"Hellboy"

[walbourn]

Well, Hellboy was a fun romp. The effects, costumes, and creatures were all amazing, though the plot treatment could probably be done in a short paragraph. Almost the entire film was spent introducing the characters and setting up the background, so hopefully they will get a chance to do a sequel that doesn't have to put so much energy into making the audience 'get it'.

Not being a fan of the graphic novel, I went in knowing nothing about the comic book or the movie. A review in The Stranger wasn't kind other than to say the make-up was cool. I'm guessing the author isn't a fan of the comic-book genre or Victorian horror. The basic premise of Hellboy borrows heavily from classic H.P. Lovecraft Cthulu Mythos. It has enough tentacled sleeping gods from beyond the realm of man for even my friend hdan to gloat with glee: Ia! Ia! Rise Great Old Ones!... I mean... Seven Gods of Chaos!

Beyond the very cool make-up, odd-ball characters, and neato special-effects it has some of the best tentacled Cthulueque monsters to appear on screen. They were really convincing looking, although I'm disappointed I didn't go mad as my feeble primate brain tried to interpret the monstrous unknowable appearance of the creatures as they appeared on screen--I'm guessing the projector lost some of the blasphemousness of it. Oh well, perhaps they will get it right next time once their animators recover a bunch of San-points...

I'm off to bed to dream the dream of the universe drifting through the mind of the Great Old One. Sleep and do not wake him!

PS: Thanks to loree for a fun evening.