Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Category: Film
Genre: Action / Sci-fi / Fantasy / Comic Adaptation
Directed By: Guillermo del Toro
Running Time: 120 min.

The second installment in the Hellboy film adaptations takes a different tone than the original. Hellboy II focuses on heart and comedy now that we have a family of characters the viewers have invested in. This makes for a different feel to the film, less hard edge attitude, with the action driven equally by the character development and the MacGuffin elements.

There are some novel solutions to the storytelling, I especially enjoyed the toy army treatment in the opening exposition in lieu of revealing the big visual payoff of the golden army and related characters. While at some points the driving force behind the progression of the film felt sloppy of uneven, the added freedom for comedy and exploring character dynamics yields some real gems. One of these moments in when Abe and HB, after sharing quite a few drinks, burst into song to Barry Manilow’s “Can’t Smile Without You.”

All told this was an entertaining second effort, if a bit weak overall. While it lacked the feeling of great things being afoot of the fist film, the added heart and warmth nearly make up for it.

Rating: 6/10

Tin Man

Category: Television Miniseries (on DVD)
Genre: Fantasy / Adventure / Reboot
Directed By: Nick Willing
Presented By: Sci-Fi Channel
Running Time: 264 min. (3 episodes)

Tin Man, is essentially a modern steampunk-influenced retelling of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. Originally aired on Sci-fi in three parts, I recently watched the mini-series on dvd in one sitting.

The plot and story were pleasantly unexpected treatments of the original Oz, which is only loosely alluded to in the course of the new telling. Through the first two acts, the pacing was reasonably maintained, but did start to get bouncy in the third act.

I was surprised and impressed with the production values and casting choices in this production. Neal McDonough (Minority Report, First Contact) as Cain (ie. the Tin Man) took a more subtle approach to his character than is usually seen, and avoids becoming “that sci-fi guy”. Alan Cummings (X2’s Nightcrawler) as Glitch/Ambrose (ie. the Scarecrow), presents a wonderful character, and brings a great deal of accesibility and heart to the role. Zooey Deschanel (Eulogy) as DG (ie. Dorthy Gale) is refreshingly real and off kilter as she interacts with the world of th O.Z.; in grappling with her past and emotional repercussions however, something is left to be desired. The writers dumbed down Raoul Trujillo’s/Raw’s (ie. Cowardly Lion) lines to the extent that he really never gets a chance to shine and that’s really a shame as so much could be done in context of his character’s treatment. Kathleen Robertson as Azkadellia delivers what we’ve come to expect in an attractive conflicted villianness character. Surprisingly, though he provides an interesting performance, Richard Dreyfuss as the Miracle Man (ie. the Wizard) makes a rather early exit from the story.

Unfortunately even Tin Man didn’t dodge the bullet of end sequence difficulties; after developing what is largely a character driven story, the ending sequence became mechanical and failed to capitalize or maintain the viewers investment in the characters. This was the appropriate place to recover from the stumbles of the third act, but goes for an almost canned ending (happily someone does melt; sadly no houses are dropped), and neglects to wrap up many of the characters we’ve come to care about.

All in all, for a Sci-fi mini-sereis, this far exceeded any expectations I had coming to it, and as a work of creative fiction I enjoyed this treatment of the original Oz story. There are some great gems in here, so I recommend checking it out, warts and all.

Rating: 6/10

The Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian

Category: Film
Genre: Fantasy / Adventure / Family / Novel Adaptation
Directed By: Andrew Adamson
Running Time: 140 minutes

Much of my impression of this movie no doubt has to do with the fact that I’m not solidly in the target audience demographic group. As I hadn’t read the Narnia books since sometime in the third grade, I had no detailed preconceptions regarding plot points, just a general understanding of the scope of the tale. With thatin mind I was hoping I would enjoy this second installment more so that the first, particulary hoping for a bit darker tone.

The gloves do come off a bit in Prince Caspian, though I find myself witht the same problem I have encountered with other relatively recent fantasy epics; I can suspend disbelief with no difficulty, howerever, I can’t seem to sustain interest, to buy into the characters and feel a need to care about them. Much of this I think comes from the increasingly mechanical treatment of these novel origin properties.

In Caspian, there were some rather sever problems wiht pacing the story agaisnt the action, and many scenes dis not have the neccessary gravitas to fill the experience. Coincidentally, on a more technical note, the animorph CGI characters (obviously painstakingly crafted, and one of my favorite thematic elements form these films) seemed to suffer from a lack of wieght in their movement, much like 2003’s the “Hulk”.

In the final analysis, I enjoyed the movie, but was not especially engaged by it; visually, the scope and scale of the film does deserve to be seen in a theater.

Rating: 3.5/10