Cuppacafe

The Summer of funnybook movies continues with the release of Hellboy II: The Golden Army, this past weekend. While I know that many critics panned the first Hellboy. Personally I liked it (granted, I had to see it a couple of times to fully get its rhythm, but it certainly wasn’t as bad as some make out).

Anywho, as stated, back for a second bite at the cinematic apple is Mike Mignola’s demonic WW II hero with an attitude and a mean right cross, Hellboy. To be sure, while this reviewer has long been a fan of the Dark Horse comicbook series, and did enjoy the red monkey's initial film, I wasn't so sure that we were ever going to see him onscreen again, especially after his initial outing. I mean, it was fun and all, and (as stated) I enjoyed it, this reviewer seemed to be in the minority.

Anyway, as with the first film (and comic) Hellboy (Perlman) and his crew of misfits — including Abe Sapien (Jones)>, Liz Sherman (Blair) — His boss, Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor) and the rest of the BPRD (Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense) are the chaps who keep the world safe from the beasties who go bump in the night. Yeah, yeah it sounds — and looks — a little bit like Men in Black, but that's not only OK, but it is to be a little bit expected, as the two comics and films are essentially drawing on similar source material.

Having said all of this, the film is a fun ride, and is a testament to the scathingly brilliant vision of Academy Award winning director Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) is simply wonderful to behold, and truly needs to be seen to be believed.

The Perfessor

With the funnybook red&gold/green “One-Two” punch of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk knocking on the Summer blockbuster door to kick off the Summer season, I just wanted to look down the road a bit to see what we can expect for the rest of the funnybook year to come, because, unlike this guy, I’m actually looking forward to this year’s slate of funnybook films.

First of all, June is going to be rounded out by Wanted (which began life as a creator-owned comicbook mini-series, by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones which was published by Top Cow in 2003–‘04. This one is an action-packed adventure staring Angelina Jolie as a killer assassin who is schooling a young man James McAvoy in the art of the kill. The trailers look very cool (but then again so did those of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and we all know how that one turned out, eh?).

Up next month we have Hellboy II: The Golden Army and Batman: The Dark Knight, both of which also look good. Batman, as you all know is a character from the DC stable of heroes, but you might not know that Hellboy hails from Dark Horse an upstart Left Coast comicbook company that has found it niche in successfully linking up with a number of Hollywood Studios (either by adapting their movies to comics (Aliens, Terminator), or by having characters that began life in their comics go the other way and make the jump into movies (Barb Wire, The 300, Sin City). Much has already been written about this Batman Returns follow-up and the unfortunate and tragic death of Heath Ledger. From what I’ve seen of the trailers and how spectacular the previous film was, this one is going to be the one to beat this Summer.

Further out we can expect Punisher: War Zone this December, and (from what we’ve heard) this one will be better than either The Thomas Jane/John Travolta film or the original Dolph Lundgren version. Again, I’m holding judgment on this one until I see some more. Also scheduled for a December release is the Film Whiteout, Based on the comicbook. Whiteout follows U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko as she uncovers the first murder ever in the Antarctic just as the sun is about to set for six months. She must catch the killer before he leaves the ice or be stuck there with him in the dark for six months. I read one installment of this comic (I think it was something I got on Free Comicbook Day) and it read real well. Glad to see it is being made into a film.

There actually might be more, but this is what I know of right now.

Oh yeah, I’m formally issuing a “WTF” Alert for our Imperious Leader.

The Perfessor