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Finally had a chance to Hellboy. One of the few sci-fi / action / fantasy movies that didn’t fall out with critics this year. Granted it premiered a bit late here in Sweden. What else is new.
All in all an awesome roller coaster of a ride. It has got everything. A smart story and good mythology that blends with real and historical events (the so called “Stargate effect”) to create a good work of fiction. Also it doesn’t crayon the story as is so common with this type of Hollywood movie. Vivid. And simply witty.
On the downside the story does lose momentum once in awhile. Either to rather dull dialogue or dull attempts of romance. Or just along one of the many strings that make up the movie but are never tied together. The entire movie does feel very fragmented which is perhaps the biggest problem. The quality feels very uneven, sometimes the story is dead serious and sometimes it is constantly interrupted with semi silliness. A bit too much comic relief among the supporting cast methinks, one could say it makes the entire movie balance the razor’s edge. I guess I’m asking too much but for a fantasy movie it sometimes felt a bit shallow and “unrealistic”. Would have wanted more depth, more going all the way and not stopping halfway thru plot developments. And the end is kind of insipid also, sadly. Too quick and convenient. Lasting impression is still fragmented.
But overall the movie is too cool and creative not to like. A little over two hours went by pretty quickly and that is a good verdict I think. Kudos to the props effects departments (and Mike Magnola of course) for producing some first class characters that put most other movies in the genre to shame. And as one reviewer pointed out, one can’t help but be struck by the Lovecraftian lore (for lack of a better word). Elder Gods with tentacles. Oooh.
Also, I would like to do a bit of complaining here. So far, the most promising movies this year have all turned out to be crap. Someone on the Metacritic forum went so far as to coin the term “summer of suck”. While not so eloquent it does sum up the point I am trying to make rather well. It has been a downright awful year, except for a bright few like Spider-Man 2, Harry Potter, Kill Bill 2 (though I haven’t seen the latter two and can’t vouch for them) and of course Hellboy. The list of rotten movies is far too time consuming to print. It’s sad really. So many good ideas wasted. They can’t even make a simple thing such as Troy anymore without screwing it. Hell, they could do movies like that back in the 60s without so much as a hitch.
(4/5)“Vivid and visually pleasing. Fresh, smart but fragmented and flawed.”
IMDB: Hellboy (2004) - IMDB: Hellboy 2 (2006)
