Directed by Guillermo del Toro (2008) and starring Ron Perlman as Hellboy, Selma Blair as Liz and Doug Jones as Abe Sapien.
Okay. So. I have issues with the whole comic-turned-movie thing. I willingly admit it. It’s not just the fact that these movies have a tendency to get really silly… As you pretty much can expect from the idea of grown men putting their underwear on outside their stretchy tights. It’s more that they either do nothing with the characters or they don’t spend as dime on the script in order to blow their wad on the effects, or they don’t give a rat’s behind about the story in order to delve into the characterization of characters that have… uhm, very little depth.
So it’s surprisingly rare that you get a movie like this one that manages to do a good job of the visual as well as the story and use the characters in a clever way.
Hellboy is fantastic to say the least and it could have been blatantly cheesy and silly, but it somehow manages to tread that fine line and come out smelling like roses. Ron Perlman is all padded up, but he manages to carry the armour without becoming two dimensional and watching Hellboy and Abe get drunk on beer and sing Barry Manolow’s “Can’t smile without you” while musing on their respective love lives is just funny as all get out, seeing as how they manage to look about seventeen years old both of them.
The visuals are stunning. That’s really the only word for it. They’re right on the verge of heavy unreality the whole time, but somehow manage to seem credible as an alternate reality coexisting with ours. It’s less glossy than other similar alternative worlds I’ve seen, which is a bonus. There are a couple of things I personally could have done without, but I’m not going to gripe about that when the overall is so spectacular.
Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) is a surprisingly soft-spoken bad guy despite his sword wielding and actually comes off as someone with an agenda that isn’t as far fetched or foaming at the mouth as some villains. It makes the plot better that he has cause to be doing what he’s doing. His twin sister Princess Nuala (Anna Walton) gets caught in an impossible situation and again, this actually gives depth to the storyline.
This is all good fun in the best possible way. The bad guys are really good and the good guys are bad ass. It’s visually imaginative and down right pretty at times. Hellboy is funny and sarcastic and still just a guy, despite the skin tone and the filed down horns. There’s no dead time and you don’t find yourself looking at your watch or yawning.
As long as you take that Coleridgean leap of faith and submit to the willing suspension of disbelief you’ll have a good time.
You can’t really ask for more than that.

Mule

BEST WIDE-RELEASE FILM
HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY
CLOVERFIELD
THE STRANGERS
THE RUINS
QUARANTINE
Write-ins: FUNNY GAMES; DOOMSDAY; MIRRORS

BEST LIMITED-RELEASE/DIRECT-TO-VIDEO FILM
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
JACK BROOKS: MONSTER SLAYER
ROGUE
STUCK
THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
Write-ins: INSIDE; MACHINE GIRL; MOTHER OF TEARS

BEST ACTOR
Ron Perlman, HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY
Kare Hedebrant, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
Marc Senter, THE LOST
Trevor Matthews, JACK BROOKS: MONSTER SLAYER
Leo Bill, THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
Write-ins: Brian Cox, RED; Anthony Stewart Head, REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA; Jay Hernandez, QUARANTINE; Kiefer Sutherland, MIRRORS

BEST ACTRESS
Lina Leandersson, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
Naomi Watts, FUNNY GAMES
Eliza Dushku, THE ALPHABET KILLER
Jess Weixler, TEETH
Alysson Paradis, INSIDE
Write-ins: Asia Argento, MOTHER OF TEARS; Jennifer Carpenter, QUARANTINE; Liv Tyler, THE STRANGERS

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Doug Jones, HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY
TIE: Michael Pitt, FUNNY GAMES/Vinnie Jones, THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN
Robert Englund, JACK BROOKS: MONSTER SLAYER
A.J. Bowen, THE SIGNAL
Write-ins: Luke Goss, HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY; Jean-Pierre Jorris, FRONTIER(S); Noah Segan, DEADGIRL

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Beatrice Dalle, INSIDE
Anna Walton, HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY
Lauren Roy, THE CHAIR
Jennifer Ellison, THE COTTAGE
Lou Doillon, SISTERS
Write-ins: Selma Blair, HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY; Megan Henning, THE LOST; Mylene Jampanoi, MARTYRS; Laura Ramsey, THE RUINS

BEST SCREENPLAY
John Ajvide Lindqvist, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
Guillermo del Toro, HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY
Mitchell Lichtenstein, TEETH
TIE: John Ainslie, Jon Knautz, JACK BROOKS: MONSTER SLAYER/John Strysik, STUCK
Write-in: Dario Argento, Adam Gierasch, Jace Anderson, MOTHER OF TEARS

BEST SCORE
John Soderqvist, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
tomandandy, THE STRANGERS
TIE: Michael Giacchino, CLOVERFIELD/Ryan Shore, JACK BROOKS: MONSTER SLAYER
Robert Miller, TEETH
Write-ins: Danny Elfman, HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY; Claudio Simonetti, MOTHER OF TEARS

BEST MAKEUP/CREATURE FX
Mike Elizalde, Cliff Wallace, David Martí, Montse Ribé, HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY
Robert Hall, QUARANTINE
David Scott, JACK BROOKS: MONSTER SLAYER
Jacques-Olivier Molon, INSIDE
Todd Tucker, Drac Studios, TRAILER PARK OF TERROR
Write-in: John Cox, ROGUE

WORST FILM
The top five vote-getters were:
PROM NIGHT
CLOVERFIELD
THE HAPPENING
SAW V
TWILIGHT

 With a tie for second place here, we’re inducting three new members into the FANGORIA HORROR HALL OF FAME:
Doug Jones, Forrest J Ackerman and Roger Corman.

