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Hellboy Review by Rick
Posted by:I'll try to make this spoiler-free...
I had my fingers crossed walking into Hellboy yesterday afternoon. Everything I'd seen & read (trailers, early reviews, etc..) had lead me to believe that I was gonna LOVE this movie, but I'd been let down (let down HARD) in this situation before.
Hellboy did NOT disappoint. I loved it! True, some of my friends (we rarely see eye to eye on movies) thought "the beginning was weak" and "it was too laid back". Note that they are casual fans of the source material, at best. I've been a fan from the beginning, and could just FEEL Mike Mignola's presence.. this was quite possibly the most loyal any comic book film has ever been to the comics themselves. True, there's a few changes; hell, one improved the story, in my opinion.
As far as my friend's complaints: The beginning is Hellboy's origin, basically exactly as presented in the comics. If you have a problem with that, you have a problem with Hellboy. Deal.
"It was too laid back". Again, I'd argue that's from the source material as well. Hellboy is not action, action, action cover to cover. Honestly, there's MORE action in the film than in any one of the comic story arcs. Yes, I'm afraid there's awful, awful things like a PLOT and CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT present in the film. Okay, enough sarcasm. I felt it was a perfect balance of story and action, and frankly, my favorite parts are the numerous moments between the big action scenes (I like my action films with a brain), where you really appreciate the phenomenal performance Ron Perlman gives us. Thank God for Guillermo <sp?> Del Toro for so much, but primarily for working so closely with Mike Mignola (again, it shows ) and for fighting the studio and insisting that Hellboy be played by Perlman and not done via CGI.
So, if the idea of a nearly 7 foot tall red "regular Joe" with horns (filed down) and a tail who packs a BIG gun and works along side a telepathic fishman and a lovely, troubled firestarter for a top secret government agency dedicated to bumping back at the things that go bump in the night (Lovecraftian monsters, mad monks, deathless assassins, NAZIS!) sounds like a good time, go see Hellboy!
Here's to a sequel!
Rick
I had my fingers crossed walking into Hellboy yesterday afternoon. Everything I'd seen & read (trailers, early reviews, etc..) had lead me to believe that I was gonna LOVE this movie, but I'd been let down (let down HARD) in this situation before.
Hellboy did NOT disappoint. I loved it! True, some of my friends (we rarely see eye to eye on movies) thought "the beginning was weak" and "it was too laid back". Note that they are casual fans of the source material, at best. I've been a fan from the beginning, and could just FEEL Mike Mignola's presence.. this was quite possibly the most loyal any comic book film has ever been to the comics themselves. True, there's a few changes; hell, one improved the story, in my opinion.
As far as my friend's complaints: The beginning is Hellboy's origin, basically exactly as presented in the comics. If you have a problem with that, you have a problem with Hellboy. Deal.
"It was too laid back". Again, I'd argue that's from the source material as well. Hellboy is not action, action, action cover to cover. Honestly, there's MORE action in the film than in any one of the comic story arcs. Yes, I'm afraid there's awful, awful things like a PLOT and CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT present in the film. Okay, enough sarcasm. I felt it was a perfect balance of story and action, and frankly, my favorite parts are the numerous moments between the big action scenes (I like my action films with a brain), where you really appreciate the phenomenal performance Ron Perlman gives us. Thank God for Guillermo <sp?> Del Toro for so much, but primarily for working so closely with Mike Mignola (again, it shows ) and for fighting the studio and insisting that Hellboy be played by Perlman and not done via CGI.
So, if the idea of a nearly 7 foot tall red "regular Joe" with horns (filed down) and a tail who packs a BIG gun and works along side a telepathic fishman and a lovely, troubled firestarter for a top secret government agency dedicated to bumping back at the things that go bump in the night (Lovecraftian monsters, mad monks, deathless assassins, NAZIS!) sounds like a good time, go see Hellboy!
Here's to a sequel!
Rick
This was originally posted on our reviews forum. Feel free to post your own on the reviews forum. To discuss this on the original thread go to the following link, http://www.moviesonline.ca/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=103
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