MOVIE REVIEW - Hellboy II

When I first saw Hellboy I did have that thought. "Wow, this is so cool, I hope there is a sequel!". So, perhaps other geeks and nerds all over the world created so much "Sequel Energy" that the 'movie people' (read: Del Toro) decided that yes, in fact, Hellboy II was a good plan!

Whatever the motivation, when I discovered there was indeed a sequel in production I did a joyful - and somewhat embarrassing - little jig. Now that I've SEEN the film.. My anticipation is on the rise for "Hellboy III : golden army pah, the platinum army cometh?"!

You may ask yourself... and others, "what was this crazy hellboy movie thingy like anyway?" Well, not having to compete for dollars in the currently saturated 'blockbuster shopping season' Hellboy II focuses on what is important the film's director, writer and producer Guillermo Del Toro (!oh the power!) Not caring about strictly making coins Del Toro has made Hellboy II a personal work of love. It can be clearly seen in the final result. Subtle moments between characters, a wonderful attention to detail, continuity with the spirit of the story and the characters. The story in this film is almost secondary to allowing the viewer a glimpse into the personal lives of the inhabitants of this universe. Surprisingly I found the overall theme to be that of love and relationship. Things are "worked out" and new stuff surfaces in the ongoing love affair between Hellboy and Liz. Abe isn't left out this time, and is deeply smitten by the dark princess Nualla whom shares his empathic 'touch'n'read' ability for sharing feelings. The relationship between the antagonist Prince Nuada and his Father follow the archetypal pattern so often seen in film and in life, as he seizes power by force, bent on opening a Secret-World-Sized can of Elvin retribution on poor unsuspecting hedonistic humanity, blissfully unaware of their scheduled extermination at his lily white hands! The idea that humanity has forgotten the whole magical realm doesn't seem to trifle with his motivation one bit. This aspect seemed a bit contrived and was obviously designed to set the stage for cool story conflict and items/beings for our beloved ruddy hero to smash, make sardonic comments about and/or generally endear us to him. (though, not hard really). What would Hellboy be if he didn't have some baddie to mess with.

Ron Pearlman IS the Hellboy character. The other characters are excellent, but Pearlman's work here is superb! Of course, he's excellent in most things, but this character seems to bring the 'hellboy' right out of him. I heard one female audience member exclaim, "Ron Pearlman is SOO HOT... I mean as Hellboy of course." Personally, if my mate had to grind her horns with a power tool to keep from going satanic... I'd have second thoughts. Though, I have experienced that already, but that's a topic for another story.

Selma Blair reprises her role as fiery brunette Liz Sherman. Though I do find Blair to be the weakest link in the Hellboy-clan chain she does work relatively well in the role. Of course, it goes without saying that she presents a certain level of soothing eye candy for the gents. Which has the added bonus of being a "is he really looking at her rather then me?", date film. I do prefer her roles in other films over this one; she was completely amazing in the frilly 2001 Witherspoon vehicle 'Legally Blonde'.
YouTube.com interview

Doug Jones has one of the most difficult roles, that of character 'Abe Sapien' played who also filled Abe's slighty soggy shoes in the first Hellboy flick. His level of accomplishment here is impressive. They obviously have some new animatronic toy, because they all but said, "look into my eyes, aren't they realistic and deep like the ocean?" Though to be fair... they were remarkably 'eye-like'.


Seth MacFarlane is brilliant as Johann Kraus. In fact, he blends with the character so well one would never suspect he voices such iconic idiots as Peter Griffon and Stan Smith! In this roll he takes his extreme voice talent to the limit and completely sells the character. The character is a spiritual lifeform or disembodied energy given the power to interact with the physical world via a custom designed suit (from the BPRD of course). His origin is hinted at in the film but from the comic world it's known that Johann's physical self was destroyed in a strange boating accident. No, just joking, of course, it was a 'psychic explosion' which robbed him of his mortal flesh and bound him to this existence as a 'freak' in the BPRD army of freaks.

Jeffery Tambor has made a career out of playing 'the most annoying man on the planet' roles as well as the 'confounded and confused' and 'helpless witless'. His role here is as top notch as I've come to expect. He brings life and annoyance to the roll of Tom Manning, insecure and needy agent of the fictional - so we assume - BPRD (Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense). In this film Tom Manning figures that he has a new agent which will actually respect him and follows protocol, something Tom is clearly pretty keen on enforcing though to no great effect. His efforts to control Hellboy have sunk to include bribery with cigars!

Luke Goss as Prince Nuada is most excellent. He manages to be brutal and yet completely identifiable as a 'person'. A driven person with passion and his dogged following of what he believes to be his duty. Del Toro has created a very deep and complex anti-hero which part of us always wants to succeed. Though, not at the expense of our heros of course!