Title: Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Year: 2008
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writer: Guillermo del Toro, based on the comic book by Mike Mignola
Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Jeffrey Tambor, Luke Goss, Anna Walton, Seth MacFarlane, John Hurt
Music: Danny Elfman
Length: 120 minutes
Synopsis: an elf tries to rule the world with mythical robots
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), November 2008
Subjective Rating: 3/10
Objective Rating: 1/10 (gets a point for pacing)

They did manage to get Hellboy into the movie for a few minutes, but that’s about the only good thing about any of the ideas here.  When a movie has Ron Pearlman and John Hurt and I can’t even give it a point for acting… something is very, very wrong. Maybe I’m being harsh because I had high expectations. Probably not.

At the end of the Ice Age, The Machine came from the outer space with the purpose to change men into mutants. However, a hero defeated the device and a great seal was laid over The Machine. In 2707, the depleted world is ruled by four Corporations: Mishima, Bauhaus, Capitol and Imperial that are in constant war. During a battle between Capitol and Bauhaus, the great seal is broken and The Machine works again transforming soldiers and civilians in hordes of mutants. A small part of the population escapes to Mars, leaving millions of people behind. The man of faith and leader of an ancient brotherhood Brother Samuel is a believer of God and the Chronicles, a bible about the mutants. With the city under siege of the mutants, he visits the Corporations’ leader Constantine asking for an aircraft and twenty men for a suicide mission to destroy The Machine, planting a bomb and a detonator following the knowledge of the Chronicles. He recruits the tough Major ‘Mitch’ Hunter; the Bauhaus Lieutenant Maximillian von Steiner; the keeper of the Chronicles Severian that is under a vow of silence; the gorgeous and lethal Corporal Valerie Duval; Corporal Juba Kim Wu; Captain John McGuire; and Corporal Jesus ‘El Jesus’ de Barrera. Together they become the last hope of Earth against the evil mutants.

” No soy un bebé, soy un tumor”

Es una pena cuando un director, más que decente, con un grupo técnico excelente y un reparto bueno, no quiere aspirar a más de lo que hace Guillermo del Toro con esta película. Para la desgracia de todos, al igual que paso con la primera parte, el verdadero espíritu del cómic se pierde, en lo que acaba siendo otra película más de acción, decente, eso sí. La oscuridad, el humor negrísimo y la belleza del cómic, se convierte en otra cosa, otro género. Parece que en Hollywood no hacen más que coger libros y películas porque les faltan creativos a los que se les ocurra una base sobre la que escribir, porque lo que son las historias, luego, si que las saben cambiar y destrozar.

Hellboy y Big Baby

Esta segunda parte tiene algunas ventajas sobre la primera, un mejor ritmo, más acción, y lo que más importa desde luego, una cantidad de bichos, seres sobrenaturales, monstruos y una interminable colección de diseños impresionante. Desde luego esto es lo que más alegra la vista al ver el film, donde la historia queda disuelta y un poco sosa, y en ningún momento nos creemos que la humanidad llegue a estar en verdadero peligro. Donde la dicotomía del héroe entre su naturaleza fantástica y su lado humano y las relaciones sentimentales entre personajes parecen de cartón y son simplemente un mero aliño para lo que importa, ver al rojo repartiendo mamporros sobre seres de otro mundo.

En definitiva, Hellboy II no es un mala película, probablemente gracias a la habilidad del director, que ha evitado con un buen ritmo y varias escenas realmente espectaculares, que nos durmamos en los laureles, o que recordemos las cientos de películas con escenas similares.

No se que pensará Mignola sobre la adaptación de su tebeo, pero me imagino que mirando la cuenta del banco se le pasará todo.

*****

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Ficha IMDB

Título: Hellboy II. El ejercito dorado.

Título original: Hellboy II. The golden army.

Año: 2008

Duración: 120′

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Escrito: Guillermo del Toro y Mike Mignola

Reparto: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, John Alexander, James Dodd, Jeffrey Tambor, Luke Goss, Anna Walton, Seth MacFarlane, John Hurt

Hellboy is back in action as he tries to prevent an ancient prince from releasing an unstoppable golden army.

Directed by – Guillermo del Toro

Written by – Guillermo del Toro, Mike Mignola

Starring – Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, James Dodd, Jeffrey Tambor, John Alexander, Luke Goss, Anna Walton, Seth MacFarlane, John Hurt, Brian Steele

This was a great movie to watch and for so many reasons. The scenery and character design is incredible. Guillermo del Toro really makes some amazing looking creatures come to life and the story is quite the roller coaster ride. It’s entertaining and humorous and I love the smartass attitude of Hellboy.

The basic premise of the story is pretty simple but this movie isn’t for thinking really. Everyone has their moment of hilarity and I really enjoyed the scene of Abe Sapien and Hellboy getting drunk and listening to Barry Manilow. Pure awesome!

You couldn’t really ask much more from this one. Great effects and action, some good comedy and memorable characters. If you haven’t seen this one than what are you waiting for.

Under the marquee – Will

This movie looks good guys check this out. I wonder where it’s been hiding because before today I had know clue this movie even existed, hmmm I wonder if that’s a good thing or bad.

Mutant Chronicles is set in the year 2707, on an unrecognizable Earth where a war is raging between four giant corporations who control the planet as they battle over the planet’s dwindling resources. This war is soon rendered irrelevant when an errant bomb shatters an ancient buried seal, releasing a horrific mutant army from its prison deep within the earth. As the mutant scourge threatens human extinction, a squad of ragged soldiers, led by Mitch Hunter (Thomas Jane), descends into the earth in a last ditch effort to destroy the mutants and save mankind.

