EVER since Tim Burton's genre-busting Batman films of the 80s and 90s, the trend in superhero movie-making has been towards the grim and gritty.

A snazzy utility belt and some shiny tights might have sufficed for the Saturday afternoon TV fodder of the 70s, but the most important accessory these days is a disturbed childhood and a full set of 'issues'.

This supposedly more grown-up approach has led to films like the recent dull as dishwater X-Men 2, whose characters spent more time pondering their own tangled emotional lives than doing what audiences had paid to see them do - i.e. pulling up their primary-coloured underpants and giving it the full superheroic works.

Fortunately, Hulk takes a more balanced approach. It's got enough of the navel-gazing psychological stuff to placate the more serious-minded filmgoer - in fact, it's almost an hour before our hero goes into Geoff Capes overdrive - but contrasts it with some stunning action sequences that will delight fans of Marvel's not-so-jolly green giant.

Whereas the touchy-feely stuff in a lot of genre movies seems distinctly fake, Hulk's metaphorical central storyline of a troubled adult literally confronting his inner demons is well-developed and genuinely affecting, aided by low-key but sensitive performances by Bana and Connelly.

Director Ang Lee built his reputation on two utterly contrasting films - Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility and the spectacular action epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - so it should come as no surprise that he manages to combine a thoughtful character study with an out-and-out computer generated imaginery extravaganza.

After a pleasingly restrained build-up, the film lets itself down somewhat with an over-ambitious climax in which the Hulk engages in hand-to-hand combat with his mutant father.

For the most part, though, Hulk is a thoroughly engaging piece of entertainment. It's certainly nothing to get angry about.

I give it: 7/10