Lee’s take on Bruce Banner — the scientist you won’t like when he’s angry (played by Eric Bana) — stands up rather well as a counterpoint to today’s CGI-drenched behemoths.

I ask you: Is this not the correct way, the honorable way, for a studio to spend $150 million of its summer capital? Universal said The Hulk, and Lee heard something else, perhaps a story of dysfunctional families torn apart by ambition.

Even if Lee would have wanted to rise above the simple two-dimensional universe of the comic books, his portrayal remains just as flat.

The film's artistic ambition, psychological explorations, and fun action get largely lost in its unnecessarily long runtime and unconventional editing style.