Comme je le disais l’autre jour, j’ai reçu le DVD de Hellboy II en même temps que celui de The Dark Knight. J’avais goupé les commandes histoire d’économiser sur les frais de port puisque ce n’était pas une urgence de les revoir, les ayant vu récemment. Oui, effectivement, je n’avais rien écris dessus à l’époque, il ne faut pas chercher dans les archives. Pour The Dark Knight, c’est parce que j’avais fait une critique, une vraie, sur critictoo, mais pour Hellboy II, c’est juste que sur le moment, je ne l’ai pas fait et le temps est passé.

Bref, tout ça pour dire qu’en générale, je n’aime pas écrire sur un film que je connais déjà, surtout que celui-là je l’ai vu il y a à peine quelques mois. Mais bon, ça ne m’a pas empêcher de mettre le DVD dans la platine pour autant, ce qui montre que j’ai quand même énormément aimé le film. Je ne suis surement pas le plus impartiale qui soit sur le sujet. J’aime déjà beaucoup le premier opus, et je trouve ce second supérieur. Certes, je suis le public visé par Del Toro, donc, ce n’est pas difficile de me convaincre que c’est une réussite. L’histoire aurait pu être un peu plus complexe, ça n’aurait pas fait de mal, mais c’est compensé par le développement de l’univers, les scènes de combats excellentes, et les décors époustouflants. N’oublions pas les aussi les nouveaux personnages avec Johann Krauss, avec 2 “s”, qui a la voix de Seth MacFarlane, mais aussi Luke Goss qui jouait Nomak dans Blade II et qui, cette fois encore a le rôle du bad guy, le Prince Nuada. Et pour finir, la toujours charmante Anna Walton qui fait le princesse Nuala.

C’est en toute partialité que je mets une note de A-. D’ailleurs, je pense revoir le système de note pour la suite, je trouve que finalement, c’est assez abstrait. Je n’aime pas trop mettre une note sur 20, ou sur 10, donc, je vais y réfléchir et je vous présenterais ça bientôt.

Hancock
[ 1 star out of 4 ]

This movie is pretty terrible and the trailers reflected that. This picture not only suffers from a lack of focus but also a lack of aim and resolution. I feel like the filmmakers were coming up with ideas right on the spot as it went along. With a confusing backstory, it was hard for me to care for the characters. I know that the filmmakers are trying to make a funny superhero movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously. I believe they could have made that kind of film with a better script, visual effects, and with just the right balance of tone and pace. Not even the star power of Will Smith, Charlize Theron, and Jason Bateman could save this wreck. Smith’s character was annoying and I felt like I didn’t know anything about him; Theron’s character was moody the whole time; the only character I could stand was Jason Bateman because he has that natural charm. Another problem I had was the lack of a villain. I know that not all superhero films have to have a villain but this one desperately needed it because there’s absolutely nothing that drives the story forward. I felt like we were stuck in one place the whole time and it was sickening. I have nothing more to say other than I expected nothing and was still disappointed. Give this one a pass if you’re highly doubtful of seeing it in the first place.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army
[ 3 stars out of 4 ]

I liked this installment as equally as its predecessor. The script has a nice balance of action and humor, the characters are interesting, and the visual effects are nothing short of magnificent. Guillermo del Toro has once again outdone himself when it comes to giving his audience creatures that are beyond out of this world. Some of the images reminded me of “Pan’s Labyrinth” only without the dark fairytale that drives the story. I’ve also seen del Toro’s “The Orphanage” and I’m often at awe when it comes to his talent. Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, and Doug Jones reprise their roles as Hellboy, Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien, respectively. I felt like four years didn’t go by after the first film because they feel so at home with their characters. Therefore, the pace wasn’t slow because the audiences don’t have to watch the actors become comfortable with their characters. As for the story regarding the Golden Army, Prince Nauda (Luke Goss) and Princess Nauda (Anna Walton), I must admit that I didn’t care much about it as long as the film delivered adrenaline-fueled action scenes. Although the pace may be a little too fast and therefore not answer certain questions, it’s more than forgiven because the fantasy world that they live in is so vast to the point where it’s impossible to find out everything about them in the first place. What this film lacked that the first one thrived in, though, was the backstory regarding Hellboy’s childhood. I thought that the first “Hellboy” had more heart but less action scenes while “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” is the complete opposite. Still, if there is going to be a third picture, I’d like to find more about Hellboy’s origins and the unanswered questions that this installment brought up.

P2
[ 3 stars out of 4 ]

I was pretty surprised that I enjoyed this movie quite a bit because a lot of critics didn’t like it. While I don’t disagree that this is no different than most cat-mouse thrillers out there, I thought it was solid when it came to delivering the thrills. If one expects nothing but to be entertained when it comes to the characters making stupid decisions, the killer popping out of nowhere, and missing opportunities of escape, one will bound to like this picture. Wes Bentley (“American Beauty”) is pretty effective as the parking attendant who terrorizes Rachel Nichols (“Alias”). I wasn’t that surprised to see Bentley as an effective stalker because I noticed a little bit of craziness in his eyes on “American Beauty.” His charisma works worked with him in the beginning and I wish they could’ve established that a little more before diving for the kill. But I was surprised to see Nichols as an effective potential scream queen, which reminded me of a somewhat weak version of Jamie Lee Curtis on “Halloween.” I also really liked the this film was set during Christmas. I will never perceive “Santa Baby” the same way without thinking of someone being held against their own will in a parking structure during Christmas dinners. Despite the film’s inadequacies regarding its background story, the pace of the film is brisk and the tone is cold (yet strangely involving). I recommend this film during sleepovers on a rainy night. (Did I mention that this movie contains one of the most gruesome deaths involving a car in recent memory? I covered my eyes!)