Anna Walton is wonderful and etheral as Princess Nualla. She floats through the scenes, delivering her lines with pause and poise. Her visage resembling a merging of Micheal Moorcock's elves and the android Data from Star Trek. Nualla plays a pivitol roll in the nastiness set in motion by her brother. She sides with the King and flees with the final item required for her brother to awaken the Golden Army and subsequently give humanity a really bad experience.

-
Tom Manning: So, how many escapes, this year alone? Five!
Professor Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm: Tom, he's our guest, not a prisoner!
Tom Manning: Yeah, well, your guest happens to be six-foot five, bright red, has a tail, and is government funded.
(from Hellboy I)




Hellboy Shtuff:

Hellboy II movie site >>>
Hellboy main site >>>
Hellboy: the Science of Evil >>>
IMDB plot synopsis (contains spoilers) >>>
ComicVine Review >>>
Interview with director >>>

RATING: 8.5/10

MOVIE NEWS - Who will watch the Watchman? I WILL.

Discussions about this film's creation went on for what seems like an eternity. The original Watchmen graphic novel was released in 1986 I was all over it. I bought each of the 12 limited series graphic novels, every month waited with baited breath! My little teenage brain feverishly imagined what delectable treats a film version of this story would contain. Written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons; the teaming up of these two masters produced a truly groundbreaking, visually stunning, and brutally honest piece of work. To this point Watchmen is the only graphic novel to win a Hugo Award, and is on Time Magazine's 2005 list of "the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present."

The years passed... and no Watchmen feature film materialized. Batman, Spiderman, even DARKMAN paraded through the theaters.. but no Watchmen. Then, a mere 22 years later it has finally happened, Watchmen is in production! The trailer shows a film matching the tone and feeling of the original graphic novel, and I'm currently holding both sets of fingers in a 'crossed' position. Please don't mess this up. Please don't mess this up. Remember Darkman! Jullllieeeeee! shudder.

Check out the trailer, and for heaven's sake read the graphic novel! (yes, all 12) It's likely the finest bit of graphic storytelling produced in the last 25 years.

LINKS:
Alan Moore - Author - Wikipedia




for EdmontonWebPages - Ian Davis - Editor.

MOVIE REVIEW - Hancock

Almost everyone has seen a 'superhero' movie at some point in time. Hancock is a little different then the usual fare, since it wasn't based on an previously established hero-franchise. The movie was written as a screenplay by Vincent Ngo and originally entitled 'tonight, he comes'. I think I like 'Hancock' better.

As the film opens we find our protagonist in the grips of alcoholism and depression. It's clear this is a very conflicted character. On one hand he rouses himself out of a drunken stupor to do his 'job', though in the end most of his actions cause huge damage and mayhem, mostly due to the fact he drinks and flies. In fact, Hancock at the opening of the film is a careless drunk. A careless drunk with SUPERPOWERS.

Then, as the case in many stories, fate intervenes. Between scenes with Hancock drunkenly destroying property we follow an advertising pitch-man failing once again (inferred) in his effort to change the world for the better. His story, and Hancock's quickly merge and what could an out-of-work spin doctor do for an extremely unpopular 'superhero'?

We've all seen the trailers, if you haven't, then stay away! The trailer shows you a clip from almost every major scene in the film! Except a couple key ones that would spoil some of the more cool plot twists. (shhhh)...

This film rather surprised me, though there are elements that made me roll my eyes, overall this is a really unique and fresh telling of the superhero myth. In fact many different concepts about immortality and love are explored. It's deeper and darker then you would expect, with a couple truly surprising twists thrown in to keep you awake.

The acting was excellent. Will Smith, Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron play off each other, making this whole crazy thing seem almost believable. Smith's portrayal of a socially inept super-god barely able to relate to humans is pretty accomplished. Jason Bateman totally pulls off the super-nice, Ghandi-inspired unemployed advertising guru and his wife played by Charlize Theron is a mysterious figure hiding a secret past, also well played by this always superb actress.

Of course there has to be witty, and yet inept bad guys in the mix, someone to fire bullets at Hancock's Achilles heel when the time is right... and they do. Nicely woven into the film their motivation and actions are predictable yet plot-required to resolve all the conflicts, tie up loose ends, and allow Hancock and the rest of the peeps living in this world a rosy Hollywood ending.

If you are an SFX junkie this film wont disappoint. Hancock's interaction with the world is completely believable! A drunken Hancock accidentally flying through roadsigns, buildings and the like, in itself, makes the film worthy of the price of admission! Though, I wish directors would believe that viewers DO understand a child falling from a quarter mile up in the air, and being caught in one arm would very, very fatal! So. Suspension of disbelief highly recommended for some scenes.

Overall a very satisfying film which talked about concepts of immortality.. lots of cool things being smashed (always a crowd pleaser) and in the end it was a fresh take on the superhero film that we have seen so much of lately. Don't go expecting a Spiderman film, because this is more of a 'queen of the damned' + 'highlander' + 'superman' kinda film.

Rating 7/10

LINKS
Hancock a crazy ride, says Charlize




for EdmontonWebPages - Ian Davis - Editor.

