Hellboy 2 (Guillermo del Toro, 2008)

[Antoine Doinel]

Here's a look at the teaser poster.

[patrick]

I honestly can't wait to see this movie. The first film was probably my favorite comic book-based film of the last few years, and all of the interviews Del Toro has given about this movie being thematically and stylistically linked with Pan's Labyrinth sounds amazing.

[LeeB.Sims]

God I can't wait to see this. I'll go so far as to say that the first film was my favorite comic book adaptation ever. I'd point out that I've quite enjoyed the animated films as well. Top notch.

[Antoine Doinel]

Official website.

[DrewReiber]

I'm really excited about this film and I'm equally interested in the sequel (Hellboy vs. classic Universal monsters), the B.P.R.D. spinoff and At the Mountains of Madness. However, switching the release dates and retitling it "HB II" is largely suicide. I hope Universal figures it out before too late.

[truenatureunfolds]

Awesome. I agree, the first one is one of the best comic book adaptations. Can't wait for this one.

[GoldenPilgrim]

I just think that it is so brave of Ron Perlman to go out into the world and make movies, even though he clearly has gigantism.

[Darth Lavender]

Assumed you were being ironic, and clicked that link expecting to find some photos that make Perlman look very short.

I read somewhere that he's actually only 6' (still above average; I'm 6' and get called "tall") but seems much bigger in his movies.

[GoldenPilgrim]

I read somewhere that he's actually only 6' (still above average; I'm 6' and get called "tall") but seems much bigger in his movies.

Yeah, I read that too, I was shocked! I am taller than Ron Perlman, I feel so alive.

[LeeB.Sims]

First time I saw City of Lost Children I couldn't believe how huge he looked, but maybe it was just because he was surrounded by a bunch of kids and diminutive Frenchmen.

[Mr Sausage]

Assumed you were being ironic, and clicked that link expecting to find some photos that make Perlman look very short.

I read somewhere that he's actually only 6' (still above average; I'm 6' and get called "tall") but seems much bigger in his movies.

As far as it can be trusted, IMDB gives 6'2''.

[Antoine Doinel]

Happy Holidays

[mogwai]

Teaser trailer

Oh yes.

[Fletch F. Fletch]

Teaser trailer

Oooh, this looks very, very cool. Can't wait! I love that big beastie that shows up at the end of the trailer. Very Cthulhu-esque?

New production artwork is online.

[Tol_Venden]

I'm glad to see there's some love for Hellboy. I just watched the Blu-ray director's cut last night and I enjoyed it nearly as much as I did in the theater, especially the goosebump moment when Selma Blair cooks the room full of baddies. "Hit me!" Brilliant.

About the cut: Del Toro needs an editor. The three or four scenes that didn't make the theatrical release were a bit ridiculous and pulled you right out of the story.

Ron Pearlman is getting up there in age, so they better hurry this project along before it starts looking like Terminator 3.

[chaddoli]

Yeah, that trailer is pretty cool. I hope this will, like the first film, be much, much better than Pan's Labyrinth.

[Tol_Venden]

Yeah, that trailer is pretty cool. I hope this will, like the first film, be much, much better than Pan's Labyrinth.

Yeah, I haven't heard from very many people who share that opinion. I've seen Pan's twice and left disappointed the first time, pretty disgusted the second time.

[J Chastain]

As an adaptation, the first film got most everything but the visuals wrong. Especially troubling was the notion that Hellboy would start the apocalypse if he thought it would save his "girlfriend." He's a more interesting character than that in the books. It was also clear that they'd sold the project as a variation on Men in Black, and that seriously limited the scope of the ideas they could explore.

The larger scale of Hellboy 2 is promising. The production design (sets, creatures, etc.) is promising. The fact that they've ditched the useless Rupert Evans character is promising. I like the Mysterio look for Johann, and even though they've hinted he's part of some "love triangle" in the picture, his inclusion is promising.

I'm hoping that Del Toro's writing has improved. Pan's Labyrinth had many of the same problems Hellboy had: the pacing is haphazard and he tries to run too many threads with too many characters at once.

The teaser trailer does nothing for me--it's just a lot of shots of CGI things happening. They need to be selling the audience on the characters: showing the things they do and the ways they interact with each other. They can't take it for granted that anyone saw the first film. Many people did not. They have to work hard to convince people that this isn't just another Van Helsing or LXG, and even then their release may be doomed because they're going to get killed by Batman on the following weekend.

[Antoine Doinel]

Theatrical trailer with introduction by del Toro.

[Fletch F. Fletch]

Theatrical trailer with introduction by del Toro.

Very cool. Lots of monsters and snazzy special effects. I'm there. I really enjoyed the first film and this one is looking to be even better. They got rid of the annoying audience surrogate character from the first one. Thank god!

A review of the new Art of Hellboy 2 book with some samples of sketches from the book.

