Hellboy article

[hobbes]

Now, I will freely admit my 11 yr old has done a fine job of getting me excited about this movie. I saw this article and have now decided to honor his request to see it opening weekend.

 

 

By Nick Nunziata

CNN Headline News

Tuesday, March 30, 2004 Posted: 12:56 PM EST (1756 GMT)

 

 

 

Ron Perlman plays the title role in the comic-book adventure "Hellboy."

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

"Hellboy"

 

 

(CNN) -- One of the great things about having a passion for film is those rare moments when a movie reminds you of why you fell in love with the medium in the first place.

 

A lot of people discovered their love of movies through "Jaws" or "Star Wars." Then, people found "Ghostbusters" and "Die Hard" or the Indiana Jones films. In recent memory, the obvious candidates would be "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy as well as the "Matrix" series. This Friday brings another film to add to that list: "Hellboy."

 

As a movie-watching culture, we take the good with the bad, and often the bad far outweighs the good. The magical moments are fleeting, with potentially classic scenes often buried under fast edits, showy special effects and a steady diet of loud noise and music.

 

Director Guillermo del Toro's "Hellboy" is a choice cut of a film, something with true heart and emotion that manages to achieve summer movie spectacle without sacrificing story in lieu of showing off. It's a film with a memory.

 

There's a lineage, a bloodline living under the surface of the film that recalls pivotal stories such as "Beauty and the Beast," those great Ray Harryhausen "Sinbad" films and more recent classics both gothic and adventurous. For a cynic such as myself, who spends his days complaining about the business, "Hellboy" a breath of fresh air, even if it may carry a hint of sulfur. For people starting to develop their own movie tastes, it just might be their "Jaws" or their "Ghostbusters."

 

It's the rotten apples (bad movies) that spoil it for the bunch. But it's those few examples of purity that keep us from developing a "glass is half-empty" mentality. It's all too easy to become grumpy and unforgiving in our tastes, adopting that mentality of parents and grandparents about how "they don't make 'em like they used to" anymore.

 

We need a fresh, uncompromising film such as "Hellboy" to clear the air and remind us why we trade movie quotes, debate over which franchises are the best and plunk down untold dollars at the box office and DVD store.

 

In a way, I think movies can keep us young, if only for a moment. If we can regain that feeling we got the first time we saw Indy outrun the boulder, James Stewart grapple with Raymond Burr in "Rear Window" or King Kong "fall" for Fay Wray, then some of their immortality rubs off on us. It's why movies have a power over us all, regardless of age, race and political leaning.

 

"Hellboy" is the latest film that battered my walls of cynicism to a pulp. It reminded me of when I was the ripe age of 5, watching Steven Spielberg's shark wreak havoc by peering through the sleeve of my coat -- too afraid to watch but too enraptured not to see what was happening. "Hellboy" is an underdog, a relatively inexpensive summer movie based on a comic book that aspires to be something more.

 

How can you not root for a movie like that?

 

 

 

Link to article.

[s-man]

It looks awesome in the previews...cant wait to see it! (hope it doesnt disappoint!)

[supapimp]

30-35 million opening weekend?

[aardvark88]

*** Possible spoiler warning ****

 

Saw the advance movie previewed Mon. March 29. Never read Mignola's Hellboy comic b4. Screening was 99% full. Sat in the 2nd row from the front in middle of row.

 

Movie better than League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Hellboy smoking & acting like Wolvie in X2.

Great editing & quick pacing. Excellent shots of dark European mausoleums.

Reminded me of Raiders Lost Ark 1, 2, 3 as storyline crosses decades: Nazi mysticism to ninja swordplay.

1 of the Nazi villians wore a metal mask that reminded me of the Red Skull. Super aqua-effects on Abe Sapien. Would recommend viewing on the big screen as director did a spectacular job with a limited budget.

[aardvark88]

Story also involved a love triangle with Liz Sherman from the comic. Sharp firestarter special fx that previews what film makers can do once they bring Phoenix or Dark Phoenix to the big screen in X-men 3 movie.

Del Toro also directed Blade 2 (Wesley Snipes).

[hobbes]

30-35 million opening weekend?

 

I think the movie has a good shot at this considering the promo dvd at best buy that is making the rounds. I have also noticed quite a few kids talking about it. A good chunk of my son's lacrosse team was chattering on about both the best buy dvd and the trailers. I think this bodes well for the movie. Tells me they are hitting the target audience.

