Hey folks, Harry here with a host of reviews from the New York screening of HELLBOY that Ron Perlman and Selma Blair attended and hosted. Overall - the reviews each have a nit-pick here or there, but overall everyone seemed to love it. Seems Hellboy is finding his way into the hearts of folks that have never read the books... very cool. Here ya go....
Hey Harry... 'Shepard' here. You published my advance review of "Intolerable Cruelty" a while back which I got a kick out of. Just got back from an advanced screening of "Hellboy".
I was not very familiar with the Hellboy character going in, I could probably sum up my knowledge of the character in three sentences. I dug the concept, but I thought the advertising for the movie was terrible.
I know comic fans must be anxious about if the Hellboy movie is faithful to the comic. I'm afraid I can't answer that. Now, I enjoy reading a comic when there's one around, and I like comic book movies. Of course, I also consider "Batman Forever" the greatest comic book movie ever made, so I probably just killed my credibility with everyone here.
But "Hellboy" is a darn fun flick, the best I've seen this year.
I saw it at the Loews in Times Square. Ron Perlman and Selma Blair were on hand to say a few words before the screening, which was pretty neat, never happened to me before. People passed out free posters afterwards too. Two trailers: "13 Going on 30", which made me laugh exactly once, and "White Chicks" (?), an amusing and brave concept that doesn't look like it had enough in it for a movie.
Where was I going with this?
Oh yes, Ron Perlman. An excellent performance of a very cool character. I really grew to enjoy this character (who I'd never read a comic about before). Like Peter Parker, he's an Everyman superhero, but while Peter Parker is our idealistic selves, Hellboy comes from that part of us that dominates more of our day than we care to admit. He gets mad. He can be lazy. He enjoys creature comforts like chocolate and television. He says "aw, crap" a lot -- just like me.
But he can be so surprisingly tender as well, and the scenes of him just plotzing on a bench with Liz Sherman (Selma Blair, who really doesn't do much in this movie) are more touching and more human than similar conversations between regular humans in some movies.
An amazing makeup job as well. Hellboy didn't just look real, his personality came through as well.
What I liked best about this movie was its humor. Every so often a deadpan line or complaint would get slipped in among the general strangeness. Between the plot material and the style of the jokes I was reminded of "Ghostbusters", my favorite movie, on more than one occasion. There are three truly great, applauseworthy jokes: the introduction of a building (I dare not spoil), the line "That, I don't like", and the conclusion of a heroic superherolike leap. I wish the humor had been used consistently.
The movie starts with an overlong sequence during the days of World War II. This flick takes far too long to get moving. A portal is opened, and it looks like the result of "Scroll of Town Portal" for you Diablo II players. The CGI in this film always seems a little computer-gamish, and it's one of the movie's weaker points. I'm not the CGI-basher type, but, well, I've seen rays of energy and the like done better. On the upside of the WW2 sequence, I was quite touched, for some reason, with how Professor Broom gives baby Hellboy a little bounce when he holds him for the first time.
We get into a plot of some sort eventually. What I liked about the plot of Hellboy was that it was never built up as some sort of epic confrontation between Hellboy and an old nemesis (even though there was significance to it). The movie really treated itself as just another day in the life of Hellboy, it's all routine for him, etc. etc., even when the most important of things are happening. There was no forced sense of occasion injected into anything.
The plot has weaknesses, however, and when one sits down and thinks about it, it's sort of hard to figure out why things happen. Characters sort of go places and do things for no reason, and things often don't hang together. The detective work of the film doesn't hold up under analysis, and many things are left unexplained to the point of nonsense.
And Abe Sapien is underused, and splitting up two buddies is not a good way to keep humor going.
But the scene of the really big hammer smashing the underground bridge is cool enough to make you forget things like that, right?
This is not a great movie, not one I'll hold up as a triumph of the genre. But it was consistently entertaining, often beautifully shot, filled with some good laughs. A decent enough time at the movies. I'd give it a B. Granted, I could just have enjoyed it 'cause it had kittens in it. I love kittens.
-- Shepard
Now we have Mr. Bullseye...
Hey Harry this is Mr. Bullseye back again after giving a heads up on Cold Mountain I have just gotten out of the NY advance screening for Hellboy. Let me state that all my knowledge of this subject comes from your site so IM not a follower of the comic. I was mainly interested in the movie because I like Del Torros work and you seemed to be pumped for it. Ron Pearlmen and Selma Blair(50 times hotter in person) introduced the film at the beginning. Ron said the movie was as accurate to the source material as it could be so I took him on his word. I went in with a clean and unbiased mind and I liked the movie but not for the reasons I thought I would.
