The first Hellboy movie, directed by my current favorite director Guillermo del Toro, impressed me because of its awesome ability to marry del Toro’s breathtaking cinematography, his fabulous special effects, and his fantasy-inspired style of storytelling with mainstream filmmaking. The perfect balance was struck between del Toro’s artistic flourishes and the obligatory action sequences, love stories, sidekicks, and so on which make the quintessential superhero movie. This combination appeals to both kinds of moviegoers — those looking for art and those looking for entertainment — and managed to make it to my list of favorite mainstream films. Thus, when I realized that the sequel was already out, I was very happy.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army, however, fails in the area that the first movie exceeded most. The perfect balance between art and formula does not exist here; the bar has swung rather substantially to the side of art, with distractingly stunning cinematography, a complex and sympathetic villain, new species strongly reminiscent of del Toro’s work on Pan’s Labyrinth, and new deep and powerful issues rooted in the main characters. The shallow entertainment of the superhero movie fades in the path of del Toro’s artistic genius, a fact that makes me enjoy the film much more personally but also makes me consider it far less of a success.

Picking up from the first film’s end, Hellboy II follows the eponymous devil-hero, played with great realism by Ron Perlman, and his returning partners Liz (Selma Blair) and Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) from the Department of Paranormal Research, led by the pompous, arrogant, humorous beaurocrat brought perfectly to life by the fabulous Jeffrey Tambor. This time, they must face a renegade elf prince, Nuada, wonderfully portrayed by Luke Goss, who wishes to take the earth back from mankind because of their destructive nature with a mythological mechanical army made of pure gold.

Delving into a mysterious, ancient elf court, as well as all the races that accompany such a world, seems to have been too much temptation for del Toro, who served as writer, director, and producer of the film. The fascinating depiction of the elves, tall, thin, and blonde as a mild throwback to Peter Jackson’s elves in Lord of the Rings yet with strange facial tattoos that grant them a far eerier edge, is only the tip of the iceberg of the new world opening up in Hellboy II — elf guardians in bulky black coats with faces reminiscent of toucans’ bills, a squat troll with skin like a tumor hiding precariously as a grandmother figure, a fallen angel with eyes on her wings instead of her face, an elemental god unleashed on a city block, a magnificent elf king turning to ivory in his death. Each scene is filled to the brim with del Toro’s unique fantasy style, one that sends shivers up my spine as a writer and one that fascinates me for weeks as an audience, both in the stunning cinematography and the strange concepts so perfectly brought to life through special effects.

However, the film gradually becomes tangled in this fantasty style, strangling what remains of its mainstream appeal. Though these touches of fantasy helped the first Hellboy to shine past its formula, in this film the formula seems to be drowning in the midst of them. Though I loved this movie far more than the previous one, engrossed in the new species and in the complex script, I watched others more inclined to mainstream films leave the room grumbling about how disappointing they found the movie.

With del Toro signed on to a number of mainstream films in the next few years, including the much-awaited movie based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, I worry that critics’ admiration for the director in the wake of films such as Pan’s Labyrinth may have pushed him too far into a comfortable position of indulging all of his artistic whims. Though I love the his art and though I love his indulgences, there is usually a specific place for those ideas to shine through, and that is rarely in a multi-million dollar production; instead, it typically belongs to independently funded projects, such as Pan’s Labyrinth, or in films that don’t carry an automatic expectation, such as superhero movies and sequels. del Toro is a fabulous director, and in the first Hellboy film he showed that he can merge his art with the commercial; yet in the second he showed that even he can make a mistake.

This is a new army, so I need everybody to do as much recruiting as possible! Just keep recruiting!

Mezco 3.75 inch Hellboy & Golden Army Soldier

Comic-Con Price: $30.00
Production Run: TBD

Mezco’s award-winning 3.75 inch Hellboy line continues with the addition of the highly anticipated Golden Army Soldier! The Golden Army Soldier stands approximately 7 inches tall (in scale next to the other figures in the 3.75 inch series) and features eight points of articulation. He comes packaged with a 3.75 inch Hellboy, who comes complete with a base, and his legendary sidearm, the Samaritan.