imdb puanı : 7.6/10spaTür : Aksiyon / Fantastik / Macera / Savaş
Yönetmen : Guillermo del Toro
Senaryo : Guillermo del Toro, Mike Mignola (Kitap)
Oyuncular : Luke Goss, Doug Jones, Thomas Kretschmann, John Hurt, Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Jeffrey Tambor, James Dodd, John Alexander, Seth Mcfarlene, Anna Walton
Yapımcı : Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin
Görüntü Yönetmeni : Guillermo Navarro
Müzik : Danny Elfman
Dağıtım : UIP Filmcilik
Süre : 2 saat, 00 dk.
Gösterim Tarihi : 26 Eylül 2008
Konusu:Mike Mignola tarafından yaratılan bir Dark Horse Comics çizgi roman karakteri olan Hellboy, ilk olarak 1993’te San Diego Comic-Con Comics’in 2. sayısında okurlarla buluşan bir cehennem çocuğudur.

Dark Horse Comics tarafından yayımlanan, macera ve korku kurgularının etkisi altında kalmış bir çizgi roman mini dizisinde yer almıştır. Bu dizi, Marvel Comics, DC Comics ya da Image Comics tarafından yayımlanmayan en başarılı çizgi roman dizisi olmuştur.

Bu çizgi romanın beyazperde macerası ise oldukça başarılı şekilde gerçekleşti. Söz konusu yönetmenin “Blade 2” ile kendini kanıtlamış olması da tanıştığımız anti-kahraman’a karşı duracağımız mesafeyi de oldukça kısaltıyordu.

İlk filmden öğrendiklerimizi gözden geçirirsek; Hellboy, henüz bir çocukken okültistler tarafından dünyaya getirilen bir iblistir. Müttefik güçlerce kurtarılır ve Birleşik Devletler Paranormal Araştırma ve Savunma Bürosunca (PASB) büyütülür. Büyüdükçe ortaya çıkan yeni fiziki görünümü tam bir iblis olduğunu gösterir. Aksi olsa da doğuştan sahip olduğu düşünülen kötü niyete sahip olmayan Cehennem Çocuğu PASB’deki diğer yaratıklarla birlikte çalışmaktadır. Dünyanın en iyi Paranormal Dedektifi ünvanı da cabasıdır.

Çizgi Romanda belirtildiği üzere 24 Aralık 1944’te, bir nazi timince dünyaya getirilen Hellboy, Ragnarok adlı proje ve başındaki Gregor Rasputin tarafından cehenneme açılan bir boyut kapısından adeta Amerikalı keşif birliğinde görevli Trevor Bruttenholm’un ellerinde adını ve kimliğini kazanır.

Rasputin’in kurduğu tuzakla, babasının ölümü sonrası olduğu ile olmak istediği kişi arasındaki seçimi yaparak, sağ elindeki cehhenemin anahtarını kullanma seçimini yapar.

Genel olarak ortalama bir film olarak görülen ilk film, çizgi roman üslubunu sonuna kadar kullanan absürtlükleriyle eğlendiren bir filmdi. İlk kez 2004 Mayıs’ında dillendirilen devam filmi düşüncesi da 2006 yılını işaret ediyordu.

2 yıl gecikmeli de olsa, bir üçlemeye dönüşmesi düşünülen serinin ikinci ayağı artık karşımızda. Filmi değerlendirmeden önce Yönetmen Guillermo Del Toro’nun açıklamasına dikkat etmekte fayda var. Bu tür kahramanlık filmlerinin ilk adımlarına mesafeli yaklaşan Del Toro, kahramanı tanıtmak için harcanan 70 dakikaya dem vurmadan edemiyor. İkinci filmde bu tarz zaman kaybı olmadığından daha serbest davranarak yaratıcığını sonuna kadar kullanmış gözüküyor.

Pan’ın Labirenti sonrası hayal gücü konusunda, yarattığı yaratıklar konusunda hayranlık uyandıran Guillermo Del Toro, daha filmin başında bu yeteneğini şova çevireceğini izlerini veriyor adeta.

Film henüz Hellboy’un bulunduğu tarihte çekilen resim ile açılıyor. İlk filme dair bir özete zaman ayırmayacağının da bir belirtisi bu aynı zamanda. Hemen ardından Hellboy’a babasının anlattığı efsaneyi kukla sahnesiyle mükemmelleştiriyor Del Toro. 2004’de Anders Rønnow Klarlund tarafından çekilen “Strings” (İpler) lezzetindeki sahneler eşliğinde filmin yol haritası da çizilmiş oluyor.

Filmde resmedilen Elf, Ogre ve Goblin karakterlerinin başarılı anlatımı da 2011’de Del Toro’nun yönetmenliğinde karşımıza gelecek Hobbit konusundaki şüpheleri bitirmekle kalmıyor, sağlam referanslarla beklentileri de yükseltmiş oluyor.

