| Author | Message | ||
     John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.203.130.103 |
This got mentioned on another thread but I can't find it now. Anyway, I saw this on Saturday and had such a markedly different experience from those who posted I thought I'd jot down my thoughts: About the closest thing ‘the kids’ of today are going to get to seeing a Charles Schneer-Ray Harryhausen epic fantasy on the big screen, Hellboy II is also gleefully derivative of so many things from my childhood that those same kids will probably never have the pleasure of discovering. Everything from Michael Moorcock to the Muppet Show via Monty Python seems to have been plundered to produce this epic spectacle that works well because in amongst all this thievery are some absolutely breath-taking set pieces, some sincere and likeable performances, and most of all the presence of someone behind the camera who for the most part knows what he’s doing and absolutely loves his subject matter. It took a little while to settle down but after that Hellboy II worked brilliantly as a piece of fantasy entertainment. The audience I was with laughed, cheered and cried at all the right moments and we all joined in singing the song at the end. I honestly thought this was great. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.183.165 |
Glad you liked it, Lord P. - it sounds great. I'm going to see it this week. | ||
| Martin Roberts (Martin_roberts) Username: Martin_roberts Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.5.239.91 |
Helen and I took my 15 year old son along to see it a couple of weeks ago and all three of us thoroughly enjoyed it! | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.145.131.124 |
 I wish I had seen it with your eyes, JP. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.152.212.46 |
Not me. I love it when I'm able to separate the pages of how much I want to like something from those of how much I actually do. In the book of my mind, I mean. On the shelf of my skull. In the house of my body. On the street of my house. In the town of my street. In the town country of my town. On the planet of my country. I love when things are clear enough that my standards can be crisp. "Gentler than the flower where compassion is concerned, stronger than <something> where principles are concerned." | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
Once again a fine example of how taste is such a highly personal and unquantifiable thing. I'm really looking forward to seeing HB2 - the first one was wonderful, and John has made this one sound unmissable for me. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.145.131.124 |
It was just that sense of inconsequentiality (?). I loved the first, too, so felt quite disappointed. You see with the Harryhausens there was often a sense of dread and po-faced awe, but i never felt that in this - a sort of jokiness kept undercutting it. And there was one bit where a character goes completely around a cog and lives which for me made the internal logic crumble, felt lazy (the cog surely connects with another one?). Right; I'll be happy with liking the odd scene, but being actually disappointed with the whole thing. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 87.102.16.171 |
I only saw the first one last night. Not bad. A bit too cocky though, isn't he. Loved the clockwork killer. But then you were supposed to. | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 86.29.96.63 |
Hellboy's okay. Some good bits and some not so good bits. Kind of like the comic. | ||
| Jonathan (Jonathan) Username: Jonathan Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.143.178.131 |
I love the comic. The movies don't really touch it for the sheer visual pleasure of Mignola's spare yet phantasmagoric artwork. I got all my Hellboy books signed at last year's Birmingham Comicon and I couldn't think of a thing to say to Mignola apart from "Hey, you like Lovecraft, I really like Lovecraft too." Profound. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.145.131.124 |
There was no tension in this film. You liked the baddy way too much, and Hellboy just didn't have any sort of turmoil going on. At least Sinbad always looked a bit worried. With this film I was looking at a world but never felt I was in one, never made the psychic leap I was supposed to. Sad, really. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.189.62 |
I thought the first film was fun, but patchy. Del Toro himself is well aware of the mistakes he made in it, if you read some of his interviews. I'm hoping the second one is the improvement he said it would be. Like Jonathan, I'm a fan of the original HELLBOY comics. Mignola's artwork really is special. You know, since we're discussing Del Toro - and by extension, I guess, other foreign filmmakers - I'd like to see an anthology-style film tackling some of the neglected classics of horror fiction, stories like Aickman's 'Wood' or Leiber's 'Dark Wings'. I think some of these new directors (Jaume Balaguero, Juan Antonio Bayona, etc.) could do a good job with them. Del Toro himself, given his preoccupation with clockwork things, would be an interesting choice of director to handle something like Aickman's 'The Clock Watcher'. Imagine an adaptation of Ramsey's tale 'Apples' filmed by Bayona (who's already shown his deftness in depicting childhood horror themes). That would be worth seeing... | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 86.29.100.198 |
Del Toro was planning to make At The Mountains of Madnes but I don't know if that's stil on now he's lined up to do The Hobbit. Mignola's artwork is great but he's not the greatest writer in the world. He has good ideas but his writing doesn't bring them to life in the same way his artwork does. |