Se han filtrado fotos del pack de Golden Army que tendrá a la venta Mezco en la Comic Con 2009, se trata de 2 figuras de la ultima película: Hellboy y el Golden Soldier. Hellboy está en tamaño 3,75″ (pulgadas) y el Golder Soldier mide casi 7″

Galería

Lo ‘bueno’ es que lo también lo puedes comprar on-line en el sitio de Mezco: MezcoToys.com

Fuente: ToyNewsI

Zuerst wollte ich diesen Film nicht gucken.
“Hellboy – nee! Is’ doch bestimmt so’n Gruselfilm…und ich bin schließlich Christ. Das passt nicht zusammen!”

Dann war mir die Beziehung zum Bekannten doch wichtiger, zumal er mir versicherte, dass es kein Horror-Streifen sei.

So durfte ich vor ein paar Tagen per Beamer den Film “Hellboy – The Golden Army” großflächig sehen. Auf Englisch.
Nebenbei einen Rotwein genossen und Zwiebelkuchen gegessen.

Meine Skepsis wich schon beim Vorspann. Was für eine originelle Machart! Optisch gelungen. Auch im Verlaufe des Films kam immer wieder ein Lächeln auf – vielleicht hätte ich auch gelacht, wenn mein Englisch besser wäre.

“Hellboy 2″ – ein Fantasyfilm, der sehenswert ist. Gute Unterhaltung. Werde ich mir wieder anschauen – dann aber auf Deutsch.
Die DVD soll Ende Februar auf den Markt kommen.

Und mit dem Teufel oder der Hölle hat es gar nichts zu tun…

I’m not sure what it says about me that my biggest problem with Quantum Of Solace, the latest in the famously chauvanist (if not outright misogynist) Bond franchise, was the lack of a compelling female character. I know, I know, Bond movies are about super stylized machismo, over the top chase scenes, and liberal use of bikini babes. So what sort of dolt am I to expect a serious female presence in the film? The jury’s still out on that one, but from Dame Judi Dench’s ineffectual nanny to the attempted heroine slash perpetual victim Camille (Olga Kurylenko) to the four minute cameo of Agent Fields as a token sexual conquest slash plot device (although the meta-reference to Goldfinger is sharp); never is a lady given anything meaninful to do but wring her hands as Bond methodically grinds everything in the world (friends, foes, lovers) to a bitter dust. There are plenty of other things to criticize like the incoherent action sequences and the weightless villains, but to me the most unforgiveable sin of this latest 007 outing was the lack of a sufficiently interesting and alluring Bond girl.

The Incredible Hulk suffered from an all-around lack of charisma, a deficit seemingly highlighted by commercials saying that it’s “Just as good as Iron Man!” That’s some great ad-copy there, I mean selling the movie as, “JUST AS GOOD,” is basically equivocating your product with the sort of cut-rate bargains found at outlet malls. Designer looks at half the budget! Quality film-making if you don’t like quality! The casting of this movie just failed in every aspect. While I’ve liked her in other flicks, I’ve seen tissue paper with more presence than Liv Tyler in this movie and for something he wrote a draft of, Ed Norton really doesn’t seem all that sold on his role. Everyone is phoning it in, from William Hurt to Tim Roth (possibly the most impossibly miscast individual in this entire sorry affair). There’s just something so half-hearted about the entire enterprise, it’s almost hard to criticize because it feels too easy. Instead of “JUST AS GOOD” they meant, “SORRY, WE DID OUR BEST.”

And carrying on the movie bummers was, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army which happened to put me to sleep, make me happy that I fell asleep rather than catch the stupid end of a stupid movie, then make me angry that I wasn’t sleeping the whole time. It’s some sort of paradox that Guillermo Del Toro can make movies like The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth using supernatural elemants poignantly and artistically to deal with themes of war, regret, aging, love and revenge– while simultaneously being responsible for the all around horrible Hellboy movies. Del Toro doesn’t seem to understand or care about what makes Hellboy and his stories unique. Everything about his film appearances have turned the impossible to encapsulate story of Hellboy (well seeee he’s the devil or a devil conjured by Rasputin to bring about to end the world but he didn’t and was adopted by the Army….), into a terrible romantic comedy where the wrong people are trying to make their romance work. I’m not against adaptations taking liberties with source material, as long as those changes make the story better– but changing the basic tone of Hellboy’s relationship to every single character in the source story (not to mention cudgeling the idiosyncratic supporting cast into hackneyed stereotypes) has not made the film any better. Hellboy deals with all of Del Toro’s pet themes and subjects, but his lack of regard for the characters undermines the story to a degree that his otherwise inventive visual imagination, can’t hope to compensate for.

