[Chuck Mayer]

I didn't have an issue with that. A bit abrupt, but it seemed typical film. Wake up in a bind, that sort of thing.

That said, I do imagine there is a missing scene here, but a short one. I wonder which lackey had to carry HB to the new room? Remember, this whole thing (the film) was a set-up to get Hellboy to that location, with Liz. So this was all planned. It was still not the best edit.

Take care,
Chuck

[Vince Maskeeper]

I didn't have an issue with that.

Odd, everyone in my group looked at each other-- and I heard several confused sounds coming from those in the packed theater... I even saw one guy go tearing out of the theater right after it happened- I assumed to complain that there was a piece missing.

Odd.

[Chuck Mayer]

Well, the talking in the dark (that started the transition) is indicative of waking up. I think I had skimmed Ebert's review ahead of time, so I also had fair warning.

That...and I am a friggin genius

Take care,
Chuck

[Chris Harvey]

I think it's one of del Toro's weakest efforts, simultaneously over-stuffed and under-developed. The first fight with tentacled monsters? Cool! The seventeenth (and counting) fight with tentacles monsters? Yawn.

It suffers a bit from the same problems of the first X-MEN, in that it delivers a bit more on the character end, but not enough in the action -- which I would've suspected was a slam dunk.

And, let's face it, beyond a couple little nice touches, they spent an *awful* amount of time on stuff we've seen before. Hellboy and Liz? Yawnfest, mostly; and nothing but basic cliches spoken between 'em.

The Nazi/Rasputin occult angle -- marginally interesting, but too many tossaway bits all scrambled together. Kroner (Kronen?) was being set up as a cool and freaky bad guy, but the more they showed, the weaker they got. C'mon, a Nazi kung-fu zombie?

Note to all filmmakers: Lovecraftian god monsters are best referred to but not shown.

[Steve_Tk]

Quote:

Lovecraftian god monsters are best referred to but not shown

Is that what that strange shaped monster was from the sky that was tightly packed in something that looked like a kitty toy?

[richardWI]

Quote:

Note to all filmmakers: Lovecraftian god monsters are best referred to but not shown.

Very true. The buzz that Del Toro wants to do the Mountains of Madness next doesn't excite me as he's displayed a basic misunderstanding about Lovecraft: It's not about the tentacles! A truly Lovecraftian story is the oppposite of an ADD paced, eye candy, CGI tentacle fest.. It involves suspense and fear of the unknown and the unknowable.

[Pete-D]

I felt a little like I did in Blade 2.

The first 40 or 50 minutes is good. Infact, I thought after the first three or four scenes we might have the successor to the Indiana Jones films on our hands.

But it never really got to that next level.

The opening sequence in the rain is still my favorite of the film.

Yeah the editing seemed to get a bit choppy towards the end and even though the characters are more vulnerable and relatable -- somehow the film seemed to be running on an empty gas tank by the end. It's hard to really pinpoint.

Still its better than most comic book adapations and definitely worth seeing. I thought there was a hell of a lot of bang for the buck on screen for only $60 million dollars, which I think shows director's can still make a "big" movie without resorting to $120-$150 million dollar budgets. Wasn't CGI supposed to make movies cheaper to make?

I agree though -- enough with the tentacle monsters. Its hard to see exactly whats happening on-screen during action sequences and its just redundant by now.

Hopefully though we get a Hellboy 2 though. This character still could do a lot more in the future and the actors seem to have a nice chemistry with each other (I love the scene with Perlman and Jeffrey Tambor (Dr. Tom Manning).

This film does a lot of things other comic book films do not. I got the sense that these character's were really freakish and at odds with society moreso than X-Men, where most of the characters look like supermodels with cool powers (kinda hard to feel sorry for them). I enjoy X-Men a lot, but I though Hellboy hit that story note a lot stronger.

[Alex Spindler]

I'm working up a review, but I have to say that the pacing of the film and the resolution are perfectly in line with the comic itself. The resolution in the film is also right in line with it as well, not being dragged out like a typical finale.

As I was thinking about it, I realized that it a big back and forth battle just isn't in the spirit of it. The battle with the conqueror worm in the comic isn't very long either.

I think it very effectively captures the spirit and pace of the comic and managed to get in all kinds of nice references and character without being uncharactaristically wordy. Just great.

[Chuck Mayer]

Alex,
I agree with the structure. It is very much in the style of Hellboy...the bigger they are, the quicker they fall. It's atypical, and refreshing. And in Hellboy, the Dragon is often shown in it's prison, and I didn't mind a sneak peek. Got to have some sizzle with the steak. Frankly, I thought those were some of the cooler scenes.

Hellboy: The Corpse can be found for a quarter at many place, and online at playboy.com. I HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend it. Brilliant piece of work.

"If I had legs, I'd kick your ass"
Chuck

[Kristin O]

I really liked Hellboy. I didn't find the transition to be awkward, but I'm used to anything happening in movies so I guess I just figured that they would all pass out or something. I figured Liz would pass out because they said she always passes out after that happens to her. So I didn't really find that to be too awkward for me.

I especially liked the part where HB throws the rock and it hits him in the head...that was so funny.

[Chris Harvey]

Quote:

I agree with the structure. It is very much in the style of Hellboy...the bigger they are, the quicker they fall.

Despite the faithfulness, is that the best approach for a film?

I don't mind doing stuff differently to change things up, but with lack of setup and the main dude at the end really being nothing more than a giant bulked up Sammael, it was redundant and boring.

Here's the crux of the problem (for me): the climax of the film is Rasputin trying to get HB to open the door. But we never get anything beyond the faintest glimpse of what his destiny is, and -- more importantly -- how he feels about it. Rasputin's "I'll kill your girlfriend so you have to open the gate to get her" is also so transparently obvious I was surprised when HB actually followed his orders. Why not claim to go along and then when your chains are off then attack?

Even worse, HB so easily brings Liz back to life you wonder what the bother and sturm und drang was all about.

Now that I think about it, most of the second half of the film is based around payoff without setup. They need to find Rasputin's mausoleum, so HB can speak to corpses suddenly? Mighty handy and convenient, but without any setup whatsoever it comes across as a really bald and cheap way to get around an obstacle. It's like the movie was racing to get to its set-pieces but then forgot to actually have them.