Mekanik ve yenilmesi mümkün olmayan Altın Ordu’nun yönetilmesini sağlayan taç, üç parçaya bölünüyor. Ordu da kimsenin bilmediği bir yere kapatılıyor. İnsanlardan rahatsız olan, bu rahatsızlığını da haklı sebeplere dayandıran Prens Nuada, insanlıkla girişeceği savaş için bu tacın peşine düşüyor. Bu yolda babası dahil ezmeyeceği kimse yok üstelik.

İlk filmde oluşturulan dokunun üzerine bu andan itibaren yerleşen yeni film, ilk filmden daha da fantastik bir yol çiziyor izleyicisine. Hellboy’un hallerine aşkına odaklanmak bir yana, ekibe katılan yeni karakter Dr. Klauss ile de komedi üslubunu korumayı başarıyor. Dr. Klauss’un ilk filmdeki Rasputin’i andırdığını da ayrıca belirtmek gerekiyor.

Prens Nuada ve ikizi Prenses Nuala ile inandırıcı bir efsane de yaratmış oluyor Del Toro. Kusursuz makyajlar ve başarılı atmosfer ile inandırıcılığı oya işler gibi işliyor tüm film boyunca. Zaten sırdan bir karakterin pek bulunmadığı bu fantastik dünya da gerçeğin ayak izlerini bulmak da pek olası değil.
Özellikle dikkat çeken Diş Perisi sahnesiyle ayakta alkışlanacak bir yaratıcılık mevcut. Temponun en çok yükseldiği ve keyif verdiği sahne de o zaten….
Animasyon üstadı Hayao Miyazaki’nin “Princess Mononokesi’nde gördüğümüz Bitki Tanrısı bu kez kanlı canlı mevcut. Prens Nuada’nın attığı bir tohumun dönüşümü sonrası Bitki Tanrısı ile Hellboy’un mücadelesi de ilk filmdeki gibi Cehennem Çocuğu’nun aklını bir hayli karıştırıyor. Belli ki filmin seriye dönüştüğünde sık sık tekrarlamaktan çekinmeyeceği bir durum bu. Hellboy’un ait dünyaya değil de, insanlara hizmet etmesi ve kendisi gibi olanları, düşman olması gereken insanlık için öldürmesi konusu Hellboy’un sık sık düştüğü ikilem olarak kalacak.

Bitki tanrısı ile Hellboy’un mücadelesine küçük bir tanığımızda mevcut. Kundaktaki bir bebekte Hellboy’ca korunuyor bu mücadelede. Bu sahne de akıllara John Woo’nun kült aksiyonu “Hard Boiled” akıllara geliyor.

Filmin en keyif veren sahnelerinden biri de, ilk filmde çok fazla tanımadığımız dışarıdan gördüğümüz ama bu kez daha iç içe olduğumuz karakter Abe’in de içine düştüğü aşk çıkmazı ile geliyor. Ortak kaderleri etrafında birleşen Abe ve Hellboy sevgililerini düşünerek birlikte “Sensiz Gülemiyorum” şarkısına eşlik ediyorlar.

Elbette öykünün finali eninde sonunda Altın Ordu’nun ortasında, Hellboy ve Prens Nuada arasında noktalanıyor. Ama Altın Ordu’nun bulunduğu yeri bulmak için yardım aldıkları karakter de bir hayli ilginç. Belden aşağısı olmayan karakter’in peşinde girilen geçitte hayli çekişmeli ve tatmin edici bir final yapıyor Cehennem Çocuğu.

İyi bir ilk filmden, ikincisinde ne beklenir sorusuna oldukça hoş yanıtlar veren Guillermo Del Toro, Pan’ın Labirenti sonrasında sinemaya yeni fantastik karakterler, yaratıklar eklemeye devam ederken, ilk filmin dokusunu aynen korumayı da ihmal etmiyor. Ana karakteri dolayısıyla aksiyon sahneleri bekleyen izleyiciyi pek memnun etmeyecek gibi ama ilk filmden memnun ayrılan izleyiciyi bol fantastik karakterli, bolca absürtlük ve tuhaflık arasında yine iyi bir film bekliyor… Darısı üçüncü filmin başına…

So I watched the Crusoe premiere because I had nothing better to do on a Friday night (I swear I have a party tomorrow and am going out Sunday…).

Anyways if you want the gist of it, you should not watch Crusoe unless you really need to get your pirate/lonely man on an island fix. Other than that it doesn’t have too much to offer, although I’m surprised that the acting/writing wasn’t as horrible as I thought. Not good, but not horrible.

Anyways time for a good old show rant:

Crusoe has a treehouse! With a needlessly complicated Rube Goldberg Machine that magically lights signal fires hundreds of yards apart using ropes to signal whoever shows up on the shores. Unfortunately he signals pirates (image that only pirates coming to an abandoned island. Oh and according to the opening credits he totally gets a Tonto (well a native island guy). Oh! needlessly complicated traps Crusoe leads the bad guys into. Like one that shoots 100 arrows (good use of resources). He still manages to kill the pirates chasing him except for the hot girl pirate. Oh and he has a dog.

His wife must have been the queen of awesome to deserve the constant barrage of flashback he gets, even at inconvenient times.

Tonto shows up at the end to take care of the final pirate. Oh Tonto’s name is Friday (but even that’s not his real name) Oh and Crusoe has great abs. I wouldn’t usually care, but the camera is stuck on them.

Crusoe proceeds to let the pirate go with a message for help. For some reason he thinks sending a message is much better than going himself. But then another more important pirate comes (he has a bigger more flamboyant hat) and the search for the hidden gold commences with a gun at Crusoe’s head of course.

I would usually stop watching, put City TV has been showing that one clip, where the girl say “Well then”, like 100 times in the past week and I think I deserve to see it for real.

