We pick up with the mean, green havoc machine where we left off, except with a completely different cast. Bruce Banner’s blood has already been infected, and the military is intent on exploiting his Hulky side as the ultimate WMD. Bruce’s love for the baddy general’s daughter complicates matters.

This time around, Edward Norton is Bruce Banner, living in the slums of Brazil, and Liv Tyler plays the only one who can tame the wild beast. William Hurt is her father, General "Thunderbolt" Ross, and Tim Roth is a new special operations agent who volunteers to be injected so that he can fight The Hulk and wield ultimate power.

It sounds like a great recipe for another thrilling Marvel Comics superhero pic, and it IS exciting, but some of the parts just don’t seem to add up to a whole. What’s missing is the fun. There’s very little self-parodying humor, other than a few amusing cameos and some language barrier confusion. Yes, the Hulk is supposed to be angry and brooding, and Norton is convincing enough and fun to watch, but in the end, he just seems wimpy and vanilla. When Robert Downey Jr. makes a brief appearance as Iron Man alter-ego Tony Stark, the screen is suddenly alight, and you realize, “Now THERE’S a superhero!”

There’s no doubt who could take whom if the two went mano a mano, or box office to box office. The Incredible Hulk would probably be better received if it weren’t crammed into a summer with so many other films based on comic books.

Rated PG-13.

LJM