While I sat through a lot of stinkers, I did manage to see one really great movie in the past few weeks, the eery and tense Swedish vampire movie, Let The Right One In. Following the relationship between an ostracized boy and his budding attraction to a seemingly young vampire, all the anxiety of adolescent desire is laid bare without ignoring traditional vampire lore. Abandoning the velvet boudoir seduction of other vampire films, Let the Right One In is about  affection borne of friendship and shared alienation. Genuininely creepy and squirm-inducing at times, the film avoids the cheap jump-scares remembering that there is often enough horror and fear to be found in simply being an isolated and lonely kid.

             Hellboy II            

NETFLIX SYNOPSIS:  The identities of Hellboy (Ron Perlman), Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) and Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) are exposed as they face a new threat: The Golden Army, assembled of long-hidden mythological creatures, is prepared to attack. As fantastic monsters and paranormal phenomena begin to take over, the trio races to destroy the army’s leader, the vengeful Prince Nuada (Luke Goss). John Alexander co-stars in Guillermo del Toro’s spellbinding sequel.

***SPOILERS***

REVIEW:  HB2 is quite unlike any superhero movie I’ve ever seen, operating on a phantasmagorical scale, with magnificent, hallucinatory sequences that are at times breathtaking. If Goya had been a filmmaker instead of a painter, his movies might have looked something like this. A battle between the hero and a gargantuan monster creating havoc on the streets of the metropolis ends with the grand green Weeping Willow-ish creature, who is made of water, disintegrating before our eyes, flooding the streets, and we pity its demise; in the climatic combat we think the good guys have beaten the evil mega-robots by destroying them and then they start rebuilding themselves anew piece-by-piece and it seems as if there is no possibility of victory for our underdog protagonists; the extraordinarily beautiful imagery when part of an ancient, mammoth Stonehenge-like rock formation rips itself out of the earth like two massive living arms to reveal a secret underground passage for Hellboy to follow. I know many might consider it blasphemy for saying this about such a film but I believe some of these sequences are as amazing and significant in their way as those of classic directors who have shot grandiosity in their own times, such as Ford, Coppola, Peckinpah. HB2 may not be a great film like some of those directors have produced, but it has greatness in it.

Yet HB2 isn’t all mega-mega, the story also exists on a smaller, human level in its personal exploration of the hero’s and villains involved, how they come to terms with each other and themselves, their commitments and what they’re willing to give up to do their duty. One of the recurrent themes in these kinds of movies is that it’s hard to be a superhero because it’s tough on relationships. HB2 acknowledges this by making it silly and funny in the beginning (despite the colossal scale, writer-director Guillermo del Toro never takes himself or his comic-book subject too seriously), then in the end everything comes together between all the characters in a tragic resolution as victory is only achieved thru sacrifice and acknowledgment of their very human vulnerabilities.

All in all, it’s a lovely, baroque, funny entrant in the superhero genre; traditional yet perversely, spectacularly unique.

5 stars
Harold

PG-13, 120 minutes, Universal Pictures

With each passing summer season, and especially over the course of this current decade, Hollywood has made it their mission to unleash as many sequels as American audiences can handle, and then some. It’s almost as if each movie studio is in a weightlifting competition that lasts during one season every year, and the ones falling at the bottom of the box-office bin one year, begin to look for ways in the off-season (fall/winter) to pump enough steroids into their onslaught of blockbusters to make a comeback. It’s all about the money, and in sequels they obviously find their biggest avenue for profits – because no matter how ludicrous, pointless, or flat-out awful the idea of certain sequels are, the majority of people are going to pay $10 to go see them. Anyway, where I’m going with this is that the reasons for making sequels in today’s world of cinema have ultimately become up to the studios themselves, even if there is clearly nowhere else more interesting to go with a certain subject, characters, etc. There are very few that can put anticipation into a thinking audience member’s mind, to make us get excited about wanting to invest more of our time and presence in the progression of certain matter.

