Swank-mo-tron: I caught Hellboy on Thursday night and I have to say I was really into it. It was funnier, more epic and better designed than the first one to the point where you could tell that they really let Guillermo Del Toro loose in the wake of how good Pan’s Labyrinth was. I was really excited to see how they pulled Johann off and it was even better than I could have expected. I was also surprised by their choice of voice talent for him (Seth McFarlane, creator of Family Guy) but it worked out perfectly. The way it differs from the comics and the cartoons is also quite refreshing. It’s good to see that Del Toro and Mignola realize they’re dealing with different worlds in different mediums and so movie Hellboy is different than comic Hellboy. It’s just a nice touch.
What did everybody else think?
Mookatron: I caught an opening night show of Hellboy and walked out with a big smile on my face. I loved that they had so successfully balanced the action/adventure with the humor. A couple times I had visions of Ben Grimm from the FF and thought “why couldn’t they have made THAT work like this?” Oh well. Screw the FF, Hellboy works just fine. Perlman slides right back into character and runs rampant in the role. Selma Blair, who I don’t enjoy in much else, pulls off Liz Sherman with the right amount of edge and stress. Strauss was fun, and Abe sees his role increased from film one. I did notice that David Hyde Pierce isn’t back as Abe’s voice, but whoever did it was close enough that it took a bit for me to realize the swap had happened.
The huge jump in quality for me was seeing the obvious influence that Pan’s Labyrinth has had on del Toro’s work. The tooth fairies, the troll market, and the spirit of death are awesomely awesome. The bad guy elves look great too. I think my favorite piece though is the story told to a young Hellboy at the beginning of the film. Looking like it was animated with your basic carved wooden art model, the story and history of the Golden Army is explained in way that took me back to the way they did it in the first LotR film. Some practice for del Toro as he readies himself to work on the Hobbit films? Maybe so. Some special bonus points for del Toro regular Doug Jones who once again portrays Abe, as well as about 98 other roles in this film. Worth seeing for any self-respecting geek or robot and I definitely hope we see more of everyone’s favorite red-skinned demon spawn from the del Toro/Mignola team.
One other thing, easily the best use of a Barry Manilow song in a nerd flick….ever.
Humanjunk: I want to see the human/pryro/demon babies Liz and Hellboy made… And I want to see them make the babies.I found the movie incredibly entertaining, and was incredibly satisfied to see that the film and comic as two different things. The movie still holds the same spirit that the comic does whilst adding an element of hollywood to it. Ten bucks says that Lobster Johnson is in Hellboy III.On a fanboy note, as much as I love Abe’s character in both the first and second movie, I wanted to see him kick some fucking ass. He’s a nimble, slippery fishman. Let’s see him slide around and do all kinds of cool shit. Next movie, next movie…
Oh yeah, and sit through the credits: nothing happens.
Swank-mo-tron: I’ve been to more than one con where Del Toro and Mignola appear together and Del Toro always publicly begs to be allowed to use Lobster Johnson but Mignola always seems annoyed by that and says that he’ll never let that happen.
Humanjunk: Lobster Johnson should be in every movie. From Hellboy to Superman Returns to Glory.
Swank-mo-tron: Agreed.
Dr. Cyborg: Hellboy II kicked a lot of ass, I think I liked the Angel of Death the most, I thought there was some really cool action in it, I think I liked the parts that felt closer to the comic book the best. This movie was good for lots of reasons, and it has much better comedy in it, then most comedy’s that come out. I want to go watch it again.
Kill-tacular-tron: I loved Hellboy 2. I will admit the opening scene with “Hellkid” felt a little out of place to me. It just felt awkward. Not to say I didn’t enjoy the story about the Golden Army. I can’t wait to see where they take the story next.
Humanjunk: Hellkid was a nice touch.
Dr. Cyborg: The coolest part of the movie, is that the architect of the golden army is such a simpleton, looking for shiny objects. The movie is twice as good the second viewing, so everyone get back to the movie theatre and watch it again.
Swank-mo-tron: Agreed.
Clang! Boom! Steam!: It was great to see Del Toro unleashed with more resources and fewer restrictions. I loved the careful blend of creepy horror and tough guy comedy that makes the comics so fun to read. I do wish that the story was a bit more Hellboy-centric instead of the prince stuff, which was still cool (especially the wooden doll bedtime story) , but I’m still a hopeless nerd for the Anung un Rama stuff that dominates the comics. The movies and the comics are separate, and that’s cool, but I really would have crapped myself for a Conqueror Worm movie with some more fan favorites like Roger and Lobster Johnson – expand the universe a bit.
I’m sure I’ll see it again, the detail in the design work makes you feel like you have to since you probably missed lots of cool stuff, like the first time you saw the cantina scene in A New Hope.
My vote for coolest monster has to go to an underdog even though the Angel Of Death was incredibly cool, my personal favorite was the shop keeper with the cathedral sprouting out if his head at the Troll Market. Only Del Toro could pull something like that.