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Hellboy 2: The Golden Army


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Good film, but not as good as the original IMO.

 

Which is a shame because there is so much of the film that I really respect and like. Visually it's amazing, and Perlman does an incredible job as usual, the problem is that the script was just not that good. The villain needed some work, and the entire conclusion to the film was spelled out directly to the audience within the first 5 minutes. Did the ending surprise ANYONE?

 

I thought the Abe Love Story was a bit undercooked, the motivation of the Elf Prince was as well, and the movie could have had a good 20 minutes of the second act lopped off without losing much (nothing really comes of the whole 'Outing' story.)

 

Still the scene with the

Angel of Death

was AWESOME, the third act was much better than the first two overall, and no one can dis DelToro's eye for amazing production design. The story though, was kinda meh.

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Yeah, it was especially good in Princess Mononoke.

 

The concept is similar in as far a

forest God

. What I meant in saying it was original was that, as you watched the aftermath, you were

not entirely sure Hellboy had done the right thing

. Usually in big action set-pieces like that there is a clear reason and cause for

destroying a monster

. Here it was cloudy.

 

And for the record Prince Mononoke did not even come close to conveying the sense of awe, that Guillermo del Terro achieved in that scene. You can take that to those weird little forest ghosts who shake their head like maracas!

Edited by Dark Kaniggit
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The concept is similar in as far a

forest God

. What I meant in saying it was original was that, as you watched the aftermath, you were

not entirely sure Hellboy had done the right thing

. Usually in big action set-pieces like that there is a clear reason and cause for

destroying a monster

. Here it was cloudy.

 

And for the record Prince Mononoke did not even come close to conveying the sense of awe, that Guillermo del Terro achieved in that scene. You can take that to those weird little forest ghosts who shake their head like maracas!

 

Can't disagree more. I think DelToro clearly failed at just what you said in that scene. I thought it was funny that you had

the elf prince moaning about HB destroying the last of these forest creatures when HE WAS THE ONE WHO PUT THE FUCKIN THING IN THE LINE OF FIRE IN THE FIRST PLACE. Hellboy totally did the right thing. Not to mention that concept wasn't original, it has been a giant monster trope since King Fucking Kong.

 

 

And wow REALLY on that last line? I was reminded so much of Mononoke's ending when I saw that scene I could barely get it out of my head. To be fair, DelToro's scene was animated better, CG and all, but it just felt lifeless.

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Can't disagree more. I think DelToro clearly failed at just what you said in that scene. I thought it was funny that you had

the elf prince moaning about HB destroying the last of these forest creatures when HE WAS THE ONE WHO PUT THE FUCKIN THING IN THE LINE OF FIRE IN THE FIRST PLACE. Hellboy totally did the right thing. Not to mention that concept wasn't original, it has been a giant monster trope since King Fucking Kong.

 

 

I agree that Hellboy chose wisely, being fellow member of the GOP, I always put people before nature. :wink:

 

I was referring to the internal conflict that showed in Hellboy. Which is the great thing about that character, inner struggle.

And yes the Prince did place it harm's way

. And true the

forest god

is not at all a new concept. And true the giant monster archetype is not new. But when you take all these elements and CGI animation, and a gifted filmmaker like GDT, I felt like it was presented in a new fresh way.

 

 

And wow REALLY on that last line? I was reminded so much of Mononoke's ending when I saw that scene I could barely get it out of my head. To be fair, DelToro's scene was animated better, CG and all, but it just felt lifeless.

 

I like Prince Monoke I think it is a beautiful movie, a little to talky but excellent. I can honestly say that I did not feel that any of that scene from Hellboy reminded me of that movie when I first saw it. Now that you mention it, are there similarities? absolutely. Do I feel like they are stolen concepts? not at all. Yes, Del Toro was animated better because of the budget as his disposal.

Prince Monoke is an awe-inspriring film. I was lucky to see it on the big screen. I just feel that Del Toro's scene packs more of impact to me personally. It could be that I saw Princess Monoke long time ago, and my sensibilities have changed? sure. that could be why I found Hellboy's scene to be more effective.

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  • 4 months later...

My only problems with the film is that it took about too long to get to the point and as wicked/sweet (swicked?) as the elemental was, it was even more unneccesary than the river ferry scene in Dark Knight. It built up like that was to be the end of the movie but it wasn't.

