Pan's Labyrinth is a hard act to follow

[williamjm]

I went to see Hellboy 2 : The Golden Army at the cinema yesterday. I did enjoy it a lot, but I did feel it could probably have been a bit better. It did look stunning at times, with some excellent special effects and very inventive creature design and the action scenes were pretty good as well. The characters were likeable and interesting, there were some very amusing scenes and the background mythology was interesting. So, it did a lot a things very well but at the end of it I still felt it could have been better than it was, I think the biggest problem is that while the plot is reasonably entertaining it isn't really particularly compelling, there's little dramatic tension or suspense, it is quite predictable and the character development is fairly minimal. It's still superior to 95% of the other superhero or action movies out there, but it's a bit frustrating because I think it had the potential to be a great movie rather than just a good one. Perhaps Guillermo Del Toro's previous film is partly to blame for some of the disappointment, Hellboy 2 may match the visual inventiveness of Pan's Labyrinth but in terms of how compelling the story is, there's not really any comparison.

I think the above paragraph probably sounds a bit more negative than I really feel, I did like the film a lot and I'd still recommend it.

Comments

[stevegreen.livejournal.com]

Hellboy had a better plot, but I'd say Hellboy 2 is better directed.

By the way, I'd recommend checking out The Strangers. Solid scary movie.

[fenryng.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed this one more so than the first one, myself.

It was just more all-around enjoyable, I thought.

What I do not think the powers that be have gotten correct with either movie is the sense that I get from the comics about the multitudinous mythologies and stories and legends all being applicable and real.

Granted, nowhere near Pan's, but they are two different movies meant for two different genres. I don't think it is entirely fair to compare the two.

[williamjm.livejournal.com]

What I do not think the powers that be have gotten correct with either movie is the sense that I get from the comics about the multitudinous mythologies and stories and legends all being applicable and real.

Yes, they didn't really go into that much depth about the mythology, but I guess they didn't have time to do it justice. Hellboy might make a good TV series which would allow them to go into a bit more depth, although it would probably be a bit too expensive to make.

Granted, nowhere near Pan's, but they are two different movies meant for two different genres. I don't think it is entirely fair to compare the two.

Perhaps a bit unfair, but if the film-makers didn't want them to be compared maybe they shouldn't have had "From the visionary director of Pan's Labyrinth" on the posters and the trailers.

[fenryng.livejournal.com]

Okay, I concede that point, as well. Now stop scoring points off of me, dang it.... :-)