Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
There have been two screenings of HELLBOY now, and I hope Guillermo Del Toro feels pretty damn good about himself and his movie because it delivers the goods in a way that is preposterously, infectiously entertaining. This is one of those litmus test films for me now. If you don’t end up enjoying this, then we better just agree to disagree, because we just aren’t wired the same.
David Poland seemed to agree in his review today, and the message boards over at CHUD are going crazy with people who were blown away by it. Our own Quint was the first AICNer to get his review ready. I know Harry saw it Sunday night, and after I saw it last night, we talked. I think it’s safe to say we’re all giddy about this one, and you will be, too.
Want more proof? Check this out:
Hellboy is the finest comic book adaptation I've seen to date. The story, the characters, the nuances of what made Hellboy kick ass in the comics is all there, plus the touch of Guillermo del Toro's thoughtful layering of so much of what make movies great. In Hellboy, you get a super(anti)hero movie, a love story, a monster movie, a thriller, pulse-pounding action, and the whole gamut of what publicists only allege other movies to have in their 90 to 120 minutes.
Ron Perlman is perfectly cast in a role that Guillermo himself said cost the production 30 million in budget, and I'll be damned if I don't say he's worth every penny plus a few billion. Fuck it, he's priceless. This movie could never have worked with an all-CGI Hellboy, nor would it have worked with anyone who doesn't have the superior talents and presence of Mr. Perlman. His extensive range as an actor is on full display: everything from gruff, gravelly-voiced tough guy to adolescent jealousy. The tenderness Ron gives us is beautiful when viewed countering the ass-kicking Dude With a Gun persona that Hellboy puts on 90% of the time. Anyone who comes away from this film with anything less than awed respect for the delicately composed performance Ron gives us is either dead or has no heart.
As for Hellboy's supporting cast, sweet Jesus at the box office...
Selma Blair gives us a Liz that the affectionate guy in us all can fall in love with, despite the tough-guy shells we sometimes project. The combination of David Hyde Pierce's voice and Doug Ross' mimed performance as Abe Sapien was perfectly executed. Being somewhat familiar with the comic, I was most worried about how Abe would be executed in a film, but knowing Guillermo's past work, I knew I could trust him. That trust paid off seeing one of the best practical wet-makeup jobs I've ever seen. GORGEOUS work. John Hurt and Rupert Evans effectively give tight performances rounding out HB's closest inner circle. Hurt gives one of my absolute favorite of his performances, doing a part that is almost the "elder guide" archetype, but made unique by Hurt's aura of a young man enclosed in the body of an older man. Lines like "Did he now?" (you'll know it when you hear it) give us this hint of something more behind Broom than what one may see at first. Evans' Agent Myers (as Quint put so well) doesn't get lost at all, and in fact, stands out as "that guy who usually fades to the background but didn't." A very strong performance here will make seeing him a welcome sight in the inevitable sequel.
I must focus on Jeffrey Tambor in his own little section, as he deserves some special recognition here. Tambor plays humor in this film, and in many others, so naturally, resisting the impulse to go broad, that it really singles him out as not only a comedic gem, but a choice actor overall. Tambor plays within the reality of the scene, never giving in to the ego urge so many other actors feel when it's time to be funny on the screen. This is the kind of performance I dream of other men capable of being hilarious would give more often.
As for The Villains, I'll say this: sweet Jesus' eventual DVD gross...
Kroenen and Rasputin are so beautifully executed that I must say I've rarely if ever seen the chief villains of a piece a better fit in terms of look, personality, and performance. They will scare the hell out of you a couple times, in that way in which we actually like being scared.
As for the effects, I'm inifinitely pleased to see so many well-executed practical effects in addition to the CGI. The places where the CGI feels like CGI, you have no problem looking past it. These are minor occurrences that you'll end up not caring about in the long run, because overall, the CG work is so gorgeous where it really has to be. Liz's fire effects are out of this world good.
After the screening, Guillermo mentioned that next on his To-Do list is either the Lovecraft adaptation mentioned on AICN a while back or a bookend to The Devil's Backbone, set in the 40s. I hope he does them both, the latter before the former, as he said Lovecraft will take him like five years. He said everything depends on what happens in a couple weeks.
