I’m a huge fan of “coming of age” films. The Graduate. Reality Bites. Garden State. All about characters trying to find their place as grownups in the world. That doesn’t sound much like a summer blockbuster to me. As it turns out, Hellboy 2 is just that.
This isn’t your average superhero movie. And I know that sounds more like a vague review coming from some moron who just uses some throwaway sentence that doesn’t reflect how he/she really feels. But it truly isn’t your average superhero movie.
It starts off with the worst scene in the movie that will no doubt cause everyone to wince, groan and hope to God the rest of the movie will be worth the price of admission. It opens in 1955 with a young Hellboy begging his father (John Hurt) to tell him a bedtime story. The young Hellboy makeup looks like it was left over Who prosthetics from Ron Howard’s The Grinch, only with horns and it being painted red (of course.)
After this excruciatingly painful exposition scene is delivered the movie finally kicks in. And it kicks your ass. We pick up, I’m guessing a couple months after the last Hellboy ended. Liz (Selma Blair)and HB (Ron Perlman)are having relationship issues, adjusting to living together and all. While Abe (Doug Jones – doing his own voice work this time around) and Hellboy and the rest of the group struggle with going on destroying the creatures that go bump in the night without having their father (or a father figure) present.
At its core, this is what the films all about. Struggling to be adults and having adult relationships. Becoming a HellMAN. All the characters are left, eager to grow up, unable to find the proper guidance or the understanding to do so.
I have to admit, I wasn’t completely sold on the film until they went to the Troll Market. It’s an underground bazaar for the bizarre. Some of the best looking creatures you’ve seen put on screen that weren’t completely CG. This is where writer/director Guillermo Del Toro shines. He creates worlds and creatures that seem tangible. Using practical effects and CG together to enhance the illusion. It’s a beautiful scene for those of us who miss the old puppets of Labyrinth, Star Wars and the Dark Crystal. It’s a scene that not only invokes old school fantasy films but also expands the entire Hellboy universe. You’ll constantly wonder “What else is out there?”
That’s half of the fun. The other half is watching these odd characters take on very familiar feelings. Watching Hellboy and Abe get drunk off cheap beer and singing love songs is a blast, especially realizing that we’ve all been there. Or Hellboy getting into a jealous locker room fight (literally, in the locker room) with the new man (don’t even want to spoil it) they bring in to be their leader. And I think that’s what surprised me the most. Relating to the characters. Watching them make poor, selfish decisions that you know will kick their asses later (a hint at Hellboy 3 perhaps?)
It’s a surprisingly touching film with plenty of cheesy (but strangely beautiful) moments. I know its cheese. The actors know its cheese. Del Toro probably knows its cheese. But dammit, sometimes I like me some cheese. It’s cheese with heart.
This film is pure entertainment. It makes you giddy. Smiley. A happy shiny person. And it holds you there until the very last (and hilarious) freeze frame. It feels like The Graduate with wise cracking creatures, and I couldn’t ask for anything more out of a comic book movie.
As Guillermo Del Toro would say “Tell your fucking friends!”
What Ryan's listening to: Loan Shark by Voxtrot
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