Hahaha at one point Tonto jumps off a cliff to avoid the pirates. They think he fell to his death, but he actually managed to hang on by the tips of his fingers! I can’t begin to explain how impossible that is.

Oh Robin(son)’s father is Boromir (seriously Sean Bean)! And through some (assumably) bizarre chain of events Crusoe thinks something that happened in his childhood caused him to end up deserted on an island.

Oh he sword fights the girl pirate after they catch him trying to run away. For some reason it is a fairly honourable fight for pirates.

Quote of the show: “I don’t know what’s harder for a child: to see his mother dead, or his father crying.” You know I’m really starting to sympathy with him and his apparently skewed moral code. I mean who needs a mom when you have an emotionally distant father.

In one flashback Crusoe and his wife almost get splashed by someone emptying their chamber pot. How was that necessary!

Awesome! another amazing impossible machine hundreds of feet in the air to cross a somewhat wide river with piranhas… You know what also crosses rivers? BRIDGES! I’ve heard that they’re also not impossible to make.

Is it necessary to foreshadow some sexual tension between our “hero” and the only woman on the whole island? Sure he has a wife and they don’t let us forget it with those flashbacks every third scene. But c’mon only one woman on the island. And she’s a pirate and she’s totally into him.

Hey some Spaniards (or spanishy guys) show up. Tonto leads them to the pirates so they can recapture them. Oh Tonto has the brilliant idea to build a raft to cross piranha river, who would have thought of that…

50 death-threats-against-Crusoe later, our fearless Robinson finally leads them to the treasure. Oh wait, no he doesn’t. When will this end… This is when I realize that the premiere is 2 hours long! Why…

Turns out the Spanish guys do not like English guys so Crusoe can’t leave with them.

Oh and in a flashback the random Sam Neil (The Tudos/Jurassic Park) character gave money to Crusoe for the soul of his first born. Oh by soul I mean he just wanted to be a godfather, but you get the idea.

Now the Spanish guys want the gold and are working with the pirates… Tonto comes up with the brilliant idea just to tell them where the gold is and then they would leave, but Crusoe is convinced they would take the time to hunt him down because they’re just mean like that.

She said it! “Well then” But it wasn’t awesome. The commercials took it out of contex…

The bad guys build a trebuchet. Crusoe tells Friday this and then has to explain that it’s a type of catapult. But why would Tonto know what a catapult is. The show loses points for trying to explain what a trebuchet is to the audience. The bad guys’ plan kind of backfires when Crusoe manages to blow up their powderkeg, right as they try to launch it at the treehouse!

Some people managed to somehow survive the huge blast right beside them (including the girl of course) and then decide it would be a worse fate to let Crusoe live on the island than to kill him. Not at all contradicting what the bad guys have been saying the whole time… Oh and when the powder keg blew up it made a crater. And inside the crater was the gold in the shape of a cannon just like the stories foretold! (somehow the bad guys missed this as they left the area)

In the end Crusoe and Friday throw the gold cannon off a very high cliff becasue “it is cursed”. Of course they had to finish the premiere with something impossible and ridiculous.

I saw this link while looking for the show online. I thought the title “Challenging Role” and the opening paragraph were hilarious. Boohoo shooting in paradise and mediocre acting so sooo hard to pull off.

As you can tell I thought this was the best premiere of this fall. I have never actually read Robinson Crusoe, but I’m sure it does the book justice and I can’t wait until the Emmy’s start rolling in. I’ve had a long week, but I think I actually got all the built up sarcasm out of my system. At least the show was good for something.

Com direção de Guilhermo del Toro, mesmo diretor de Labirinto do Fauno e O Orfanato, Hellboy 2 – O Exército Dourado certamente superou o primeiro filme da série.

Só para lembra, o primeiro filme apostou na transformação de Hellboy no herói que ele não é, já que ele é um demônio e não um super-herói tradicional.

Nessa segunda produção, Hellboy (Ron Perlman) e sua equipe da secreta Agência de Pesquisa e Defesa Paranormais não poupam esforços para defender o bem.

Depois que uma antiga trégua entre a humanidade e o domínio fantástico dos invisíveis é quabrada, o inferno ameaça tomar conta da Terra novamente. O impiedoso príncipe Nuanda (Luke Goss), cansado de se curvar para os humanos, ameça o mundo tramando despertar um exército de máquinas assassinas que tomará de volta o que pertencia a seu povo.

É ai que Hellboy e seus companheiros entram em ação. Ao lado de sua namorada Pyrokinetica Liz (Selma Blair), o telepata aquático Abe (Doug Jones) e o ectoplasmático Johann Krauss (voz de Seth McFarlane), Hellboy tem a difícil missão de impedir o sombrio príncipe e salvar o mundo de sua destruição.

Vale a pena conferir o trabalho de Guilherme Del Toro. O cineasta trabalha até nos pequenos detalhes, todo design do filme é dele e se parece muito com o filme O Labirinto do Fauno. Hellyboy 2 – O Exército Dourado custou US$ 66 milhões e faturou US$ 100 milhões em cinemas do mundo todo.

