See "Hellboy 2"

[Mike Renzulli]

Hey Everyone,

I just got back from seeing Hellboy 2 and, as far as I am concerned, this is another excellent flick Hollywood has cranked out. It is done by Guellermo Del Toro who did Pan's Labrynth and I think won an Academy Award. While I didn't first Hellboy, you can see this film without having to have seen the first.

Its got a good story, very good acting, excellent special effects and action with humor sprinkled in to lighten the film's dark feel. The whole movie is geared towards the climax at the end and its a whopper! Hopefully, it will do well enough for a Hellboy 3.

None the less, I give Hellboy 2 high marks and hope you all feel the same.

[emb021]

While I enjoyed the 2 Hellboy movies, I much more enjoy the original comic book stories they are based on.

I had gotten into Hellboy because of its mixing of occult detective, lovecraftian horror and pulp fiction elements.

The Hellboy comics are a much richer universe then what its touched on in the movies.

There is one element from the character that I picked up fairly early on, and would be of interest to people here, which is the idea of free will vs destiny. What do I mean.

Well, let's be clear. Hellboy is a demon. Its obvious when we see him. And in the comics we are given bits and pieces of his backstory (much of which he himself doesn't know). He is the son of a demon prince and a human witch. Somehow he was born with the Right Hand of Doom, the right hand of the Watcher spirit who took Vril from God to form the dragon Ogdru Jahad. With that same hand, he bound the dragon, but then his fellow spirits turned upon him for his deeds, and destroyed him utterly, leaving only his right hand.

So by that hand, Hellboy can free the Ogrdu Jahad, who will lay waste to the world. This is why Rasputin summoned him to Earth (as seen in the first movie). Also, as prince of hell, he is destined to lead the armies of hell in a future apocalypse.

So that is Hellboy's destiny.

And in most such works, he would have given in to his destiny, etc etc.

But it wasn't so.

Instead, the baby Hellboy was raised by humans (see the flashbacks in the first 2 movies), and he steps away from that path, choosing to be a good guy. (in the comics he is made an 'honorary human'). In the comics, we see him making friends with many priests and holy men, helped to defeat many demons and evil creatures. In fact, in several stories, many of the mythical creatures speak of Hellboy now walking his own path.

In my mind, he's a great example of free will, of making a choice to be good, rather then just being evil because its ones 'destiny'.