You know what really grinds my gears? Being a geek all of the sudden having something to do with being cool. Sure, Bill Gates is a filthy rich geek, but we are only considered geeks (dorks/nerds/etc) because we weren’t really comfortable with many things considered ‘cool’ by mainstream society. We were usually smarter than the average person - whether that translated into good grades in math, building computers, reading tons of books, or some other outlet. We might not have been given swirlies or shoved in lockers, but the things we really liked doing were not meant for the world to know.

I went to the midnight showing of the newest comic book inspired movie The Incredible Hulk. One thing I’ve been hearing all week is how bad the first movie was, and how nobody cared about this film - and this was reflected by the half empty midnight showing. Its regrettable, because the movie was pretty much what I wanted from a Hulk movie. What do I want? Smashing. Lots of things smashed.

They definitely are going with a movie continuity based more off The Ultimates comic series. I suspected as much when Nick Fury after the credits of Iron Man was portrayed as black. Also, Banner was working on the Super Soldier project while transformed and not a gamma bomb. Im sure many more nuances exist I didnt catch. It’s a good series - a great series even. Their take on Galactus as a hive mind species in Ultimate Galactus. The comic series is extensive enough to provide material for a ton of movies.

The obvious tie in to Iron Man, and the already announced Thor, Captain America, and Avengers movies really put pressure on this film to be really good. I feel like a weak link in these movies could drag down the amazing potential these movies have to be epic. Iron Man set the bar really high - I was reluctant to make a statement like ‘Best Comic Movie Ever’, but I can say pretty comfortably it was my favorite. The Hulk, however, holds its own, and might even be better the 2nd time around. I’ll have to make the call when both are out on Blu-ray… and I get a PS3. Until then, Im giving the Hulk 4 1/2 ripped purple pants out of five.

Bottom Line: FORGET the last Hulk movie… this is a whole new Hulk. Better villain, better CGI, better pacing, better action. Whether you hated the last Hulk movie, or just thought it was bad, this one will not put the same tast in your mouth. NO poorly done daddy story… no Hulk jumping across states in something looking out of an IMAX theater.