Maybe the best and most subtle examination of “It’s what I choose to believe.”
Another excellent entry in my favorite type of film where the first half of the movie is an interesting premise with characters pontificating on religion or philosophy and then a second half full of standard (or subpar) genre tropes. Movies like Sunshine, Prometheus, or The Village. I need to coin a term for that…Movies that can’t, quite deliver on the compelling set-up but which are endlessly…
BBC Hellboy
Unless you’re a fan of the source material there’s not much to appreciate here beyond the novelty of another attempt to bring the magic of the Hellboy comics to the screen.
Not one, not two, but three exploding head shots…
Jack Kesy did a good job as Hellboy.
If I had seen this a few years ago I would’ve called it a preachy and heavy-handed metaphor, but now it feels more like a cathartic bit of parody. It’s a funny, well-acted, interesting looking, and thoroughly unsubtle commentary on the abuse of power. It’s not as subtle and nuanced as Parasites or as direct an allegory as Snowpiercer, but it’s fun (mainly thanks to Pattinson’s performance). Unfortunately, the humor and narration that make the first two acts so enjoyable disappear in the final third of the movie and we’re left with an overly serious and drawn out finale.
Leading up to Oppenheimer’s release Nolan talked about how movies should be an audiovisual experience first and I thought “how do you make a biopic an audio visual experience?” Now I know.
This movie is as complex as the man and it’s a lot. The visual storytelling is impeccable. Despite knowing nothing about physics, very little about the Manhattan Project, and having a terrible memory for names, I was never once lost or confused. The momentum is incredible. I’m curious…
