If any comic book adaptation can be said to have thoroughly polarized both critics and audiences alike, then Ang Lee's 2003 Hulk is that movie. Widely considered to be one of the most forgettable comic book movies, many fans dismiss it as a badly-judged mistake. Yet the aspects of Lee's Hulk which are often cited as its downsides - the emphasis on character development and the psychology of the Hulk; the comparative lack of action when held up against other comic book franchise movies - are Hulk's real strengths. Ang Lee failed to get anything like the credit he deserved for challenging the conventions of the genre, and for many Hulk has plunged into the cinematic memory hole. While Hulk may be the most controversial entry on this list for some readers, nevertheless a new appraisal of what it got right is long overdue. The Edward Norton reboot inexplicably performed better at the box office, perhaps proving that mindless action sequences are really what Hulk fans are looking for in movie adaptations of the comic.
