid-credits: Geoffrey Crawford, now confined to a wheelchair, injects himself with the sample of Banner’s blood. Crawford’s eyes turn green and he is able to stand up.

Post-credits: Several months later, Bruce and Betty watch on TV as J. Jonah Jameson (Ron Perlman) gives a report about a large green woman terrorizing New York City. Jameson urges everyone to stay far away from the monstrous “She-Hulk” and report any sightings to the Daily Bugle tip line, offering a reward for photographs and video footage of the monster in the flesh.