HellPope Huey's "Hellboy" review

From: hellpopehuey@subgenius.com (HellPopeHuey)
Date: Mon, Apr 5, 2004 3:15 PM

I eagerly/hopefully went to see this sucker on Saturday 'cause the
promos jazzed me and I did not feel my money wasted. Its a lotta
kinetic fun. Its main "drawback" is simply that it IS presented as a
straight-forward, 4-color comic book, rather than evidencing the depth
of Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" or "Watchmen." That's also part of its
strength. This is This, Here and Now, 1-2-3. Stuff is presented
flat-out as you chew your gum and the comic panels are basically
presented on-screen as they are, which is a smart move.
You never really know the in-depth history of anyone as a person for
whom you'd feel more than middling sympathy as a character, but hey,
its a FROPCORN flick; its clear who is who and which deserve to be fed
grenades. It has some funny moments, its well-paced for what it is,
the bad guys ARE CTHULU, the main Good Guy growls, chomps cigars and
likes cats.
The effects are pretty damned good, yet don't overshadow the story,
partly because the story IS a special effect, on SKATES. It should
have been a bit darker and scarier from a certain angle, maybe, but
its still no slouch. Pretty well-selected cast, well-paced & edited,
great make-up & sets, mucho property damage guys like, Nazis,
Rasputin, big machines and what a shame there'll be no Hellboy hats
with big horns because Xtians would shit pipe fittings.
Ideal double-feature for 'The Passion of the Christ!" It compares
favorably with "X-Men 2" and while not on a par with loftier films, it
got a lot of Wows, Ooos and laughs at the matinee I attended. Worth
seeing in the theatre for the bigger sound system and sure to be a big
hit as a rental. Silly fun done right with some muscle and some cool
scares. Think of an old Republic serial polished to a high sheen,
stitched into a single block and you got it. A classy example of its
specific arena. HueyBob says check it out or kill Boob Dean, or BOTH!

--

HellPope Huey
A SubGenius bird in the hand
makes you the envy of the neighborhood

"You fed a baby CHILI?!"
- "Mr. Mom"

It's really too bad a lot of crummy stuff
is so much fun sometimes.
- J. D. Salinger, "Catcher In the Rye"

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Re: HellPope Huey's "Hellboy" review
From: "ghost" <ghost@ghost.net>

I'm pleased that "Hellboy" is doing so well... mainly because it's gonna
build the rep of Ron Perlman.

The man is this generation's big monster movie star. Hard working guy, does
foreign films that should get more attention, big films that he tends to
steal ("Blade II")...

Up one level
Back to document index

Original file name: HellPope Huey's "Hellboy#1AD9E8 - converted on Saturday, 25 September 2004, 02:05