 

But ultimately what was wrong with Hellboy 2 was that it just didn't feel like Hellboy. Oh sure, in the comics he's had his share of adventures with fairytale creatures but these were usually just kept to small one-shots not full on stories. Most of the main stories skirted fairytales and mythology (Hekate being probably the main one) and focused more on demonology and science fiction. Hellboy and crew seem more like guests in a story that has nothing to do with them.

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Yeah, I guess you could say it was an amalgam of the sensibilities of del Toro and Mignola (with Mignola's complete input and blessing) but Hellboy himself was still Hellboy. I dunno, I don't care much when a movie differs from the book it was based on as long as it makes sense for the movie.

 

The other thing I can see. But it felt like Part 2 of a trilogy to me, so I was ok with that too.

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i want to love it, i do. im a big fan of the source material and del toro's still a perfect pick here - for me, that was most evident in the elemental fight and the monster town, which was just amazing.

 

there's moments like hellboy drinking with abe that couldve gone on forever, i loved it. even hellboy's fight with kraus was fun. but i tend to agree with bish that the elf twins - who started out seeming like pretty cool villains - ended up kinda forgettable. the tooth fairies, the golden army, that stuff had its place, but i didnt always feel the plot with the homicidal elves was well thought out, i think that started for me about the time

he offed his poppa.

 

 

i didnt hate it, mind you, id just hoped for something more. i guess the first one felt more in line with the feel of the books cause the plot was much more similar...which isnt to say the made-up golden army thing woudlntve fit right in, cause for the most part, it did - there's not much there that woudlntve been in a story arc a while back or so. some plot points

, like Liz being knocked up

...just threw me for a loop. i guess ill have to see how its handled in part 3 before i can really say.

 

Hellboy and crew seem more like guests in a story that has nothing to do with them.

 

/agreed, for the most part.

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  • 5 weeks later...

I liked it MUCH more than the first, though I guess I can agree with the part about Hellboy and crew seeming like guests in someone else's story. That said, I'd rather see them as guests in a good story than see a less interesting story focused on them(ie, part 1).

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I liked it MUCH more than the first, though I guess I can agree with the part about Hellboy and crew seeming like guests in someone else's story. That said, I'd rather see them as guests in a good story than see a less interesting story focused on them(ie, part 1).

 

The part ones for comic movies are always pretty weak, mostly cause they have to set up the origin story. X-Men 1 is kinda cheesy and boring especially compared with X2, Batman Begins was a novel concept that turned out pretty dull for the most part but was a nice lead up into the cinematic juggernaut The Dark Knight. Spider-Man was really the only one that was anything short of incredible right out the gate and even compared to the second it could better. I'm sure Iron-Man 2 will be much better than the first.

 

But you know what movie worked right out the gate? The Incredible Hulk (the one from 2008), it didn't waste but 5 minutes on the origin story and went right into it. Unless you have a character that most people don't know the origin story of (I'm looking at you Frank Miller) then there's really no point in wasting time on origin stories, just give a rough summary and you're golden.

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"The part ones for comic movies are always pretty weak, mostly cause they have to set up the origin story. X-Men 1 is kinda cheesy and boring especially compared with X2"

 

I liked the first X-Men, though I prefer X2 as well. OTOH, the third one was much much weaker, which rather does seem to be the trend in comic movie series these days.

 

"Batman Begins was a novel concept that turned out pretty dull for the most part but was a nice lead up into the cinematic juggernaut The Dark Knight."

 

I didn't consider it dull, though TDK was indeed a big step up. Now to see if the next one can break the good first, very good second, disappointing 3rd that has so far been the case with X-men, Spiderman, and Blade.

 

"Spider-Man was really the only one that was anything short of incredible right out the gate and even compared to the second it could better. I'm sure Iron-Man 2 will be much better than the first."

 

Yeah, I liked the second Spiderman more than the first 2, though I'm not sure if it's because it's better or simply for the fact that I always liked Doc Ock more than Green Goblin.

 

"But you know what movie worked right out the gate? The Incredible Hulk (the one from 2008), it didn't waste but 5 minutes on the origin story and went right into it. Unless you have a character that most people don't know the origin story of (I'm looking at you Frank Miller) then there's really no point in wasting time on origin stories, just give a rough summary and you're golden."

 

I'll agree that a lot of the time too much is spent on the origin story, although at the same time, a lot of people DO like to actually SEE the origins of their favorite heroes on the big screen, rather than just reading it in a comic.

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