Day 278 - 10/5/09 - Movie #278
BEFORE: It's late night on Sunday (early morning Monday), I've taken a shower and I have my glass of Mountain Dew - I want to pay proper attention to this movie, because I want it to be good. Or if it's not good, I don't want that to be due to my lack of awareness.
THE PLOT: The mythical world starts a rebellion against humanity in order to rule the Earth, so Hellboy and his team must save the world from the rebellious creatures.
AFTER: I tried to stay awake, I really did, but I still dozed off twice during this film and I had to rewind back and pick up where I left off. Either the film just didn't interest me very much, or I'm more sleep-deprived than I thought.
I think I figured out what's been bugging me about the "Hellboy" films - it's the same problem I had with "Pan's Labyrinth", which was also directed by Guillermo Del Toro. There are simply too many characters who communicate telepathically, or don't have a physical body, or exist as ectoplasm or something - so they don't have moving mouths, which is very convenient when it comes to special effects. No lip-synching is necessary for at least two of the major characters in this film, which makes it look like a puppet show. A very expensive, elaborate puppet show, but it still seems simplistic somehow. Of course, all special effects derive from the earliest stop-motion figures used in films like "King Kong", but with today's technology I expect more than just characters that bob their heads while a voice plays on the soundtrack.
Sure, there are times when the special effects are incredibly elaborate - Hellboy's final battle with metal-armored warriors and the Elven Prince, while standing atop a series of moving gears and cogs was visually dynamic - so why can't the whole movie look that good? It just makes the puppeteered parts stand out more. Think of the movies "Labyrinth" and "Dark Crystal", and how obvious it was that you were watching Henson-style Muppets...I just think that the Hellboy films should have aspired to be better than that.
I did like that there was more variety in the creatures than in the previous film. No Nazis or "Predator"-like demons, but instead an army of little "tooth fairies". No, not the kind that leaves money under your pillow, these are little fairy demons who like to EAT YOUR TEETH, (and bones, and flesh, but they really love teeth).
No David Hyde-Pierce this time, but there was a new character, voiced by Seth MacFarlane of "Family Guy" fame....
RATING: 7 out of 10 Cuban cigars
SPOOK-O-METER: 4 out of 10 (for those creepy tooth-fairies)
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