What was extremely impressive about the summer of 2008 was the amount of anticipation that I felt for the arriving sequels, and for good reason. All of the original cast and crew were coming back for the two most significant sequels of the year, both Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, and Guillermo Del Toro’s Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Both of those directors put such a stamp on the film’s before their follow-ups, that if they were to not be at the helm for the next addition it would be utterly pointless to green-light into production. It’s obvious that Del Toro’s comic book character (and film, for that matter) is on much more of a small scale than anything in the Batman world, so in a way Hellboy II could appear to be an independent Hollywood blockbuster when sized up against The Dark Knight. This doesn’t make Del Toro’s film any less grand. In fact, when we’re talking about film-making on a grand scale, especially when it comes to creatures, makeup, art direction, costume design, etc. – is there really anyone working today that can match Del Toro? I would have to say no, and that he is in a class of his own.  With that being said, his sequel here is an enormously entertaining experience, surrounding Hellboy’s world with an even bigger world of unique creatures that exist exclusively in the mind of the director himself. He packs the kind of deserving wallop that needs to come with a second film in a franchise, upping pretty much everything on the majestic end of his style, with no holding back. But unlike Sam Raimi’s disastrous attempt to pack Spider-Man 3 tight with a ton of different things, Del Toro orchestrates his world from potential madness into beauty. His films are wonderful to admire, to see multiple times in an effort to take in all of the gorgeous images.

Ron Perlman once again proves to the world that it’s not always necessary to cast a million-dollar man in a main superhero role like this, and he plays the part with such a balance of sarcastic tones, inner doubt, and just plain confidence, that it’s impossible to imagine anyone else doing it now. The original Hellboy was a fascinating experience and one that I didn’t think Del Toro could top with the sequel, and although I don’t really consider The Golden Army a better film than its predecessor, I cannot say it’s any less of a film. the cast is having an even bigger ball together here, and the script calls for it. There are love triangles that emerge in unexpected places, which prove to be the most intriguing thing about the film in my opinion, even with the spectacular action sequences – which there are plenty of and will not disappoint. Just like the first installment of this franchise, it comes within inches to complete perfection. I had a terrific time watching this film, as I always do with any Guillermo Del Toro film.

9.5/10

]]> http://franzpatrick.com/2008/11/06/hancock-hellboy-ii-the-golden-army-p2/ Thu, 06 Nov 2008 08:01:13 +0000 Franz Patrick http://franzpatrick.com/2008/11/06/hancock-hellboy-ii-the-golden-army-p2/

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!)

Er ist wieder da . Und wieder muss er die Welt retten . Wovor kann man ja bereits dem Untertitel des 2. Teils entnehmen – die Goldenen Armee des Elfenkönigs. Dieser hat sie einst in vergangenen Zeiten von Trollen bauen lassen , dies aber schwer bereut und sie ruhig stellen lassen. Das ganze ging dann auch ein paar Jahrhunderte gut , bis der Sohn des Königs , Prinz Nuada ( Ex – Bros Mitglied Luke Goss )es leid war sein Leben nur im Schatten zu verbringen . Nun …den Rest solltet ihr Euch selber ansehen , ich will ja auch nicht all zuviel verraten.
Macht Euch auf witzige Kommentare , allerelei komische Kreaturen und genügend Actionszenen gefasst. Kurzum der Film gefiel mir recht gut , ich hab ihn sogar ein 2. Mal geguckt

Und hier noch der Trailer dazu ….

Hell Boy II theme song (Rammstein – Mein Herz Brennt) The Dark Knight sure raised the bar for super-hero action/special effects movies just as Harry Potter raised the bar for children’s fantasy books. Over the next few years the movie-going public will see a proliferation of super-hero movies, all trying to “cash-in” on the success of Dark Knight.  Just as we did following the success of Spiderman. (Which may or may not have been the incentive for making the new round of Batman movies  that had already been done by Tim Burton).

Jack Nicholson’s Joker or Heath Ledger? Both were superb! Just different.

Most of the new super-hero movies will be God-awful.

They will resurrect every super-hero from Hell-Boy, Spawn, to Green Lantern and a renewed interest in America’s number-one super-hero, Superman; along with every super villan from The Joker to Lex Luther and Solomon Grundy. (Green Lantern).

