Article Tools
- Photo Egon Endrenyi
Even outside of the arthouse, Guillermo del Toro knows how to find intimacy in pulp. Demon-spawned Hellboy (Ron Perlman) may be a paranormal-busting government agent, but he’s also a working stiff, commiserating with his fish-man best friend over relationship problems and a testy boss. Del Toro still loves rudimentary questing: visit this creature to find a parchment leading to the next level, er, scene. The fun is watching him blow his budget on a rowdy, feature-length Star Wars cantina; there are more eye-popping creatures in the background here than the original had all together. It’s the rare sequel where the “bigger-more-expensive” aesthetic flourishes. Sometimes the director’s quasi-lyrical side flows too freely, showering scenes with petals or indulging in lengthy build-up for action as trivial as an opening door — mise en scène run amok. But the series, in its way, works as well as Pan’s Labyrinth, mixing the fantastical with the humane, and a little bit of sap.
Opens July 11
Opens July 11
Comments (0)