Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
Hellboy II is a crazy visual feast from Guillermo del Toro, who also directed Pan’s Labyrinth. I was mesmerized again and again: the tooth fairies, troll market, the Miyazaki-influenced elemental, and more. The story is fine, if a bit thin. Selma Blair’s Liz has an unfortunate haircut and fashion sense. But the mix of humor, horror, and the fantastic made for a very fun film.
Geekiana: From his bio at IMDB: Doug Jones played Abe Sapien in both Hellboy and Hellboy II. His dialogue was dubbed in the first one by David Hyde Pierce, who declined a credit because he felt it would detract from Jones’ excellent performance. Jones spoke his own dialogue in Golden Army, and played multiple characters, as he did in Pan’s Labyrinth. Jones was the villain in the Emmy-nominated “Hush” episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
August 2nd, 2008 at 9:53 pm
speaking of Pan’s Labyrinth… what would you say made it, in your words, “rewarding”? I enjoyed parts, had to look away from some of the violence myself, and overall felt brought down by the ending. I’d be interested in your perspective.
Incidentally, I made my wife watch it along with me. And I’ll be paying for that for years to come.