MOVIE REVIEW - Wall-e

Pixar has developed so much of a name for themselves I imagined that they could do no wrong. Now they are an animation powerhouse reputed to be the best at what they do over such stalwarts like Disney animation studios. Where did Pixar come from? Now a household name, pixar started with John Lassiter who in 1984 left his animation job at Disney to work with George Lucas' special-effects computer group which later was to become Pixar.

In 1986 the computer graphics division of LucasFilm, Ltd was purchased for a tidy sum of $10 million by non-other then Apple CEO Steve Jobs. At this point Pixar employs numbered 44 people. The now iconic Luxo Jr.- the animated star of Pixar's current animated opening logo short - makes his first squeeky, ball-jumping appearance starring in the animated short “Luxo Jr.” at the world premiere at Siggraph*. Within a short time this character would come to represent the company itself and go to become one of the most recognizable lamps ever.

The 1987 Academy Awards saw “Luxo Jr.” receive a nomination for Best Animated Short Film and at the 1987 SIGGRAPH conference Pixar's second groundbreaking short 'Red's Dream' is released. "Red's Dream" is a story about a lonely and rejected unicycle with an overactive imagination and a desire to gain fame and adoration by juggling like a circus clown. Over the next several years we see the release of even more expansive and technologically groundbreaking animations like “Tin Toy” and “Knick Knack”. Each short film pushing the capability of the technology further forward toward true realism.

Between 1990 and 1995 Pixar produced many recognizable animated commercials including the popular vine swinging Listerine bottle.

Toy Story hits the theatres in 1995 changing the animated film genre forever and become the highest grossing film of the year making almost $192 million domestically (U.S.) and $362 million worldwide. Pixar joins forces with Disney to distribute the film. The same year Pixar goes public with 6.9 million shares at $22 a share.

Today you would need to live under a rock not to have at least heard of one of Pixar's films or shorts. They have produced now beloved classics like A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, the Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille and most recently Wall-E. They also continue to produce outstanding shorts like For the Birds, Geri's Game, Boundin, One Man Band, and Lifted.

Pixars latest, and many say greatest, opened late June. The talk about town is that Wall-E is pixar's greatest film ever. IMDB.com lists Wall-e with a very high 9.1/10 stars. Filmcritic.com give it 5/5 stars. IMDB puts Wall-E at number 9 in it's top 250 films of all time – as voted by users - which in itself is remarkable.

From a technical standpoint it is as near to perfection as any CG film I've ever seen. The action, the presence, were perfect. Every object, every environment was completely believable. Grunge, dirt, decay, it was all there. It completely sold the illusion of a decayed and dead earth. Wall-E and other characters interact with their environment in a completely believable way. The lighting and sets were so detailed and so well rendered it is photographic and completely convincing. Then the action moves to space aboard the Axion earth's population's last bastion of civilization. Humans have become – a la Matrix – plugged-in protoplasm devoid of any sort of situation awareness. Pudgy, baby-like and stylized here lies one of my few quibbles with the film.

For the first time the real world intrudes on pixar's lush cartoon 'reality'. Video clips of the human leader – a popular comedian – Fred Willard represents the president of earths largest corporation and those responsible for the construction of the Axiom and of Wall-E himself. The inclusion of live action juxtaposed with obviously stylized and surrealistically rendered humans left a bad taste in my mouth. Like an open window with unwanted traffic noise floating in messing with my nice clean music. It's not a deal breaker for me I loved the film, but I found the overly glib video of long dead corporate president to be inappropriate and took away from a stunningly rendered film. There were a few other minor things, the story is very slow in the beginning and the last half of the film is completely different from the first half. The romance between the two robots at first is completely unbelievable but after a while you start to buy it, and by the end your totally routing for them to make it function.

I'll stop there, leaving some to the imagination, but I must say, so far in 2008 it's the best film I've seen. I'd highly recommend seeing it as soon as possible.

Resources

View Pixar Animated Shorts on their website: >>

IMDB.com Entry for Wall-e >>

Hello, WALL•E!: Pixar Reaches for the Stars >>

(click through the advertising to get to feature story)

Bill Desowitz talks to DP Jeremy Lasky and Directing Animator Angus MacLane about making the new look old in Pixar's latest animated masterpiece.

The iBot and the Rust Bucket: An Interview with WALL•E Designer Jay Shuster >>

Joe Strike talks to the Pixar artist about cars, Cars and the creation of the robotic couple of the year.

WALL-E, Disney team up with NASA to spark imagination >>

Another, more detailed review of the film: >>

Pixar sets 'Toy Story 3' for June 2010 >>


Disney Purchases Pixar >>

*Siggraph – An acronym for Special Interest Group of GRAPHics and Interactive Technology. First held in 1974 SIGGRAPH has been the venue for the most cutting edge and artistic computer graphic technology of the time. The conference has been held in many major American cities such as Dallas, Seattle, Los Angeles, New Orleans and others.