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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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 Posted - 08/05/2008 : 17:03:36
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Hellboy II: The Golden ArmyI love you Guillermo del Toro ... there I've said it out loud and in public!
Okay all you nitty-pickers, this is not a perfect film, but I don't care, it filled my eyes with wonder because what the director has in spades is imagination. And wit, both verbal and visual. And an organic sense of pace, timing, and ... anyone who can get me to listen to Barry Manilow without throwing things at the screen has scored major Brownie-points.
I'm not even gonna try to match Hellboy II point for point against the recent spate of comic book heroes because that's not the point. But gimme a choice of titles and I know the one I'd choose every time.
After Hellboy I and Pan's Labyrinth it was almost a done deal that the onscreen creatures del Toro magicks up would be astounding. And they are. But what makes them special is his belief in fantasy. He retains that sense of living in parallel worlds we all have as kids. He understands that reality and imagination can exist entwined and that each has an equal function.
Now, beware ... your momma done told you never go out walking after midnight and especially not underneath the Brooklyn Bridge. But take del Toro's hand and let him guide you through the shadows ... the shadows of the night. To the Troll Market. Depending how old you were when you first saw Star Wars and Anakin walked into that alien bar - if you were paying attention then your jaw had dislocated it dropped so far. The Troll Market does it all over again. I'd go back to see the film again just for that bit alone. Of course you have to be wearing the right glasses.
What del Toro manages is a real world full of strange creatures -- which, let's face it, it sure is! -- but he makes the world itself feel alien. Some of it's truly surprising ... like I bet you cannot guess what happens to the killing Forest Creature when he battles with Hellboy. Even when you know what's coming the visual realization grabs you ... like when the brave quartet seeking the battleground in the bleak Irish landscape lingers near some outcrops and well, they crop right out bigtime.
Story? Yeah there's a story, but ah, who cares about the story - that's not what's so original. There's a message, too, if you want to hear it. But I guess del Toro's real genius is making you want to follow where-ever he beckons.
I love you, do you hear ... I loooooooooooooooooooove yoooooooooooooooooou!
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demonic 
"Cinemaniac"
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Posted - 08/06/2008 : 21:05:48
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Well, okay, I'm a nitty picker, so here are a few picked nits....
I've a feeling this one might end up being the "odd second movie" in a pretty fine trilogy. There's heaps to enjoy in this - Del Toro's vision is great; he does movie monsters they way they should always be done - for real, with character, and damn cool into the bargain, employing CGI when necessary. For all my other reservations I've come away with specific images lodged in my head - specifically Johann Krauss, the tooth fairies and the Angel of Death - all brilliantly realised.
However... it's a real mess as a film. Structurally, tonally. It's like a children's fantasy movie gone into absolute hyperdrive, and it's so desperate to please squeezing every possible ounce of quirky humour in that only sometimes it works. At points it feels more like a Men in Black film, or another Harry Potter film, or another Star Wars film as it seems to borrow elements from all of them. The first Hellboy was a more sober affair; slicker, tighter in script and edit and the humour was never laboured, as it sometimes is here, and much darker which I really missed; there's nothing to compare to the icy megalomania of Rasputin and the brutally efficient dispatch of Prof. Broom from the first movie, although it struggles to find comparative moments. Luke Goss does look great as the villain, but his feeble untrained voice belies his great make-up job, and the logic behind his character's actions amounts to zero. Story wise there's not a single surprise from start to finish, everything is so clearly telegraphed.
This could be a movie I would have idolised as a teenager, but it's too overwhelmed by itself to be as good as it could have been; just a little more of the self control of Del Toro's suberb Spanish language films would have made all the difference. |
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Cheese_Ed 
"The Provolone Ranger"
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Posted - 08/08/2008 : 21:41:14
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Have to agree with demonic, I was disappointed. Don't know why it generally got better reviews than the first film, which I thought was better all around.
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MisterBadIdea 
"PLZ GET MILK, KTHXBYE"
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Posted - 08/10/2008 : 04:14:44
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| Doesn't reach its goals, but benefits from having set its ambitions so high. Still more imaginative and fun than the original, which was an excellent drama but a subpar action movie. Yeah, I liked it a lot. Del Toro has said his imagination was unlocked by Pan's Labyrinth, I'll watch anything he makes from this point on. |
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Hellboy II: The Golden Army
