The Hulk (2006)

The Hulk is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Johnathan Hensleigh based on the Marvel comics character the Incredible Hulk. The film stars Guy Pearce, Kate Beckinsale and Donald Sutherland.

Plot
In the late 1960's, scientist David Banner is conducting genetics tests on himself. His mutated DNA is subsequently passed onto his son, Bruce. When the military try to shut Banner down, he goes into a rage and accidentally kills his wife. David vanishes and Bruce is adopted.

Several years later, Bruce is approached by General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, the father of his girlfriend Betty Ross, to take part in an experiment involving gamma radiation. The test is past of a WWII era experiment known as the Super Soldier program, which Ross is trying to restart. The experiment goes badly, however, when Bruce is exposed to large amounts of gamma radiation. This merges with his already mutant DNA, saving his life.

After the accident, Bruce wakes up in hospital, where Betty is confused as to how he survived. Bruce tells her that he feels better then ever. Bruce also meets the new janitor, who later that night breaks into his lab and steals some of Bruce's research. He also discreetly steals some of Bruce's hair for his own testing. Bruce, stressed out by both the failed experiment and an argument he had with Betty, goes to his lab and blacks out. The next morning, the lab has been trashed.

Betty brings Bruce to a cabin in the woods to try and figure out what happened, but Ross appears and places Bruce under house arrest there. He leaves Major Glenn Talbot to keep watch on Bruce. The janitor rings Bruce and informs him that he has unleashed a pack of mutated dogs and they are coming to kill Betty. Further provoked by Talbot, Bruce suddenly mutates into a huge green brute and injures the major. The dogs arrive and Bruce manages to save Betty before regressing back to himself. He and Betty try to make a run for it with Betty's car, but they are cornered by Ross.

Ross and Talbot oversee an experiment at an underground desert base in which Bruce is placed inside of a sensory deprivation tank. They plan to trigger another transformation, wishing to weaponize the project. Bruce, however, escapes upon transformation and ravages the facility, during which Talbot is killed. Bruce then rampages across the desert and battles the military forces chasing him. He eventually makes his way to San Francisco where Betty appears to calm him down, causing him to revert to his normal self. He is then arrested.

Meanwhile, the janitor breaks into Bruce's destroyed lab and steals the nanomed technology he had been studying and injects himself with them. He is then granted the ability to meld with and absorb anything he touches. He then turns himself in, on condition that he can speak with Bruce.

Ross allows the two to meet in an isolated army headquarters, where the janitor finally reveals to Bruce that he is his father, David. Bruce is shocked and at first refuses to believe it, but soon comes to accept the truth. David then tells Bruce that he wants to see his "real" son, the monster. Bruce refuses to transform, forcing David to reveal his powers. He bites into a large power cable and is transformed into a electrical behemoth. Bruce is forced to change to protect Betty and the two engage in a brutal fight, which takes them out of the base and into the woods.

Their fight eventually spills over into a lake, where David drags Bruce to the bottom and tries to drown him. At the same time, against his daughters wishes, Ross orders that a gamma bomb be detonated on them. Due to David's powers, however, he absorbs the blast and is destroyed, while Bruce escapes unscathed.

In the aftermath, the media who witnesses the San Francisco rampage nickname the creature "The Incredible Hulk." Ross tries to console Betty, as they both believe Bruce to be dead. At the end, however, Bruce is revealed to have gotten away and is hiding in Central America.

Cast
Guy Pearce - Bruce Banner

Fred Tatasciore - The Hulk (Voice)

Kate Beckinsale - Betty Ross

Donald Sutherland - Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross

Dominic West - Glenn Talbot

Tommy Lee Jones - David Banner

Josh Brolin - Young David Banner

Sequel
The film was followed by Hulk 2 in 2008.