We will see more sophisticated plots,  even more spectacular special- effects and villians as the special-effects and villians that have already been tired out by Dark Knight and others,  simply won’t excite us anymore. We will also read newspaper accounts about stunt-men being injured or killed in bringing us these new never before seen spectacular stunts for these new super-hero movies. The pressure to “cash-in” by Hollywood producers will ramp up the competition as well as stress-levels in Hollywood to have that big blockbuster movie of the summer. We used to have one or two blockbuster movies every summer (Independence Day)  now we seem to have a half dozen. Usually one movie breaks out of the pack like Iron Man and Dark Knight. Timing and release dates will be critical in Hollywood as well for success. An ill-timed release date has sent many a shipwrecked movie onto the rocks. (Deep Impact, Mars Attacks!, Volcano, The Forbidden Dance, Red Planet, Wyatt Earp and Valmont).

Hollywood- I would like to see new super-hero’s that we have not seen before.

Green Lantern is a good start. Marvel Comics, the creator of Spiderman gave us a plethora of super-hero’s and super-villans in the 1960’s and ’70’s. I had never read the Hell-Boy comics growing up as I was into Spidey and Green Lantern so I did enjoy the last two Hell-Boy movies. Ron Pearlman is a hoot and a holler. Everyone needs to watch the recent Golden Army movie just for the scene where Hell-Boy (Pearlman) and Dr. Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) get roaring drunk and start commiserating about their prospective love-lives while singing the Barry Manilow tune, “Can’t Smile Without You.“  It’s is up-roaringly hilarious. This is the kind of sophisticated writing I wish to see in any future super-hero movie. I wonder if Barry liked it.

Hollywood- I want to see good writing/good acting and not so many special-effects. You’ll remember Johnny Depp’s performance in Pirates Caribbean 3 was underscored by too many special effects.

So Hollywood … get busy and continue to give us the superb writing and acting that we, the viewers witnessed in Dark Knight while trying to keep the sense of humor as in Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

KILBURN HALL

Tür : Aksiyon / Macera / Fantastik

Yönetmen : Guillermo Del Toro

Oyuncular : Ron Perlman(Hellboy), Selma Blair(Liz Sherman), Doug Jones(Abe Sapien / The Chamberlain / The Angel of Death )

Del Toro’nun olağanüstü hayalgücüne şahit olmuş sinemaseverlerin beklediği gün geldi çattı ve “Hellboy 2: Altın Ordu” vizyona girdi. Hellboy’un birinci filmde sergilediği başaraılı performans ile sinemaya ilgi duyanların ilgisini çeken Del Toro, “Pan’ın Labirenti” gibi şahane bir başyapıta imza attıktan sonra, “Hellboy 2: Altın Ordu”ya olan beklentiyide fazlasıyla arttırmış oldu. Ama şunu söyleyebilirim ki, seneryosunu da kendisinin yazdığı Del Toro, başka bir Fantastik kurgu sınavından da başarıyla ayrılmıştır.

İlk defa 1993 de San Diego Comic-Con’da, Mike Mignola’nın elinden çizgi roman olarak görücüye çıkan Hellboy, kısa süre içerisinde hatrı sayılır bir okuyucu kitlesine ulaşmıştı. Bu ilgi doğal olarak bir sinema filmini doğurmuş ve bizi Guillermo Del Toro adında mükemmel bir yetenekle tanıştırmıştı. Del Toro ikinci filmde de yeteneğini hem seneryo hem de yönetmen koltuğunda gösterip, biz sinemaseverlere seyretmekten çok hoşlanacağımız, güzel bir film çıkarmış. Ama şunu söylemek isterim ki, “Pan’ın Labirenti”nden sonra, galiba “Hellboy II”den olan beklentilerimi çok arttırmışım. Ancak filmi seyrederken ayaklarım yere bastı ve Hellboy karakterinin sonuçta başka bir yazar tarafından yaratıldığı ve dünyasının birazcık da olsa sınırlı olduğunu farkettim. Yani bütün ipler Del Toro’nun elinde değildi. Ancak tamamen Del Toro’nun hayalgücünün imzasını taşıyan ve sokaklarımızda görmeye alışık olmadığımız(!) paranormal canlılar, seyirciyi gerçekten heycanlandırıyor. Ayrıca, aksiyon sahnelerinde adrenalinin bir anda hızlıca artması ve hemen sonra hikayenin gelişimi için gerekli olan sakin sahnelerin arasındaki geçiş, yönetmen tarafından gerçekten çok iyi ayarlanmış.