From the trailers I thought I was going to be saying damn that was cool did you just see that, but I only said that a few times. I found myself saying damn that was funny a whole lot more. The movie doesn't take itself a seriously as lets say X-MEN or Spider Man. If you think about it you couldn't have a movie about a giant red stone fisted demon boy take itself to seriously and expect it to work. I thought Pearlmen did a great job of acting through his prosthetics, he either learned what not to do after his role in Star Trek Nemesis, or he had a better makeup team. I lean towards a better makeup team because of Del Torros past work and Ron had experience working in a lot of makeup when he was the beast on TV's Beauty and the Beast. The movie moved along and I never lost interest, the fx were great you can see how much farther along the digital stuntman has come since the God Light fight in Blade 2(Gumby Vs Poky).
Now to what I think could have been done better.
Some spoilers ahead.
When we first see baby Hellboy I wasn't sure what to think half my brain said is that the best fx they can do the other half said well Its kind of hard to make a demon baby boy look real so I can give them a pass on that. I don't feel they established Rasbutin enough. I know his story and I was left with questions like why and how did he come to work with the Nazis? I also didn't like how he was there and then he wasn't It felt like he would just pop out of nowhere. For a main villain I wanted to have him more established. One character who didn't need more story was the crazy ninja gas mask wearing Baron Von Chop and Slice( I don't remember his name). Every scene he is in is a treat he is like some crazed half human half automaton( he likes to turn it up to 11).
End Spoiler
Overall I would give it an A-, but if we ever got an extended version it would be an A+ in my book.
Next we have Selma Blair's Bitch Jay from New Jersey...
Hi Harry, long time fan of aintitcool.com
This is my first posting since looking over this site since 98. Today I was privileged to catch a screening of a movie that was made with blood, sweat and tears and alot of respect and admiration. That movie was HELLBOY BABY!!!!
This film had it all, cool one liners that all film geeks have come to love but for some reason are kind of prehistoric in today's cinema. It has true heart, action that wont stop or let you go at anytime during its run. Likeable characters that you immediately care for and know the danger they face is something that would make Spiderman run back home to aunt Mays house.
Ron Pearlman and Selma Blair where in attendance tonight and they mentioned what a masterpiece of film making we were all about to see. They also mentioned how Del Toro worked so hard on hellboy that it almost killed him. I must say that after watching Blade 2 I was confident that Del Toro would deliver the goods and I tell you people in my opinion he tops it! Here is a guy that really cares about film making and not just here to make a quick buck.
So far Del Toro and Sam Rami and Peter Jackson are three directors today that really are about delivering the goods. I just wish George Lucas wouldn't be so uptight in the prequels and just let go this commercial bullshit that ruins good ideas and a great time at the theaters.
Well that's all I have to say about my experience tonight but before I go I just want to say that when you walk into Hellboy next week BUCKLE UP!
This is Selma Blairs Bitch Jay from NJ, signing off.
Next is Diomedes...
Hi Harry,
I'm a fan of your site but I?ve never sent you anything before - I'm sure the last thing you need is yet another HELLBOY review, but maybe you can use this.
I was able to catch last night's sneak preview of HELLBOY at the Loew's E-Walk in NY, NY. Though I'm not much of a fan of (hellboy) comic books, or comic book inspired movies for that matter, when the chance to see this sneak preview came along I jumped on it. When I got the tickets a week ago, I was informed that Del Toro and Mignola would be at the theater to present the movie - needless to say I was geeked.
About twenty minutes after the show was scheduled to begin, the collective audience's jaw dropped, as, rather than seeing a swarthy, somewhat overweight Mexican and his partner in crime approach the two mics at the front of the theater, a fine ass Selma Blair and her on-screen partner, Ron Perlman, approached the mics to present the movie. Perlman gave a heartfelt introduction to HELLBOY, noting that Del Toro put a lot of love into the film, and that, more than anything, Del Toro's film was an homage to Mignola's work.
The lights dimmed as the trailers for two flicks that I plan to avoid at all costs rolled, then HELLBOY started. The musical score impressed me immediately - it fits the movie perfectly. I was next impressed, taken aback even, by the amount of comedy in the film - I wasn't expecting this at all. There were a lot of funny moments throughout the movie, and fortunately they were all intentionally funny moments. The plot progressed very slowly at first, probably due to the requisite introductory action sequences more than anything else, but while the story lagged there was plenty of comedy, action and suspense. Soon enough, though, the plot began to advance nicely, while the action and humorous moments kept coming. By the end of the movie, I was thoroughly satisfied, and glad that I decided to come see the movie. I was even more surprised to see that my fiancé liked the movie more than I did. She was expecting this to be the worst movie ever, and just before Blair and Perlman materialized, she told me that I owed her big time for dragging her along with me. As the end credits started to roll, I saw that she was smiling as she confessed to having loved the movie. Part of this is probably due to her very low expectations, but I'm sure a lot of it is undoubtedly due to the movie's romance between Hellboy and Liz. She said she didn't expect the movie to be so funny and romantic.
