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Jul. 12th, 2008 08:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariOther Kenjari and I went to a late show of Hellboy II last night, and quite enjoyed it.
My only substantial criticism is that the script could have hung together a bit better. The connections between scenes and plot elements weren't always as smooth and coherent as they should have been. I also feel like they could have done a bit more with the potential thematic content - environmentalism, visibility vs. concealment, the dynamics of bonds between people, the relationship of Hellboy et al to the rest of society. However, the writers did a good job of spinning out some running motifs - like the repeated appearance of teeth, and the subtle recurrences of references to babies and twins. I feel
I love Guillermo Del Toro's visual style, and this movie really delivered on the visuals. The movie was practically saturated with clockwork, yet it never got to the point of overload. The Troll Market was a complete delight - a gorgeous cross between the Star Wars Cantina scene and the Fairy Market from Stardust. And the Angel of Death was amazing - tall and imposing, yet somehow delicate and ethereal at the same time. It had many eyes embedded in the wings, and none in the face. Doug Jones did a wonderful job with the voice and gestures, too.
I deeply appreciated the fact that although Liz's pregnancy was revealed early on in the movie, it was never used as a way to relegate her to the sidelines, to keep her out of the action, or to reduce her to the role of motivation. None of the other characters used it to try to tell Liz what to do, either. She was shown as fully able to go about her life as she saw fit without interference, even while pregnant.
In other news, my plans to hang out at the Diesel on Monday night are still on.
My only substantial criticism is that the script could have hung together a bit better. The connections between scenes and plot elements weren't always as smooth and coherent as they should have been. I also feel like they could have done a bit more with the potential thematic content - environmentalism, visibility vs. concealment, the dynamics of bonds between people, the relationship of Hellboy et al to the rest of society. However, the writers did a good job of spinning out some running motifs - like the repeated appearance of teeth, and the subtle recurrences of references to babies and twins. I feel
I love Guillermo Del Toro's visual style, and this movie really delivered on the visuals. The movie was practically saturated with clockwork, yet it never got to the point of overload. The Troll Market was a complete delight - a gorgeous cross between the Star Wars Cantina scene and the Fairy Market from Stardust. And the Angel of Death was amazing - tall and imposing, yet somehow delicate and ethereal at the same time. It had many eyes embedded in the wings, and none in the face. Doug Jones did a wonderful job with the voice and gestures, too.
I deeply appreciated the fact that although Liz's pregnancy was revealed early on in the movie, it was never used as a way to relegate her to the sidelines, to keep her out of the action, or to reduce her to the role of motivation. None of the other characters used it to try to tell Liz what to do, either. She was shown as fully able to go about her life as she saw fit without interference, even while pregnant.
In other news, my plans to hang out at the Diesel on Monday night are still on.
