In theaters

THE INCREDIBLE HULK, directed by Louis Leterrier, written by Zak Penn, 116 minutes, rated PG-13.

Now, this is how you go green.

Unlike “Hulk,” Ang Lee’s disappointing 2003 film based on Stan Lee’s 1962 Marvel comic book series and, in turn, the 1978-1982 television show that starred Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno, Louis Leterrier’s new version gets it right.

Much like “Iron Man” before it (only without the wit, which it lacks), this movie moves, particularly in its slick opening moments, which are a wonder of brevity. That hardly was the case with the previous film. Lee’s mistake was that he gave audiences an interminable first hour that was so dull they needed to get gamma-rayed themselves just to get through it.

This isn’t the case with Leterrier’s version, which instead compresses into a few neatly packaged minutes everything fans already know about how scientist Bruce Banner became the Hulk. For those who don’t know the story, not to worry. The distilling of those events is so well done, few will be lost.

From Zak Penn’s script, “The Incredible Hulk” stars Edward Norton as Banner, who begins the movie already zapped with enough juice to turn him into the towering Hulk whenever he becomes angry.

Since it could lead to ruin if Bruce loses control of himself, he works hard to keep his calm. When that’s impossible, as it sometimes is, he turns into the towering, muscular beast of the title, a creature who is so nearly invincible – bullets, missiles and bombs can’t stop him – it takes something of a similar ilk to fell him.

That would be Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), a greasy special-ops fighter who agrees to be similarly zapped by Banner’s girlfriend’s father, the evil Gen. Ross (William Hurt), so he can become the Abomination, a humanoid lizard giant with a bony spine, a roar that could jump-start the Earth’s core, and one heck of a left hook.

The climactic fight he and Bruce share in Harlem is a highlight, with the special effects rising to the occasion as each monster literally destroys city streets in an effort to destroy the other. And there are other standouts, such as an extended rooftop chase in Rio, where Banner was in hiding before Ross and company tracked him down, and another scene on a Virginia college campus in which Hulk takes on the full weight of the military, with Banner’s girlfriend Betty (Liv Tyler) brushing close to an unfortunate end.

Whereas Lee’s film sunk deeply into Banner’s childhood traumas and adult paranoias, it lacked the sense to fully let go and just be the great superhero movie it should have been. Leterrier strikes a better balance. Key to his film’s success is that it allows you to feel Banner’s isolation (Norton’s very good performance goes a long way in helping to that end) without sacrificing the main reason audiences want to see the film – for its action and the very real bond shared between Banner and Betty.

In a broad nod at “King Kong,” there’s a scene in “The Incredible Hulk” in which Betty and the Hulk bond high above the ground, just within a cave nestled within a stone fortress. There’s love between them, confusion and war around them, the Hulk is the target and Leterrier is there to ignite the screen with action.

He rarely disappoints.

Grade: B+

On DVD and Blu-ray disc

PERSEPOLIS, written and directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, 95 minutes, not rated. In French with English subtitles.

Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud’s Academy Award-nominated “Persepolis” ushers audiences into two colliding worlds.

The first is an arresting, black-and-white world animated with the grimness of abstract noir (color is used only fleetingly here). The second is Satrapi’s real-life story of growing up in Iran and Europe during the late 1970s and early 1990s, which gives life to the film’s 2-D animation in ways that make for a strange yet fascinating brand of pop art.

The story and the vehicle for telling it complement each other so beautifully, they work to make this one of last year’s most unique, satisfying movies. Based on Satrapi’s graphic novels, the film is a coming-of-age story for adults that follows headstrong Marjane (voice of Chiara Mastroianni) through an extended period of civil and personal unrest. Her disillusionment, rebellion and disappointment all come to a head because of the chaos created by the Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war.

To a certain degree, Marjane’s cynical worldview and her dark sense of humor help her to assemble what can’t rationally be assembled. Still, even that ability can take her only so far. Born to a cosmopolitan family, she is a feminist growing up in a country that came to shun Western ideals after the fall of the shah and that repressed its people, especially women, as a result. Every breath within her lives to be an individual, but how can she do so when the country she loves is now determined to hold her back?

Helping her through her challenging early years are her supportive mother (Catherine Deneuve) and father (Simon Abkarian), as well as her savvy grandmother (Danielle Darrieux) and an imprisoned uncle (Francois Jerosme). In spite of their guidance, Marjane remains a loose cannon, which worries her parents to the point that they exile her to Austria. There, she attends school and becomes as much a stranger in that land as her own land has become to her.

As the years pass for Marjane, “Persepolis” reveals an undercurrent of sadness that’s bracing. The questions the movie poses are humbling, none more so than the idea that sometimes your country no longer can be your home if you radically oppose its views. The direction Iran took essentially exiled Marjane from life, which is the cold truth she must face, though in critical, wrenching ways that won’t be revealed here.

Grade: A-

WeekinRewind.com is the site for Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s blog, video podcasts, iTunes portal and archive of hundreds of movie reviews. Smith’s reviews appear Mondays, Fridays and weekends in Lifestyle, as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.

New to DVD

Renting a DVD? BDN film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases. Those in bold print are new to stores this week.

American Gangster ? B

Balls of Fury ? D+

Bee Movie ? C

Cloverfield ? B

Definitely, Maybe ? B+

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly ? A

Eastern Promises ? A-

Enchanted ? A-

Evan Almighty ? C

The Golden Compass ? C+

I?m Not There ? C-

In the Valley of Elah ? B+

Jumper ? D

Juno ? A-

Lars and the Real Girl ? B+

Lions for Lambs ? C

Lust, Caution ? C

Michael Clayton ? A-

The Missing: Blu-ray ? B+

The Mist ? B+

No Country for Old Men ? A

One Missed Call ? D

Persepolis ? A-

Ratatouille ? A

Rendition ? C+

The Spiderwick Chronicles ? C+

Sweeney Todd ? A

Youth Without Youth ? C-