So let me say this now: go see Hellboy first weekend. Take all your friends, or make them all go by persuading them. There really is something for everyone in this movie, whether you know the character or not. A friend I was with hates superhero/comic book movies, and he was floored by this. He said it was the best thing he'd seen in ages (not counting LotR, which is in it's own category unto itself). This is no Hulk or Daredevil or Captain America or just name any comic property that has ever disappointed you. It really says something that not only were Guillermo and Ron there, but Mignola was too, partially so that he could say how HB really is the adaptation comic creators dream of for their own work. Forget about Van Hellsing, this is gonna end up the movie-with-monsters of the summer.
That's my take,
Monty Cristo
Still not convinced? How about this?
This is my first review. You can call me “Donut Boy.”
I went to see the screening of Jersey Girl at the Paramount in Austin on Sunday night and was hoping that I could stay in the theater to see the Premiere of Hell Boy. That was the plan, but after Jersey Girl ended, we were quickly ushered out of the theater where a crowd of 2000 people were waiting to get in to see Hell Boy. I didn’t have a ticket for Hell Boy and the line wrapped around the block twice, so I figured I’d go home. On my way to my car I bumped into a friend that had extra tickets and invited me in.
I sat smack in the middle of the theater directly behind the director of Second Hand Lions (can’t remember his name,) and in front of Robert Rodrigeuz. Ron Perlman sat to my right two rows up. I was hooked up!
I’m not a big comic fan, but I am a geek. I never read the Hell Boy books, so I can’t really tell you how true to the comic the movie was, but here is my review:
The cinematography is excellent. The beginning of the movie starts with a group of soldiers searching for a secret Nazi research project on a dark raining night. Everything looks so good visually. I’m instantly drawn into the story.
Guillermo does a good job setting up the characters for those who didn’t read the comic. After ten minutes, I was familiar with them the Hell Boy universe.
Ron Perlman is a perfect Hell Boy, but the makeup they used on him was a little disappointing. Ron is a great actor and I felt as though the face makeup/prosthetics made it difficult for him to show facial expressions. His forehead also cast a shadow over his eyes making it difficult to see his eyes. Regardless, he still manages to put on a great performance.
The bad guys in this movie are part CG and part Human actors. I liked the Human actors more than the CG characters because they had dialog and didn’t just run around trying to kill everything. The character Kroenen is very spooky and there is a scene in the movie where he takes off his gas mask that will make you squirm in your seat. His character sort of reminded me of the Nazi from Raiders of the Lost Ark whose face melts at the end.
There was a lot of comic relief in this movie and there is a particular scene at the end between the head of the FBI and Hell Boy that had the theater rolling in their seats. You’ll know it when you see it.
Overall I had a great time seeing this movie. I had just seen Jersey Girl right before, so I was itching for something a little more believable and Hell Boy delivered. My friend who sat next to me remarked that this move was better than Spiderman. I think I agree.
Boy, you’re playing hardball. Try this one on:
Hey Moriarty, the Scientist here with a quick review of Hellboy from the LA screening. All I can really ask is, what Hellboy fan could not be happy with this movie?! For that matter, what person would not like this movie (fundamentalists aside)?
As soon as Harry announced the screening in Austin on Sunday, I felt extremely jealous that us LA folks were getting left behind. So, I was giddy like a schoolgirl when I happened upon the man hocking tickets for this screening and realized that I would only be a day behind afterall!
But, seriously, the review... Ron Perlman was born to play Hellboy. Years before Mike Mignola was born, out came a little baby devil-boy who was painted Caucasian and raised as a human. It's good to see that he finally did away with the makeup and is playing himself. I cannot praise enough his characterization. This is Hellboy.
While Abe was underused, the supporting cast was uniformly terrific. I was a little disappointed that they decided to fool around with the core BPRD gang, but everyone they cast fit the glove perfectly. John Hurt was a perfect Bruttenholm. Rick Baker's work on Doug Jones for Abe was a showstopper, it was so good.
The story? Mix one part Seed of Destruction with one part Right Hand of Doom, a dash of the Corpse and a hint of Conqueror Worm. While I would have fallen out of my seat if Guillermo did a more faithful version of Seed, I have to say I'm mighty happy with the screenplay that was concocted. Couldn't have hoped for more sarcasm to drip from HB's lips.