Título Original: Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Elenco: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, John Alexander, James Dodd, Seth MacFarlane, Luke Goss, Anna Walton
Duração: 120 minutos
Gênero: Aventura
País: EUA
Ano: 2008
Diretor: Guilhermo del Toro
Roterista: Guilermo del Toro

Para assistir o trailer do filme clique aqui

Além de deixar o espectador grudado na tela como uma boa aventura inspirada nos quadrinhos deve fazer, assistir a Hellboy 2: O Exército Dourado (Hellboy 2: The Golden Army), de Guillermo del Toro, também nos deixa extasiados com a beleza visual do filme. Os personagens são muito bem contruídos, o mundo subterrâneo é repleto de detalhes exóticos que se descortinam diante de nossos olhos e o Exército Dourado (foto acima), que dá título ao filme, é de uma beleza ímpar, simplesmente exuberante, e deixa no espectador um gostinho de “quero mais”. Além disso, a história não economiza nos momentos de bom-humor, muitos deles explorados a partir da ranhetice do herói infernal. Definitivamente, este filme é para se ter em casa, quando for lançado em DVD ou Blu-Ray.
  
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Fiz este papel de parede com uma imagem amplamente divulgada de um dos posteres do filme Hellboy 2: O Exército Dourado (Hellboy 2: The Golden Army), ótimo filme baseado nos personagens criados pelo quadrinista Mike Mignola, dirigido por Guillermo del Toro e estrelado por Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Luke Goss, Thomas Kretschmann, Doug Jones, Luke Goss, Anna Walton, Brian Steele, Roy Dotrice e John Hurt.

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HELLBOY II – THE GOLDEN ARMY (Estados Unidos, Acción, 120 Minutos)
Dirección: Guillermo Del Toro.
Guión: Guillermo Del Toro, Mike Mignola.
Reparto: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Luke Goss, Seth MacFarlane, Anna Walton, Brian Steele, Roy Dotrice, John Hurt.
Música: Danny Elfman.

Valoración: 5/10

Resumen: Tras siglos de tregua, el príncipe Nuada ha vuelto dispuesto a declarar la guerra a la humanidad. Para ello, y pese a la oposición de su padre y su hermana, el heredero al trono del submundo está dispuesto a liberar a una terrible arma conocida como el ejército dorado, una legión invencible que amenaza con destruir la civilización humana. Lo único que se interpone en el camino de Nuada es Hellboy, un demonio criado entre los humanos, y sus compañeros del ultrasecreto AIDP.

Crítica: Que Guillermo Del Toro no se toma Hellboy muy en serio ya nos quedó claro en el anterior filme del demonio rojo. Y tal vez un visionario como el azteca tenga sus razones para no dar demasiada profundidad a un héroe con cola, cuernos y rostro imposible. ¿Cómo hacer pasar a un ser con esa pinta por un devoto salvador, ante un público acostumbrado a la perfección fotogénica? Tal vez por eso Del Toro, fan confeso del tebeo, haya preferido intentar convertir la franquicia en un auténtico blockbuster en lugar de en una fiel adaptación de la visión de Mike Mignola -para más señas, también parte importante de esta producción-. Del Toro ha lanzado lastre y se ha quedado con lo esencial, los ingredientes básicos que le garanticen un sitio en taquilla y un espacio en las mentes del gran público. El misterio y lo esotérico, dan paso a la acción y la aventura, el peso de la predestinación a una serie de problemas familiares (muy de moda en el cine de aventuras), los vacíos escénicos marca de la casa Mignola a un brillante barroquismo -marca de la casa Del Toro, que vuelve a demostrar que es un artesano de los de la vieja escuela- en la confección de personajes y escenarios… El tono cambia radicalmente y abandona las lúgubres leyendas y los augurios apocalípticos, por una trama más sencilla en la que Del Toro puede sentar las bases de su plan: reírse de sí mismo, de sus personajes e incluso de la propia trama principal, pasada casi a un segundo plano por los devaneos románticos y familiares de sus monstruitos. Hellboy es en su versión cinematográfica más carismático, pero también más artificial y cargante. Es un monstruo -se puede usar si se quiere la palabra freak-, rodeado de incompresión más allá de la banda de inadaptados con la que convive. La autoparodia es la mejor definición para un personaje que rompe absolutamente con la concepción clásica del superhéroe, pero que a pesar de ello sigue pareciendo en algunos momentos tan encorsetado como algunos de sus compañeros de género. Hellboy 2 es el modelo a seguir si se quiere hacer un divertidísimo taquillazo familiar… y que se note.

I watched Hell Boy 2 last week with some friends. Apart from Batman: The Dark Knight (which I saw in Leicester Square’ Odeon to ramp up excitement levels), this is pretty much the first big budget comic book adaptation I’ve seen.

I saw Ghost World back in the day, but that doesn’t really count.

Thora and Scarlet c. 2001

Anyway, the thing that struck me was how similar British actress Anna Walton looks to (also British) Samantha Morton.

Anna Walton

Spooky, huh?

Samantha Morton

If I had to choose, I know who I’d go with.

Control: The two Sams

Alright, I will be honest, I only watched this because I am a huge fan of how director Guillermo del Toro brings such great imagination and colour to his work. While I do not have a clock counting down to the release of the first of his two Hobbit films, I am giving the matter some serious thought. Before that, let us enjoy a brief rampage through what this film is about.

The titular character is a short-tempered, horn-shorn demon (the 58-year old Ron Perlman) that lives amongst humans and who wishes to be liked by all and sundry. He is incredibly strong, tough, and agile, with a taste in handguns that would make even a NRA card-carrying right-to-bear-arms evangelist blush. Moreover, he feels like a Ted Danson-inspired character with the whole cigar-smoking, quick-quipping, boy-in-a-man’s-body routine.

This second installment of the series begins with the violent ending of an ancient truce between mankind and the entire cast of extras from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Quite why Peter Jackson could not have kept this assortment of elves, trolls, tree creatures, tooth fairies, and tumours happy by simply paying them hourly union rates is never really explained in the film.

