Warning, long post!
Comic book movies!! yeah!
Oh how I long for these moments. Since the success of the first X-Men there's been huge flow of movies based on comic book adaptations. Some was huge success (Spider-Man), some was moderate (Daredevil, Hulk), some was just plain bad (LXG). But it's encouraging to see that studios starting to take comic books more seriously. Long gone are the camp of 60s Batman series starring Adam West, or the sheer ridicoulusness of Nick Hammond's Spider-Man.
When I see the first Spider-Man two years ago, I had really high hopes. It have been noted that the major block for making a decent Spider-Man movie is because when the plan come out in the 80s, it's almost impossible to recreate Spidey's acrobatic movements from the comic. When they did push the idea, the result is the aforemention Hammond movie. Now, in the age where special effects enable the whole set to be recreated on a computer, finally there's the technology to make it work.
My first impression of the first Spidey movie one is rather subdued. Even though it's a huge success in the box office, I feel kinda disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that it finally get made, but I can't help feeling that it could be better. At times, the dialogs sounds too corny, or there's embarrasing moments like that scene on the bridge ("you mess with Spidey, you mess with all of us). So now, for the second installment, I try not to put my hopes too high and stay clear of any reviews and spoilers. And boy, was I not disappointed. This time it's finally liven up to the hype. From the recap of the first movie by artist Alex Ross at the beginning, to the 'go get em tiger' line by MJ at the end, Sam Raimi delivered them perfectly.
The characters are well developed, which is the direct effect of not having to tell an origin story like the first one. Here we see how Peter juggled between his responsibility of his powers with the his life as Peter Parker, and how the latter suffered as the result. He lost his part-time job, he missed classes, MJ hates him for missing appointments, his landlord bugging him for late rent, etc. All the stress in his life started to take effect on his powers, as they began to wane. At breaking point, he choose to leave his Spider-Man identity ("Spider-Man no more!"), and lives the life he always wanted to. But of course this won't run smoothly, as a new villain, four mechanical arms human hybrid (Doc Ock) takes the city, a result of a scientific experiment gone wrong (not so original I admit). As he need to continue his experiment, he turn to Harry Osborne for the resources. Harry cut a deal with him, he'll give him what he wants, but in return Ock must bring Spidey to him alive.
Of course in the best comic book style, Peter learns that he can't run from his destiny, and accept who he is, as Spider-Man and as Peter Parker. He also realize that the city need him and appreciate him, even after with all the Bugle propaganda to discredit Spider-Man. He finally saves the day and able to tell MJ about his secret life. I really like that scene when an unmasked Spidey holds this huge wall from falling on MJ and said "Hi.. this is really heavy".
I must mentioned the cast that are much improved from the first movie, from Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man to the hillarious JK Simmons as J Jonah Jameson. They managed to make the role their own. The humour, mostly at Peter's expense is carefully put which makes it more enjoyable. The huge fights between Spidey and Ock also worth a mention. My only complaint is that at times, the CGI is a bit too obvious for my liking, but the shot angles, the pace is all top notch.
Another movie that I just finished watching is Guillermo Del Toro's Hellboy. This is a bit more "hardcore" than Spider-Man, but I like it just the same. It's not as universally recognized as Spidey, and the comic have a darker theme too, but it delivers nonetheless. The most important factor here IMHO is Ron Perlman. He IS Hellboy as for as I know. He just nailed the role perfectly, justifying Del Toro's faith in him. Hellboy is a smart-ass, cigar pomping, paranormal investigator that have a hobby of taking cats as pet. Oh and he's also a demon from hell raised by a human professor. Despite his evil appearance, Hellboy is actually a very kind soul. He longs for Liz Sherman, the girl he grew up with and have the pyrokinetic power. One of the best scenes is when Liz and agent Myers go out on a date and Hellboy followed them. He's cursing all the way from afar, accompany by a little boy who advised him to tell her how he feels. ("You're nine! You shouldn't give me advice! LOL!).
The story starts with Hellboy origin way back in 1946, when the Nazi's helped by the wizard Rasputin try to open a portal to hell and called a demon to help them with the war. An Allied Squad led by professor Bruttenholm managed to prevent it, but a baby demon managed to sneak through. The professor take the baby, and raised him as his own son and called him Hellboy. Fast forward to present time, Rasputin followers resurrect him and try to continue with their plan. Hellboy, now grown up, now work in a Bereau of Paranomal Research and Defense, thwarting paranormal menaces in United States. Rasputin believes that Hellboy is the key to open the portal again. So he kill Bruttenholm and lured Hellboy to his place and tell him to surrender to his destiny. That he is a demon, and can't runaway from that fact. In the end, Hellboy choose to stay good, and destroy Rasputin plan. It's all done nicely eventhough the final fight is a of an anti climax.
Personally I really like Hellboy, it has similar messages with Spider-Man, eventhough with different excecution. There's a line from Hellboy that would work on both movies.
"What makes a man, a man? It's the choices that he made. Not how he started things, but how he ends it". I can't praised Ron Perlman enough for this, he's just perfect as Hellboy, the delivery of those one-liners at fights are spot on. I love Blair's Liz Sherman too, beautiful, fragile, yet powerful. There's this touching moment between Hellboy and Liz when he said that he understand if she likes Myers better but he can promise her two things: "first I can promise you that I almost always looked this good, second I'll never give up on you", which almost bring a tear to my eyes.
Overall, Mr Raimi, Mr Del Toro.. thank you from the bottom of my heart.
over and out.