A clip from the film.

The Tooth Fairies Attack clip.

Another clip.

Trailer.

[Svevan]

As an adaptation, the first film got most everything but the visuals wrong. Especially troubling was the notion that Hellboy would start the apocalypse if he thought it would save his "girlfriend." He's a more interesting character than that in the books. It was also clear that they'd sold the project as a variation on Men in Black, and that seriously limited the scope of the ideas they could explore.

The larger scale of Hellboy 2 is promising. The production design (sets, creatures, etc.) is promising. The fact that they've ditched the useless Rupert Evans character is promising. I like the Mysterio look for Johann, and even though they've hinted he's part of some "love triangle" in the picture, his inclusion is promising.

I'm hoping that Del Toro's writing has improved. Pan's Labyrinth had many of the same problems Hellboy had: the pacing is haphazard and he tries to run too many threads with too many characters at once.

The teaser trailer does nothing for me--it's just a lot of shots of CGI things happening. They need to be selling the audience on the characters: showing the things they do and the ways they interact with each other. They can't take it for granted that anyone saw the first film. Many people did not. They have to work hard to convince people that this isn't just another Van Helsing or LXG, and even then their release may be doomed because they're going to get killed by Batman on the following weekend.

I can't help but agree, and I'm surprised to hear so much love for this film here (well, maybe not that surprised). The first film's pacing is all off, and the acting is uniformly terrible, up to and including Ron Perlman. Selma Blair is wooden, and Doug Jones "expressive" body movements for Abe Sapien needed to be reigned in. I agree that Pan's Labyrinth has some pacing issues, but overall that film flows much better than this, which has almost no plot development (half of the film's events are poorly set up, especially the bizarre ending) and only the simplest character development. Hellboy's one-liners are never funny, and always break up the mood, and the special effects outside of the CGI and the makeup are pretty bad. How many times do we have to see Hellboy punch at a paper mache wall, or crash into cardboard painted as steel? Hellboy's weight and speed vary depending on whether he is animated, being pulled by strings, or just walking. There's no consistency, and his movements are just as unbelievable as his dialogue. The film utterly fails to create a sense of Hellboy's powers or purpose.

I'll go see the second one if only because Del Toro has a painterly visual sense (some beautiful images in the first one); too bad they weren't cut together well at all.

[Fletch F. Fletch]

I can't help but agree, and I'm surprised to hear so much love for this film here (well, maybe not that surprised). The first film's pacing is all off, and the acting is uniformly terrible, up to and including Ron Perlman. Selma Blair is wooden, and Doug Jones "expressive" body movements for Abe Sapien needed to be reigned in.

I disagree. The only performance I felt lacking was the obvious audience identification character who is thankfully gone from the sequel and, I believe, was imposed on Del Toro. Other than that, I thought everyone acquitted themselves just fine with Perlman being the real standout as he got to deliver all sorts of snazzy one-liners and actually was able to bring out the personality of the character while being buried under tons of makeup. Selma Blair really did not have too much to do but I thought she did a good job and the "expressive" body movements of Abe Sapien I felt were key to his character and were quite good.

I agree that Pan's Labyrinth has some pacing issues, but overall that film flows much better than this, which has almost no plot development (half of the film's events are poorly set up, especially the bizarre ending) and only the simplest character development.

Again, I disgree. I thought it was a fine adaptation of Mike Mignola's Hellboy: Seed of Destruction graphic novel but with little tweaks here and there. If anything, this film is ALL plot development and story. The ending is not that bizarre at all and is explained by Hellboy.

Hellboy's one-liners are never funny, and always break up the mood, and the special effects outside of the CGI and the makeup are pretty bad. How many times do we have to see Hellboy punch at a paper mache wall, or crash into cardboard painted as steel? Hellboy's weight and speed vary depending on whether he is animated, being pulled by strings, or just walking. There's no consistency, and his movements are just as unbelievable as his dialogue. The film utterly fails to create a sense of Hellboy's powers or purpose.

I disagree. The SFX for the budget Del Toro was working with are quite good and do an excellent job of illustrating Hellboy's powers -- as good as any of the comic books the film is based on and done quite well in the scene where he battles Sammael. The only problem I had was the sets that obviously looked European but were supposed to be New York City but was a minor quibble at best.

And so far, from the West Coast critics, there's a lot of love for the sequel:

Cinematical

Screen Daily

[Antoine Doinel]

Hellboy on Inside The Actor's Studio.

Animated prologue.

[blindside8zao]

I have to say, Hellboy was the only movie (except maybe Spiderman 2) based on a graphic novel that I enjoyed and I'm looking forward to the new one.

[Via_Chicago]

Hellboy was the only movie (except maybe Spiderman 2) based on a graphic novel that I enjoyed and I'm looking forward to the new one.

Really? I thought A History of Violence was great.