Anyway, the prince of the elf kingdom (Luke Goss) is feeling particularly bolshie about it. Indeed, in order to get a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work, he is prepared to summon forth a sleeping army of golden clockwork machines, who are unstoppable and indestructible once released. You may not be surprised to learn that it is the mission of Hellboy and his chums, working on behalf of the debauched and capitalist United States government, to prevent this mechanical rabble from ever bothering the bourgeoisie.

In terms of subplot, we are talking woman problems (the second of those two words seems redundant – Ed.). Hellboy’s missus (Selma Blair) typically takes offence at having to live in a smelly, cramped, untidy room with him. Correctly, Hellboy is left confused by this. I mean, what part of diabolical entity did she not get when they first got together? Meanwhile, the audience finds itself appalled, yet anatomically curious, at the signs of a fledgling relationship emerging between a mutant fishman (Doug Jones) and the twin sister of the elf prince (Matt Goss – just kidding – Anna Walton).

The film is stolen though by a cloud of smoke in a rubber suit. These curious vapours are hilariously voiced by Seth MacFarlane (of Family Guy fame) to be like what a stereotype squared of a prim and proper German should sound like. This is worth the admission money alone.

Ultimately, though, it is for the fantastical creations and set piece scenes devised by del Toro and his team that this film will be remembered. In particular, there is a visit to a troll market under Brooklyn Bridge where creatures of every shape and size engage in acts of commerce. The scene is so lush with detail that one viewing of it could never do it justice. There is also the dramatic visual impact of the attack of the tooth fairies (which is guaranteed to save parents money in the future) and the mighty final confrontation, which takes place in an enormous cavern below The Giant’s Causeway in Antrim.

The action is thrillingly slick and agile, with a fine meshing together of CGI with physical acting. The fight moves of the elf prince, in particular, stand out, as he spins, pivots, cartwheels, twists, and leaps about. Equally, there is the always joyous showdown between two bruising heavyweights, as they send each other flying through the air with meaty thumps of engorged right hands.

The film may well have the plot sophistication of the Incredible Hulk writing poetry and the character development that a self-improvement course taught by Rambo would yield, yet there is equally the quirky humour here of The Fifth Element, the vision of a half-dozen fantastical adventure films rolled into one, and the on-screen dramatics of Ghostbusters meets The Matrix. Where del Toro excels, though, is in fusing all of these aspects into one cohesive work that seems greater than the sum of its parts.

In short, a bunkum film made brilliant by imagination.

Algumas das estréias esperadas para o último quadrimestre de 2008:

Hellboy 2 – O Exército Dourado (Hellboy II: The Golden Army)
Estréia: 05 de Setembro de 2008
Elenco: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Anna Walton

Ensaio sobre a Cegueira (Blindness)
Estréia: 12 de Setembro de 2008
Elenco: Julianne Moore, Danny Glover, Alice Braga, Mark Ruffalo, Gael García Bernal, Don McKellar, Maury Chaykin, Martha Burns

Amor e Inocência (Becoming Jane)
Estréia: 26 de Setembro de 2008
Elenco: Anne Hathaway, Julie Walters, James McAvoy, Maggie Smith, Jessica Ashworth

Noites de Tormenta (Nights in Rodanthe)
Estréia: 03 de Outubro de 2008
Elenco: Richard Gere, Diane Lane, Christopher Meloni, James Franco, Viola Davis

Quatro Amigas e um Jeans Viajante 2 (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2)
Estréia: 02 de Novembro de 2008
Elenco: America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel, Blake Lively, Josh Barclay Caras

007 – Quantum of Solace (007 – Quantum of Solace)
Estréia: 7 de Novembro de 2008
Elenco: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Mathieu Amalric, Jeffrey Wright, Anatole Taubmann e Giancarlo Giannini

Os Estranhos (The Strangers)
Estréia: 7 de Novembro de 2008
Elenco: Peter Clayton-Luce, Scott Speedman, Liv Tyler, Gemma Ward, Kip Weeks, Laura Margolis.

Ele Não Está Tão a Fim de Você (He’s Just Not That Into You)
Estréia: 14 de Novembro de 2008
Elenco: Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Ben Affleck, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Connelly, Justin Long, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Estréia: 14 de Novembro de 2008
Elenco: Javier Bardem, Patricia Clarkson, Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall

Queime Depois de Ler (Burn After Reading)
Estréia: 28 de Novembro de 2008
Elenco: Tilda Swinton, John Malkovich, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Frances McDormand

Fireflies in the Garden (Fireflies in the Garden)
Estréia: 28 de Novembro de 2008
Elenco: Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hayden Panettiere, Ioan Gruffudd, Shannon Lucio, George Newbern, Cayden Boyd, Chase Ellison, Brooklynn Proulx.

Madagascar 2 – A Grande Escapada (Madagascar 2)
Estréia: 12 de Dezembro de 2008
Elenco: Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Andy Richter, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Ben Stiller

Austrália (Australia)
Estréia: 25 de Dezembro de 2008
Elenco: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, David Wenham, Bryan Brown, Jack Thompson

Crepúsculo (Twilight)
Estréia: 25 de Dezembro de 2008
Elenco: Nikki Reed, Kristen Stewart, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser e Robert Pattinson

Fonte: Cinéfilos do Cinema. Lembrando que saiu da lista acima o esperado “Harry Potter e o Enigma do Príncipe”, cuja estréia foi adiada para julho de 2009.