Tuesday, 15 July 2008

• Movie Review: Hellboy II - The Golden Army

  
  by mr. oak

  Another summer weekend, another movie - This time it's the next installment of the Hellboy series, a story originated from comic books about a demon who was summoned by Nazi occultists to only be rescued by Allied Forces.  Hellboy is then raised by the US's Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD) where he's called to fight other paranormal bad guys.  Hellboy II: The Golden Army picks up following another paranormal event of a legendary elf prince who wishes to destroy humans by using an indestructible "Golden Army." 

  Rating: DVDable

  FTW: Hands down - Guillermo del Toro.  He proves once again how he's this crazy imaginative dude thinking of these beautiful highly immersive creatures.  The colors, fairies, creatures, and Hellboy himself is great to look at - and I have to respect his directing style.

  FAIL: Unless you're a big hellboy fan - I think this movie is just ok.  The story doesn't go all too deep, though they do try to sell you these ornate alternative universes.  I love the amphibious "Abe" character and how there's much more attention on him this time around - but the movie only scratched the surface of their respective personalities.  They touched upon the idea of how when we're different, the world may not like us - but they never really pushed that all the way IMHO.

  Can you take your mother to this? Yes you can - if she liked pan's labyrinth, she'll like this.  There's only one questionable scene I remember of Selma Blair's character (who has the power of being fully engulfed in flames) where she's in her underwear. But the scenes weren't sexualized so it felt a lot tamer than it sounds.  The only thing is, I could imagine my mom saying that I shouldn't date someone who can spontaneously combust cause it might ruin the upholstery.

  Can you take your kids to this?  Yes you can - though there are scenes of drinking beer with hellboy's peer, Selma Blair in underwear, and elven knives taking lives. 

  The Christian Spin: The movie doesn't glorify hell in my opinion.  Hellboy is just a character in my mind and outside of the name, there's little that equates him to hell. 

  I really liked the idea that deep down inside we all want to be liked - and even noticed.  The "freaks" that are all part of the BPRD seem to struggle with this - how the world just doesn't accept them and easily turns on them.  Nevertheless, that shouldn't stop them from always doing the right thing - regardless of persecution, regardless of insults, rejection, and pain....

  Final Thoughts:
  Germans love David Hasselhoff....

  I think at this point - everyone is waiting for the much anticipated Batman movie - people were cheering during that preview when I was watching Hellboy.  Here's a list of some of the bigger movies coming out for the rest of the summer:

  The Dark Knight - July 18th
  The X Files - July 25th
  Step Brothers - July 25th
  The Mummy - August 1st
  The Rocker - August 1st
  Pineapple Express - August 8th
  Clone Wars - August 15th
  Tropic Thunder - August 15th

  That being said...

  What movie are you looking forward to this summer?

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