Hellboy is a great character. I'm definitely going to check out one or two of Mignola's comics now, and, if this movie is as big of a box office success as I expect it to be, hopefully I'll be looking forward to a sequel in the near future. I think it will be successful because there really is something for everybody in this movie - the non-comic-book-dork girlfriends of comic book dorks lucky enough to have girlfriends are going to be surprised at how much they like, even love this movie - it's definitely a first date kind of movie. This is not a bad movie, nor is it the greatest movie of all time (of this year even), but I would definitely recommend that people go see it.
Thanks, Harry, and keep up the good work.
call me Diomedes.
And lastly we have this one...
Hey, I got a chance to see Hellboy in New York last night with a special introduction by Ron Pearlman and Selma Blair. When the two came out, the crowd erupted in cheers. After cheers of "Selma I love you" and "Ron I want your baby", Selma began talking about how proud she was of the movie and how hard Guillermo had worked to stay close to Mike Mignola's material. She also stated that the movie was as close to the comics as they could make it, and then she passed the mic onto Ron. Once again the crowd erupted into cheers when Ron spoke. Ron didn't have much to say. Cracked a joke, then stated how excited he was to be a part of Hellboy, and to be working with Selma, and then hoped we would enjoy the movie, and with that they made their exit as the cheering continued.
Seeing as Hollywood is picking up every possible comic book to turn into a movie, I am very very afraid for my childhood heroes. They have fucking destroyed Catwoman. Did the fucking director as George Lucas for help? I was afraid to see this movie because I didn't want it to be a piece of crap and start a downward spiral for all comic to film adapatations. Boy was I glad that I was wrong. Hellboy owned everyone's ass. The movie played and during the film I heard many different reactions. The audience laughed at every amazing line of dialogue that Hellboy spoke, cheered when fighting villains, got silent when the film got emotional, and of course you could hear all the "oooohhh's" and "aaaahhhh's" when Kroenen would be the badass that he is. Since I have never read a Hellboy comic I can't say if it was a faithful adaptation or not, but I have seen much of the art that is featured in the comics. There were shots in the film that I know were taken right from the comics. One of my favorites is when Hellboy goes to visit Liz (Selma Blair) and he's standing on top of a wall looking at the Psychiatric Ward that she's in. The angle is from behind Hellboy as he stands there like a statue with his tail slightly curled up. Just an amazing shot. The make-up in the film was amazing. Never at one moment did I think that there was a person with pounds of make-up on when Hellboy or Abe Sapien were on screen. The two looked totally believable. The acting is the movie was excellent. At all times I saw and heard Hellboy and Abe, never did I once think of Ron Pearlman or David Doug Jones/David Hyde Pierce. These actors WERE the characters. The casting by Guillermo could not have been better. The movie surprised me with the amount of heart that it had. Scenes between Hellboy and Liz were spot on. The love story here doesn't seem tacked on, and I found myself feeling for Hellboy when he tries to speak his heart to Liz and he just can't. Very touching scenes which stand out in this movie.
I did have some problems with the movie. The big one was character development. There isn't a whole lot in the film. Now that I think about it, there wasn't much at all. We never truly find out the history of the characters and why they are the way they are. We learn where Hellboy was found and how. We never learn about his growing up living in secrecy, we never learn about Abe's past, all we get for Abe is about 3 lines which are supposed to leave us satisfied. For me, Abe turned out to be my favorite character in the movie, and apparently the woman behind me liked him too cuz she simply couldn't shut up about him.
Unfortunately, he was only in the movie for a short while. The movie shows us a glimpse of Liz's past, but nowhere near enough. The scene also seemed forced into the film, and didn't really fit in. We never hear any backstory for John Myers. All we are told is that he's transferring from the FBI. Nothing else. Another big problem for me was the lack of plot.
There didn't seem to be one, other than finding and killing Rasputin and the demon creature thing. There needed to be something more. The movie felt short, and perhaps they couldn't fit enough into the length, but I would have rather sat through a longer movie with a good plot than a short movie with hardly any. Maybe Guillermo and co. didn't know how the movie would fare and decided to keep it short and sweet to save money, after all who would have thought Ron Pearlman would be the leading man in a big budget movie?
Kroenen owned the screen at all times! He was brought to screen as fucking badass. He stole the show with his presence in every scene. He is the modern day Darth Vader. Hell, he's even got the breathing down. God I hope we get some deleted scenes on the dvd with just Kroenen kick ass. This is a movie that people MUST see as it is going to be one of the better comic adaptations that Hollywood is putting out, as they continue to rape all of our childhood heroes by having them dress in crappy looking costumes and making dumb ass casting decisions *cough*halle berry as catwoman*cough*. But thankfully we have people like Chris Nolan and Kevin Smith who will be putting together good comic book films. Hellboy rocks. Go see it.
Harry, keep up the awesome work on the site.
-BoogiePop
