In 2003, director Ang Lee released his interpretation of the Marvel Comics character, "Hulk."

In trying to intellectualize this most primal of stories and fantasy characters, Lee delivered a film that was basically lambasted as a boring dud.

Iron Man, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four -- all are Marvel Comics characters with which one can support a certain degree of cinematic intellectualization. But the Hulk?

Hulk is all about destruction and power. What else can be said about a green-skinned behemoth whose favorite rant is "Hulk is the strongest of all!"?

So it is with some degree of trepidation that those disappointed with the previous cinematic take on the Hulk may approach the newest incarnation, "The Incredible Hulk."

However, with a new director (Louis Leterrier) and creative team comes a new sensibility, one that is much more in tune with the comic and its fan base.

Leterrier and his writer, Zak Penn, see the story of the Hulk more as a mixture of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and "The Fugitive" with a little bit of "Beauty and the Beast" and "King Kong" added just for fun. Their vision, for the most part, works.

As the victim of a gamma radiation experiment gone bad, Dr. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) has gone underground, existing simply amid the squalor and poverty of a ghetto on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. While working for menial wages within a bottling factory, Banner spends his free time disciplining himself to keep calm so the monstrous being within him doesn't erupt.

Stateside, the military is searching for Banner in the worst way.

Because Banner's accident was due to the Army's efforts to develop a "super soldier serum," Gen. Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (William Hurt) would like to either harness Banner's Hulk as the ultimate weapon for the defense of the United States or to extract Banner's DNA and blood so as to create his own indomitable fighting force.

Gen. Ross has recruited Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), an international soldier of fortune, to lead Ross' efforts at tracking Banner down. An initial assault on Banner's hideaway goes terribly awry, resulting in the Hulk destroying Blonsky's unit and nearly Blonsky, himself, before fleeing.

Afterward, Banner just wants to rid himself of the monster within him. His desire eventually leads him back to Culver University in Virginia to work with an associate in the hope of developing a cure. Instead, he reunites with his former love, Dr. Elizabeth Ross (Liv Tyler).

Blonsky, meanwhile, implores Gen. Ross for a second chance at the Hulk. To improve his chances of success, Blonsky has the general inject him with rudiments of the gamma-radiated formulas Banner used.

Where "The Incredible Hulk" succeeds where "Hulk" failed is that the forces behind this film know it is meant to be escapist entertainment, brain candy of the highest order. But that doesn't mean the film has to pander to cheesiness or cheapness.

Quite the contrary. The film has impeccable production values, ranging from a stellar cast to lavishly photographed exotic locales.

Where the film suffers somewhat is with the CGI effects responsible for depicting the Hulk. Hulk looks more like a refugee from a video game than a real entity.

But the fight sequences between Hulk and the military and Hulk and his newly created nemesis, the Abomination, are nothing short of bombastic and loads of fun to watch.

If it's high art one wants, then go back and watch Lee's take on the Hulk. If one wants a more hip take on comic-book pop culture, see "Iron Man." But if one wants just a simple, basic popcorn movie to kill two hours with, then "The Incredible Hulk" is the film of choice.