"Special Edition: Hellboy II"
The first Hellboy was a guilty pleasure among the plethora of Comic book films that were being released. Unlike the insistence that the superheroes be brought completely into the 21st century with an overly angst filled Spiderman, black leather clad X Men and a decidedly darker Superman, Hellboy threw off the reigns of realism and reveled in the fantastical worlds it naturally dwelled within.
Hellboy has always held a special place in our hearts as the dry humored and sarcastic superhero from the depths of Hell. If Harry Potter was but a smirk at the religious radicals, the silver screen emergence of a character visually based on Satan himself is no less than a total ass rape of their uptight knickers. Suddenly witchcraft doesn’t seem all that bad does it?
They didn’t have to call him “Hellboy” or even make him red, but they did. And it’s incredible. The first adventure dealt with the typical character introductions and made it clear that while some superhero flicks have quirky characters, Hellboy would put them all to shame.
Besides starring a cigar smoking, huge fisted, gun totin’ badass, the supporting members of the team are equally fun. Abe Sapian ranks as one of the top complementary characters of all time in my book. Unlike that sidekick of questionable sexual nature, Robin, Abe Sapian does more than get his ass handed to him while screaming for help. Oh, and he just fucking looks cool (no red/green/yellow color combo here, no sir). Each of Hellboy’s companions serves an actual purpose in the plot; especially in Hellboy II. Wet and rearin’ to go, Abe’s return to the screen marks a variety of reasons to celebrate for actor Doug Jones. For one, he won’t be voiced over by David Hyde Pierce (being voiced over has happened to him more than once). But perhaps most importantly, his role in the plot of the Hellboy saga has received a major overhaul giving the guy quite a bit of screen time. Selma Blair resumes the psionically fiery heroine Liz Sherman functioning as the romantic/brooding balance to the team’s otherwise brash and intellectual duo.
Hellboy II looks to be an incredible sequel and yet, let’s be honest. Its success is threatened (to a rather large extent) by the looming shadow of a certain caped crusader’s upcoming sequel. In that way, we’re somewhat outraged at the fact that Hellboy II is being set up for a modicum of box office failure. Unless it takes in a huge chunk of Box Office earnings in its first week, it will find itself struggling for air to keep the fires lit in its second week. I’d estimate that even its first run will suffer considering theater prices these days. I, yes even me, contemplated skipping Hellboy II’s opening night to save the cash for the advanced ticket purchase of that other movie we won’t mention right now.
While I wouldn’t dare to begin a discussion of which sequel will be better, I will say this: hands down, Hellboy II will be more fun. For all its dark and supernatural content, the central characters of Hellboy make each installment a wild ride chock full of comedy and action. Even as we’re incredibly hyped for Hellboy II, we can’t help but start salivating over what we hope to be the inevitable 2nd sequel: Hellboy III.
Oh god, do we want a Hellboy III more than almost anything.
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