[savagetales]

Souds a little iffy (from CBR)...

 

WHAT THE "HELLBOY?" A REVIEW OF THE FILM.

by Seth Jones, Staff Writer

Posted: March 31, 2004

At the core of "Hellboy" -- the comic book "Hellboy," that is -- is Mike Mignola's artwork. Sometimes the story clicks, sometimes it doesn't, but what you're guaranteed every time you plunk down $2.95 for the Dark Horse comic is visual stimulation, eye candy. There will be shadows, there will be a slumped-shouldered red hero with a giant hand, and maybe, if you're lucky, there will be monkeys with guns.

 

And this, for me, is good enough for a comic book. But I can read a comic in ten minutes.

 

For a movie to offer similar visual stimulation but lack a coherent story is much more painful -- a movie is two hours. This is the problem with "Hellboy," the movie.

 

The movie starts off strong during World War II with Professor Broom and a group of gritty U.S. Army soldiers foiling a Nazi plot. The first appearance of Kroenen, an undead walking gas mask with an array of cutlery, sends a chill up your spine that hints that you may be in for something special. The first appearance of Abe Sapien offers a similar "look at that" feel, one that makes you think you're going to be dazzled for the next two hours.

 

Sadly, no.

 

Ron Perlman is great as Hellboy, and we see what Mignola and Del Toro were talking about when they said this was the one guy that was meant to be Hellboy. It is Perlman, and as unlikely as this character coming off well on-screen is, Perlman and the make-up team pull it off.

 

Professor Broom, though simply an old man, has the perfect look for the role. In terms of making the movie look like the comic, Hellboy gets high marks.

 

Where the movie fails is in the direction of the story and its villains. The first appearance of Sammael, a cross between the Predator and the evil dog agents of Gozer in Ghost Busters, is at best confusing. When Hellboy first discovers Sammael hanging from the ceiling, what the heck is it? At first, it's a spider, maybe? Then it jumps down, looks at Hellboy, and runs. So is it tough? A battle ensues, and somehow Hellboy defeats the enemy. Hopefully, we won't see any more of that thing, because the fight scenes are typical, nothing special, and slightly muddled. Kroenen and his knives are much cooler.

 

But the catch is Sammael multiplies like long-lost cousins after winning the lottery. There's more coming. And aside from Kroenen, who offers the real chills, the Predator wanna-be is the main foil for Hellboy through much of the movie. I'd rather see more Kroenen, but let's face it, Hellboy needs an abnormally sized monster to fight.

 

A high point of this movie happens in the middle, when the story is lighthearted and at times funny. The love triangle between Hellboy, Liz Sherman and Agent John Meyers makes for whimsical storytelling, especially when you throw in a 9-year-old boy with his mom's homemade cookies. There's a problem when one of the bright spots of a movie about Hellboy is the love triangle. The best should be all the parts when Hellboy shoots things and they explode.

 

The scenes where things are exploding, especially at the end of the movie, are difficult to comprehend. The entire final 30 minutes is difficult. Watch for this -- one moment Hellboy and the rest of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense are in a mausoleum. In typical Scooby-Doo fashion, the team gets split up, and are faced to go their separate ways. Liz Sherman doesn't lose her glasses, but the mausoleum goes from a 6 by 10 room to an underground lair that would make Indiana Jones proud. Suspension of disbelief, I understand, but it would have been nice to have a scene better portray a long journey into underground caverns.

 

At this point, we lose characters. Abe Sapien -- nice to know you, goodbye. This movie is called "Hellboy," not Abe Sapien or BPRD, so I guess we should just assume those other characters are fine. We'll catch up with them in part two.

 

The dramatic ending wraps up quickly and without much explanation. In fact, things are done and undone right and left, like the 22nd page of the comic got here too soon and we need to end this thing now.

 

"Hellboy" was not as bad as, say, "Daredevil," but it isn't as good as the free preview at Best Buy leads you to hope. If it were a comic book, you'd file it away and say to yourself, "at least it looked cool." But as is the nature of movies, afterwards you'll find yourself asking your friends, "ok, so why do you think that happened?"

 

If I'm hard on "Hellboy," it's because I wanted it to be good. Should comic book readers see the movie? Of course. Abe Sapien and Kroenen are worth the price of admission alone. But do yourself a favor, take it at face value and don't think too hard about the story, or else you'll walk away from it disappointed.