The effects, in all, were actually good. There was no Blade running up the wall moment here. I guess it helped that so much of it was done with makeup and robotics.
The direction was uniformly tight and very reminiscent of the sure hand seen in Cronos and the Devil's Backbone (in fact, loved the cameos from both the Cronos machine and the dead fetus). Guillermo del Toro is a gift to genre lovers, that's for sure.
When the movie finished, I just wanted to go hug the man for doing such a superb job. unfortunately, he was swamped. That means I didn't get to ask when the DVD for Devil's Backbone would finally get released properly over here.
My sincerest hope is that this movie is a success so that we can enjoy more Hellboy for years to come. Mignola's creation will certainly live on in the comics, but it's just pure geek joy seeing him up on the screen.
In case you couldn't tell from the above, I loved this movie. Absolutely fantastic. I can't wait to go see it again.
Until the next batch gets cooked up in my lab, this is the Scientist.
P.S. Keep the DVD reviews coming, my fellow man of science. Even if only
once a month.
What do you need? A signed testimonial from the Pope? Word is he saw HELLBOY and said, “It rocks ass as it rocked ass.” Or words to that effect. Check out this reviewer’s take on things:
Hi, Harry. Long-time, first-time, you know the drill....
Well, well. After losing two nights of sleep, driving to Austin at the armpit hours of night to get passes, waiting for HOURS in line to get into the film, and a smidgen of time spent waiting for the movie to start, we got to see Hellboy.
Now, you ask, is it worth it, was it worth it to watch this non-mainstream comic brought to life? Was it worth it to see Ron Perlman on the screen in bright-red makeup, beating down things with a stone hand?
OH GOD YES IT WAS.
For those of you who are fans of the comic, you’ll see pretty much the panels lifted and brought to life. You’ll see Hellboy with full horns and burning crown. You’ll see corpses giving directions. And yes, you’ll see pancakes (not, sadly, pamcakes).
For those of you who haven’t caught other reviews and the like…
Hellboy is the beast of the apocalypse. Brought to earth in a ritual performed by the Russian sorcerer Rasputin as a small child, he falls not into the hands of the Nazis who worked with Rasputin, but instead allied forces.
This is all pretty well established in the first few minutes of the movie. Quickly thereafter, we are treated to credits and a montage that show the boy a man, and talk of all the tabloids, like bigfoot or batboy. Granted, in the comics, he’s more a celebrity, with entire web-pages dedicated to his personal life.
Skip to the modern day, where the FBI denies all knowledge of Hellboy, or a supposed “Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense.” Of course, both exist; Hellboy has been brought up by Professer Bruttenholm of the Bureau and is, for having red skin, horns, a tail, and a hand made of stone, an all-in-all normal guy. He’s far from the only oddity of the bureau, though; over the years the BPRD has accquired a psychic fish-man named Abraham and a troubled (currently absent) pyrokinetic named Liz.
Unfortunately, Hellboy’s origins come back to haunt him, along with Rasputin and nazis sustained through dark magic and darker science.
The result is perhaps less cohesive than the standard Hellboy storyline; the scenes in the city feel in a way divorced from all that happens in Russia, and the action from the plot. All are good in and of themselves; excellent, even. They just don’t mesh perfectly.
Otherwise, the performances are good. The computer graphics are...well…decently lovecraftian, but as del Toro said, the moment that he said he wanted Ron on this puppy, the budget was slashed by a third, and sometimes it shows. But the visuals are passable, and the dialogue is where this baby really shines. Anything that pops out is pretty much solid gold.
In short, go see this movie.
And should I need a name, you can call me that guy from the balcony who
failed to initiate a standing ovation for this wonderful movie. Or
Mockery,
for short.
Let’s put it this way... I rarely plead with you to try a film out. I’ll just post my opinion, and you can take it or leave it. But in this case, I’m going to be greedy. I want sequels. I want to see more HELLBOY adventures. So I’m prepared to beg. Give it a try. I think you’ll end up loving it with the same passion as everyone I saw it with last night. I’ll have my own review up later this week, along with my takes on ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND and THE MAYOR OF THE SUNSET STRIP.
"Moriarty" out.