Diğer Hellboy filminden farklı olarak, bu filmde Hellboy’un içindeki büyük karakter karmaşasını çok rahat görebiliyoruz. Bilmeyenler için burda Hellboy’un geçmişi hakkında biraz bilgi vermek yararlı olucak gibi : Hellboy, 2.Dünya Savaşı sırasında ABD askeri birlikleri tarafından bulunan paranormal  bir yaratık. Kendisi şeytanın çocuğu olarak tanımlanıyor ve kaderinde dünyanın sonunu getireceği var. Ama günümüzde yaşayan Hellboy, ABD hükemeti adı adına, kendi gibi paranormal olarak tanımlanan yaratıklardan insanları korumak için çalışıyor. İşte bu karakter karmaşısı bu filmde, Del Toro tarafından açıkça belli edilmiş. Ayrıca, nasıl “Pan’ın Labirenti”nde, Ofelia’nın gözünden İspanya tarihinin önemli bir bölümünü çok başarılı bir şekilde anlatıyorsa Del Toro, bu filmde de insanın içinde bulunan ve asla kapanmayan açgözlülük duygusana değiniyor. Ama filmde bu mesaj kaygısını görmek imkansız. Mesajı alan alıyor yani, film bu konuda kendini kasmıyor. Ayrıca filmin başlarında Hellboy’un çocukluk yıllarına şahit olmamızda, filme gerçekten ayrı bir tat katmış.

Filmin konusu ise şu şekilde; Yukarıda bahsettiğim Hellboy’un çocukluk yıllarında, baba diyerek hitap ettiği kişi Profesör Trevor, içinde elfler ve insanlar arasında geçen savaşın anlatıldığı bir masal anlatır. Masal da insanlara karşı koyamayan elflerin, goblinlere anlaşıp, mükemmel ve karşıkonulamaz bir ordu yaratmasından bahseder : Altın Ordu. Altın ordu vicdansız ve durdurulumazdır. Bir süre sonra Elf Kral’ının yüreğine pişmanlık düşer ve insanlarla ateşkes yaparlar ve Altın Ordu’yu yönetmek için kullanılan tacı 3 parçaya bölüp, bir parçasını insanlara, bir parçasını kendisine ve bir parçasını kızına verir. Bu ateşkesden memnun olmayan Kral’ın oğlu Prens Nauda, halkı ona tekrar ihtiyaç duyuncaya kadar sürgüne gönderilir. Sonunda, Prens Nauda günümüzde ortaya çıkar ve Altın Ordu’ya hükmetmek için tacın 3 parçasını toplamaya çalışır. Ama karşısında büyük bir güç vardır : Hellboy.

Filmde, bana negatif görünen tek bir şey vardı. O da, bazı paranormal yaratıkların, “Pan’ın Labirenti”nden, gözümüzün aşina olduğu tasarımlara sahip olması. Özellikle, The Angel of Death(Ölüm Meleği) karakteri, bana Pan’ı hatırlatmadı değil doğrusu. Tamam Pan’ın Angel of Death gibi kanatları yoktu ama Angel of Death’in sahip olduğu o el hareketleri ve yüz şekli bana Pan’ı hatırlattı. Filmin karakterinlerden bahsetmişken oyunculara değinmek olmaz. İlk filmden beri, Hellboy karakteri için hem Del Toro hem de Mike Mignola’nın favorisi olan Ron Perlman, ilk filmde olduğu gibi başarılı bir performans sergiliyor. Hellboy’un sevgilisi, Liz Shemann rolünü yine Selma Blair oynuyor. Gayet agresif ve sinirli rolüyle seyircinin beğenisini topluyor. Bu filmde Doug Jones için ayrı bir parantez açmak gerekir. Bu filmde 3 ayrı rolde gördüğümüz Doug Jones, paranormal yaratıklar olarak gayet başarılı. Ayrıca The Chamberlain ve The Angel of Death karakterlerinde Doug Jones’un kendi ellerini kulladığını belirtmek isterim. Mike Mignola bunu “The Doug Jones Factor” olarak tanımlıyor.

