PreREview: Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army Has It's Trailer Reviewed! Because We Care That Much!
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
June 19th, 2008 - Since this is the second post, I figure I'll tackle a sequel. Yes, I know that "Indiana Jones and the incredibly long name" is also a sequel, but this is a sequel with "2" in the title. So it counts more.
Let's get on with it. There have been two Hellboy 2 trailers so far--the inferior "Trailer 1"-more of a teaser--and this, the "Theatrical Trailer".
Trailers should set some things up in their openings--namely, the tone of the movie, and a hint at how it's going to open. And this opening does just that. We see a mysterious artifact being auctioned off, from a 'lost civilization', only to find that, nope, that civilzation is doing just fine, as is evidenced by the creepy-looking man who saunters in and seems to claim what is rightfully his. This intrusion of the bizarre into the mundane, stuffy world of ours is heightened by the trailer (and the eventual movie's) next step: a cute little joke that has the auction master calling for security, only to have men wearing "Security" vests thrown violently into the room by an unknown force. Then that unknown force booms into the room to become all too known--a giant, almost-cartoony monster with a club over its shoulder. And THAT, ladies and gents, sums up the world of "Hellboy" beautifully.
It's a world in which the mystical, the fearsome, the monstrous, occasionally bleeds over into our world, and the titular hero and his band of merry miscreants are called in to set everything back the way it should be. So this is an example of absolute top-notch Trailerizing: show some tantalizing glimpses, get people intrigued (even people who don't know what the hell a Hellboy is) and asking questions, and wow them with what they're seeing in the first place.
Then we get a few more, quite beautiful, examples of this other world that very clearly state its intentions: to wage war and reclaim their land---which, presumably, happens to be our land at the moment. The lighting, the compositions, the costuming, the character design; it's all so lush and well-rendered, it speaks volumes very quickly about an alien place and civilization we've never seen before. It draws us in and places us there effortlessly just by virtue of being so seamless. Already we want to know where this albino-fellow is from and why he's so angry. "What are those weird-looking guardians? Where is this? Is this underground?" So many questions, so much anticipation. Trailer GOLD. And that weird evil angel-looking thing with eyes on its wings! I HAVE TO SEE MORE OF THAT!
Then the tried-and-true movie trailer staples pop up: fast action shots, glimpses of beasts and fantastic characters, the phrases 'top secret' and 'elite team' being thrown around--I don't know about you, but at this point in the trailer (again, even if I didn't know an Abe Sapien from an Abe Lincoln), I'm there. But it just...keeps...getting...better!
An escalation of difficulties in the form of a swarm of monsters, explosions, weird machines, apparently a scene that will rival the Mos Eisley scene in the original Star Wars ("Episode IV") for the sheer number of weird/amazing creatures, a princess on a quest, a fallen king, mystical kung-fu swordfighting, mythical creatures, magic, an unstoppable force (highlighting some pretty seamless CGI that meshes perfectly with the rest of the 'real-life' onscreen world), a promised cool monster fight, character pathos, difficult choices--what DOESN'T this movie have?
This is pretty close to movie trailer perfection. I can't think of anything to make it better. It does hit all the right notes for my personal comic book-fed proclivities, so I'm hesitant to give it a perfect score, as it may not interest people QUITE as much as it interests me. But in general terms, it does give us glimpses of the story without telling too much, hints at the visually stunning world we'll inhabit without showing too much, and even manages to hint at the main character's emotional arc. Stunning trailer. I simply don't get sick of watching it and cannot WAIT for the movie.
9.5 out of 10
...but only because I want to be fair to non-pre-existing-Hellboy-lovers. For me, it's a solid 10.
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