Rate Hellboy

[ShadowX]

Which Leone?

 

[barsoomcore]

Sergio.

 

[swrushing]

an Ok film.

Plusses: it was perty, visuals looked good, world/genre looked intriguing.

Minuses: cliched and predictable to every level in terms of characters and story. i mean, OK, i do not expect shakespear from comics but this was pretty stock stuff.

 

[Abraxas]

It was just a 5.

I liked the characters and effects very much. But the story was weak, and, as has been said before lacking in any real feeling of suspense. Also I felt there was just a little too much "It just happens" explanation for things and that just kept blowing away any suspension of disbelief I had.

I'm glad I didn't pay full price.
Hmm - this movie was only marginally better than The Ladykillers.

 

[barsoomcore]

The weekend estimates are in and Hellboy did NOT make the big Saturday jump that Scooby-Doo pulled off, coming in at $23 million compared to Scooby's $29. This weekend saw four features exceed $15 mil, however, compared to Scooby's solo show last weekend, so while the pie got bigger, there was stiffer competition for the slices.

While its total numbers were significantly worse than Dawn's of two weeks ago, it had less of a Friday-Sunday decline so it may hold up better over the coming weeks. Shouldn't have any trouble making a profit, at least. Not a "knock it out of the park" by any means, but a good, solid success.

Next week "The Alamo" looks like the challenger, with "The Girl Next Door" as a longshot, I guess. I'd give Hellboy a shot at holding on to the top spot against those, though I don't really know much about either. Guns and porn stars is all I know. But then it's the "Punisher vs. The Bride" weekend in which one or the other will certainly push Hellboy aside. I'd say "The Punisher" is likeliest to come out on top that weekend, though I'm hoping Vol 2 of the coolest movie of last year will take the throne. Probably not, though. Lots of people didn't like the first part and even more didn't even see it, so the idea that the second part is going to clean up is unlikely. "The Punisher" looks surprisingly good so I won't be too cranky.

Unless they both suck. In which case bitter shall be my tongue.

Then it's a couple of weeks until "Van Helsing" and the summer bears down on us with all its overblown might.

 

[Kai Lord]

Then it's a couple of weeks until "Van Helsing" and the summer bears down on us with all its overblown might.

Yeah we're smack dab in the middle of a pretty cool "genre train:"

Dawn of the Dead
two weeks later:
Hellboy
two weeks later:
The Punisher/Kill Bill 2
two weeks later:
Van Helsing
two weeks later:
Troy

EDIT: And two weeks after Troy...Return of the King on DVD.

 

[LightPhoenix]

Yes, it does. The complete and utter lack of suspense is a major contributing factor to what makes this movie feel too long. It's hard to see how adding more of the same could improve it. If you want to correct the problems with plausibility and tension (or more specifically, the lack of both), the end of the movie is very much the wrong place to do so.

Well, for one thing I never said I wanted more at the end of the movie. I simply said there should have been more time.

Second, a less predictable ending does not make the movie any more or less suspenseful. All it means is that you couldn't predict what was going to happen. That's not suspense or tension, that's shock. Similarly, cutting fifteen minutes out of the movie wouldn't either. That would just make it an equally low-tension movie, albeit shorter.

Finally, I fail to see how a less predictable ending solves the problems with tension (which I agree exist) when you say "If you want to correct the problems with plausibility and tension (or more specifically, the lack of both), the end of the movie is very much the wrong place to do so."

Tension is something that has to be built throughout the movie. I think you and I both agree on this. The way I feel is best to build tension is to make the audience respond to the characters. You don't get that with two-dimensional characters. The way to solve that is to make them more human.

Now, the point where I think we differ is that I think the movie was relatively fine overall, length-wise. There were some pacing issues at points, but I don't think that fixing them would have changed the length of the movie significantly. They could have pared off a couple of minutes here and there, sure, but would it have changed anything? No, it would be, as I said before, simply a shorter movie with, according to you, problems with plausibility and tension.

Since I don't think there is all too much that can be pared away with regards to the story, I think that more has to be added in. So the only way I see to make the characters have more depth is to allow them more screen time to develop that depth.

But again, this is all simply my opinion on the matter.

 

[Trainz]

I gave it a 9.

I own 3 hellboy books, and this movie was straight on target. I really enjoyed spiderman and x-men, but this one was the closest to the comic book I have seen so far.

Some scenes were cut-out straight from the books, with the same imagery (in the beginning, when you see a statue or cross in the graveyard. The damn ANGLE is the same as in the comic book. The black & white picture of the soldiers and baby hellboy in the middle). The tone and personality of hellboy was 95% as it is in the books (wolverine was close, but not that perfect, and I think we can agree that spider-man was even less).

That's one hell of a feat.

His love of cats, his "Aww man, not again..." attitude, everything straight from the books. And flawlessly executed.

I saw it this afternoon. Last night, I was with my sis-in-law, and when I told her I wanted to go see it today she told me "Don't waste your time ! This movie sucks !", to which I asked "You saw it ?" and to which she replied "No, but it sucks !"

Dumbass...

 

[Femerus the Gnecro]

Considering that I was originally skeptical of the movie (I kept getting a LXG / Underworld vibe from the trailers), I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed myself.

I gave it a 7: fun, entertaining romp. Don't have to think, don't have to nitpick... just go in and enjoy. Mmm... nachos.

On a side note... I expect to be hellishly disappointed by Helsing... let's hope I'm as wrong about the previews for it as I was about Hellboy.

-F

 

[Hand of Evil]

Now remember to keep up with your rates, later in the year you will be comparing it to other movies out this year.

So far for me:
Walking Tall: 6
Hellboy: 7

Ratings subject to change as additional movies are released and compared to each other for the year.

05 = not a waste of time but could waited
06 = afternoon delight, burn time
07 = Enjoyable movie
08 = Great movie
09 = Lets see it again
10 = Damn, I worship at the screen