Sonuç olarak, Del Toro ve Hellboy fanlarının kesinlikle kaçırmaması gereken bir film. Fantastik Kurgu ve çizgiroman severlerinde kaçırmaması gereken bir tat olduğunu düşünüyorum. Yukarıda bahsettiğim, filmin negatif yönü olarak gördüğüm kısmı yüzünden, bir sonraki Del Toro fantastik ürününü gerçekten merakla bekliyorum. Acaba Del Toro kendini tekrar ederek sinema dünyasından silinecek mi, yoksa her filmiyle yeteneklerinin üstüne koyup, kült yönetmenler arasına adını yazdırabilecek mi?

Este One-Shot narra el origen de Johann Kraus –el correspondiente Johann en la nueva pelicula “Hellboy II: El ejército dorado”. El hombre Ectoplasmatico es la introducción ideal a uno de los miembros más peculiares de la Agencia de Investigacion Paranormal Y Defensa.

Escritor: Mike Mignola, John Arcudi
Artista: Ben Stenbeck
Portada: Mike Mignola
Genero: Horror , Accion/Aventura

Traduccion: Arkhetipo
Maqueta: ReForce

]]> http://novenadimension.wordpress.com/2008/09/27/hellboy-the-golden-army/ Sun, 28 Sep 2008 02:52:56 +0000 ahn510 http://novenadimension.wordpress.com/2008/09/27/hellboy-the-golden-army/

Bueno esto seria como el Prologo de la Historia que veremos en Junio en los Cines, mas que seguro ire a emocionarme y ver nuevamente a Nuestro Heroe Colorado golpear Criaturas del mas alla.
Tambien les presento la nueva manera de presentar las portadas Disfruten lo… y les dejo de regalo un par de WallPapers dentro del comic.

Guión del Comic Mike Mignola
Basada en una Pelicula de Guillermo Del Toro.
Historia de Guillermo del Toro y Mike Mignola.
Arte y Coloreado de Fransisco Ruiz Velasco.
Traducción de Idevnam
Maquetas de MAL

]]> http://trailerfest.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/recension-hellboy-ii-the-golden-army/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:40:53 +0000 Alexander http://trailerfest.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/recension-hellboy-ii-the-golden-army/ http://stickyourheadout.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/hellboy-ii-in-brief/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:00:59 +0000 stickyourheadout http://stickyourheadout.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/hellboy-ii-in-brief/

Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Selma Blair (Liz), and Doug Jones (Abe Sapien) return to fight evil.  This time they go up against the devious Prince Nuada (played by the “other” twin from 80’s pop group BROS), who plans to bring the golden army (and unstoppable force) back to fight with him in his battle against humans.  The good guys are joined by a new team member, Johan Kraus (voiced by Family Guys’s Seth McFarlane).
I thought this was a great film.  It wasn’t as good as the first one but the first one may have the heads up that this was the first time we had seen Hellboy on screen, where as with the sequel, we were already used to the rejected hell spawn and his band of misfits.  The film is so  much like the first one (due mainly to having the same writer/director/producter Guillermo Del Toro) that you could almost tack it onto the end of the first film and make it a 4 hour experience.  Part II was a lot of fun.  It had some great action scenes and way more humour than I expected.

What didn’t I like?  Not a lot.  My only real gripe was yet again they showed way to much on the trailers.  All through the film i was waiting for things like The angel of death, Rockman (or whatever he was called), etc.  Also, where the hell was the origon of Kraus???  He has one of the best and most original origon for any comic book chracter and Del Toro has neglected to include it in the film! Very odd.  Maybe they are saving it for dvd?

Sequel del film del 2004, storia molto “povera”, ma personaggi ben realizzati, anche nella loro “impossibilità”.

Hellboy II – The Golend Army -2008-
Voto:
Secondo film diretto da Guillermo del Toro basato sul personaggio a fumetti creato da Mike Mignola. La storia di Hellboy mescola il tipico Folklore costellato di creature magiche e profezie con combattimenti stile Matrix. The Golden Army si presenta come un film molto curato dal punto di vista scenografico, soprattutto grazie all’ausilio degli effetti speciali. Dall’altro lato, però, il tutto si regge su una storia abbastanza “povera” e prevedibile. Nonostante ciò, restano (sorprendentemente) non poco memorabili i personaggi principali, buoni o cattivi che siano che, clichè a parte, risultano ben caratterizzati per un film del genere. Ottima interpretazione di Ron Perlman nel ruolo del protagonista, non solo grazie al massiccio lavoro di make-up.
Un prodotto buono, considerando inoltre che si tratta di un sequel…