Hellboy
July 14, 2008
When I saw the trailer for Hellboy 2 earlier this summer, I was surprised at how good it looked. I had ignored the first Hellboy movie as nothing more than a monster movie, but after seeing the trailer for the second one I decided to give it a try.
I rented the first Hellboy movie last week, and I thought it was a little better than I had originally feared. Sure, it had a lot of frivolous violence and cheesy one-liners — but it also had some interesting elements. It was entertaining, and I appreciated how the “visionary director” (as Guillermo del Toro has been called for his work on Pan’s Labyrinth) took what could have been just another mindless action film and made what I would call a “slightly mindful monster movie”.
The second Hellboy movie, which I saw in theaters on the night it came out, was almost as good as I expected based on the trailer. I loved the opening sequence, with Hellboy’s father reading him an ancient tale about the relationship of men and elves. The working out of that tale’s consequences throughout the movie reflected a theme found in many of the best fantasy stories, that ancient lore contains more truth than the modern world recognizes. There was even a scene or two that moved me in ways that more realistic fiction (because of the constraints of the real world) could not.
The movie had a few great moments and themes, but it was not by any means perfect. It definitely had it’s mindless monster movie moments and a lot more action than probably was necessary for the story. It even had some strange moments of romance and comedy. If you like serious epic fantasy but can stomach the mindless action and lots of silliness, then I would recommend you give Hellboy a try.