Here's a dual review, on two excellent movies...

HellBoy

I've never read this comic, but after watching this movie, I really want to check it out.

The story of Hellboy is during the second world war, the Nazi's tried to get some supernatural help, but the American forces prevented it. However, Hellboy was able to come in from his dimension. Fortunately, he was found be a good scientist who raised him as his own son. His own red skinned, six foot five, horned son, that is.

Hell boy had some great action sequences, but even better than that, the movie had some good character development. You really got a sense of who Hellboy is, a man who is not a man, trying to find his identity in a society that he must hide from. Ron Perleman plays him with such force, you feel like you're watching the real Hellboy - not a man in prosthetic horns and makeup. He's perfect with every punchline, his eyes speak volumes, and he's just as cocky as can be.

The supporting cast is great as well. I never realized how hauntingly beautiful Selma Blair was until this movie. She plays Hellboys tortured love interest, Liz, so well. I adore her even more after this movie. Rupert Evans, a brunette Brad Pitt look-a-like, has a strong movie debut as Hellboy's FBI liason. His character isn't as rounded as the others, but he's definitely nice to look at. You almost want to see more of him, to follow him through the rest of his character's career.

The story is so-so, but I don't think I was expecting an amazing story requiring a lot of thought and reflection. There are some great lines and some great comedic parts, though there were jumps between certain scenes that were too abrupt for me. One moment they're here, they next moment they're there, and the audience is left to figure out what happened in-between. I think that's my only complaint about the movie.

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Kill Bill: Vol 2

When I had seen the previews for Kill Bill: Volume 2, I didn't feel it had the same action as Vol 1. I didn't think it would be as good.

Well, I was wrong.

I guess the thing I was forgetting that Vol 2 isn't a sequel, it's the second part of the same movie. But the feel of 2 is definitely different from 1. I wasn't wrong about Vol 2 in that the fight sequences aren't as majestic as Vol 1's - the fight against the Crazy 88's was amazing in 1, and 2 doesn't have anything of that magnitude. But where 2 lacks in epic fight scenes, it makes up for in plot, dialogue and 'moments'. Vol 1 was for action, Vol 2 is for the mind.

Not that Vol 2 didn't have some great fight sequences. The fight between Elle and the Bride in the trailer was thrilling. The choreography had to give us action in a little confined space, and they came up with some pretty inventive things. If you would have asked me 5 years ago if Uma Thurman and Daryl Hannah would have kicked ass as hard as they did in this scene, I would never had believed you.

There is so much that is answered in Vol 2 that you were left wondering about in Vol 1. The scenes between Bill and the Bride are almost touching - both the flashbacks and the present day scenes. You really get to see the dynamic between the two and understand both of their motives. The whole church massacre is explained. (And there's a pretty good cameo by one of the coolest cats around) Vol 2 is more filling.

And I loved the humor in the movie. The humor is really dark, but that's to be expected from Tarantino. I didn't expect to laugh like I did, but he threw in some really great parts. I especially loved the scene in the hotel room - it was hilarious. And the scenes with Pai Mai were excellent as well. You could see Quentin's love for the kung fu movie genre here, in how many of the scenes and moments that are an homage to the movies he adores.

Uma is just amazing in this movie. I never thought she was the amazing beauty that everyone said her to be, but after this movie, I think she's gorgeous. You could see that she put her all into the part, learning the fight choreography, creating a character that flowed from anger to sadness to rage to ambivalence, all within the blink of an eye. She is the bad ass girl to rule all the bad asses. She makes this movie the ultimate girl power movie.

All in all, it was a great movie. I had loved Tarantino's movies, and he didn't disappoint this time around. Quentin is a pop culture junkie, and you can see it here. You can see how much care he put into the characters, how hard he worked on the script, how much he thought each scene, each shot, in every single scene. Where Vol 1 sucked us in with the action and the in your face violence, Vol 2 keeps us in our seats and opens our eyes by weaving the rest of the story and creating depth in the characters, characters that we start to sympathize with and care about. Did I mention that Uma kicks ass?

So go see it!

Posted by Yano at April 18, 2004 01:38 PM

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