Hellboy (3 of 5)

A demon summoned by Rasputin during WWII is found by Americans and raised to fight crime of the paranormal. Directed by Blade II’s Guillermo Del Toro and played by the always great Ron Perlman’¦sounds cool huh? Well’¦the film relied too much on a’™ Fantasy Reality Common Knowledge’™…meaning’¦only comic book collectors and film geeks (I am one buy the way) can grasp what is going on. Basically it’s the second film in a Hellboy series, only they released it first. Just like Star Trek and Superman before it…the first film needs to set the rules so the second film doesn’t have to rehash it all. This film makes you guess at what the rules are because they are never really established. Director Del Toro does a bang up job making Hellboy and Liz real characters’¦and the banter of the freaks and humans is wonderful’¦but what the hell are we watching’¦it’s X-men mixed with the Seth and Ryan of the OC. You can see the passion that Del Toro had for the subject and the characters’¦but a lot seems to be missing for the viewers. The sets are huge, but in the same way that the Lara Croft sets were, and way to big for what was going on. I love the characters and the performances’¦but the story was too small and the background was non-existent. We just don’t understand why everybody does what he or she does. Imagine seeing only ‘˜Return of the Jedi’™. What is he returning from?, Why does the one handed guy in black want to kill the big guy in black? Is Han Solo the hero? What is going on?? A prequel is the only film that can make this film better’¦and I welcome it, maybe we can get some of this lore figured out.