The Hulk (film)

The Hulk is a 2011 superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It was directed by Raja Gosnell and stars Mark Ruffalo, Liv Tyler, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tim Roth, Shantel VanSanten, Jessica Chastain, Tim Blake Nelson, Ty Burrell, and William Hurt. It was released on July 29, 2011.

Plot
Bruce Banner and Betty Ross are scientists at Stark Labs working on a revised version of a 1944 expiriment dubbed "Super Soldier". Banner and Ross add gamma radiation to the serum. Banner allows himself to be used as a lab rat. Ross injects her friend, who turns into a green monster and crashes through the wall of the tenth story. Ross and the manager of the building, Olivia Stark, run down to the street where they find a broken road but no sign of Banner or the monster.

Banner, still in his green form, escapes to a machinist shop and finds his friend, Rick Jones, who is also dating Betty. Jones at first runs away until he hears him say, "Me, Bruce". Rick then calms his friend down, who turns back into his human form. Bruce explains to Rick what happened. Betty and Olivia arrive at the shop to tell Bruce that Betty's father, Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, an army general, is leading a SWAT team to find Banner. Bruce turns back into his monster form and attacks the SWAT team. Thunderbolt shoots at Banner but he is unaffected. Thunderbolt calls him a "hulk" and escapes.

At Stark Labs, Bruce, Rick, Betty, and Bruce's cousin, Jennifer Walters, discuss how they can reverse the effects of the serum. However, Betty's ex-boyfriend, Leonard Samson arrives to win back Betty. Betty shuns him. Samson sees Bruce and promises he won't tell the police or the government. However, Samson calls Thunderbolt directly afterwards. Ross storms the building with his squad and tries to capture Bruce while he is still in his human form. However, Bruce is shot three times and turns into the Hulk. Bruce kills all of the squad and several scientists before capturing Thunderbolt and taking him to the top of the Statue of Liberty. A dying member of the squad, Emil Blonsky,  injects himself with the serum and becomes a similar monster to the Hulk.

Emil, being called an Abomination, battles Hulk. Thunderbolt falls into the ocean. Olivia uses one of her brother's suits to battle Abomination while Hulk rescues Thunderbolt. The latter sees that he has misjudged Hulk. Hulk finishes off Abomination by throwing him into statue several times and then having the broken Statue land on Emil, turning him back to his human form. Emil is arrested and Hulk is viewed as hero, while Thunderbolt covers up Bruce, Betty, Rick, and Jennifer involvement. Bruce and Betty destroy the serum while Rick, Jennifer, Samson, Thunderbolt, and another scientist, Samuel Sterns, watch the two until a leak occurs, sending gamma gas into the room that the five of them are standing in, leaving them all unconscious.

Cast

 * Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk; a genius scientist working at Stark Labs.
 * Liv Tyler as Betty Ross; Rick's girlfriend and Bruce's science partner.
 * Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Rick Jones; Bruce's best friend and a machinist.
 * Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky/Abomination; an army general and Ross' lab rat.
 * Shantel VanSanten as Olivia Stark; the manager of Stark Labs. VanSanten appears in the film to furthur the point that Iron Man and The Hulk take place in one universe.
 * Jessica Chastain as Jennifer Walters; Bruce's cousin who is a lawyer.
 * Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns; Stark Labs' head scientist.
 * Ty Burrell as Leonard Samson; Betty's ex-boyfriend trying to win her back.
 * William Hurt as Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross; Betty's father and an army general.

Box office
The Hulk grossed $142.6 million (25.3) in the United States and Canada and $421.1 million (74.7%) in other territories for a total of $563.7 million. The ninth highest-grossing 2011 film, the lowest-grossing film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It achieved a worldwide opening weekend of $36.2 million.

Critical reception
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 22% of 116 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 4 out of 10. The site's critical consensus states, "The Hulk wastes it's talented cast and large budget on a bland, boring film with too much talking and not enough action."