Hellboy (2004) may not have been a box office sensation like other comic book adaptations, ranking as the 36th highest grossing action comic, but that didn't stop the producers from giving us a sequel, Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Of course, after the director Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth got rave reviews and won an Oscar for cinematography, there was no question that it would be made. One of the coolest aspects of this comic film is that it's one of the few that has several non-human looking heroes and villains, which makes it seem even more like the comic has come to life.
In this new installment, Ron Perlman returns as the big red lug and so does his crew. Selma Blair plays his love interest, as well as a timid-looking pyromaniac. Doug Jones, who played the Silver Surfer in Fantastic Four 2 this year, is Abe Sapien, a fish-like man with psychic abilities who's also known as The Chamberlain and The Angel of Death. And James Dodd and John Alexander will share the role of Johan Kraus/Goblin, a protoplasmic mystic--I don't know what that means either. The plot focuses on a running theme in fantasy films lately (like The Spiderwick Chronicles, Enchanted, The Chronicles of Narnia, etc.) that a magical world exists beyond our perceptions. In this film however the legend suggests that humans made a pact with this fantastical world to never enter each other's realm. Unfortunately, one dipshit, Prince Nuada (Luke Goss from Blade II), decided that he's going to conquer the human realm and use an unstoppable army of terrifying creatures to do it. Check out the killer action scenes below:
Release Date: July 11, 2008
While we're on the subject of long-awaited action films, let us address the concept of Jet Li and Jackie Chan facing off in a film. Ever since these two officially went down in history (alongside Bruce Lee) as the best Asian martial arts actors in Hollywood, people have been hoping to watch them in a fight-to-the-death. The film they eventually ended up in, The Forbidden Kingdom, isn't exactly what they were expecting. I would like to preface this with the fact that the trailer probably only looks cheesy because of the way that it was packaged. Clearly they are trying to lure a younger audience by focusing it on the youngest actor in the film, Michael Angarano (Sky High).
The plot is actually quite interesting. A kung-fu obsessed and athletically challenged, dorky, American kid stumbles upon an ancient weapon that transports him back in time to China. Naturally, he is out of his element, but even more so when warriors start to attack him because of the weapon that he possesses, which happens to belong to the legendary Monkey King (Jet Li), who has been imprisoned. Jackie Chan acts as his drunken guide and kung fu instructor, and newcomer Yifei Liu plays his love interest and a fierce fighter--together they will free the Monkey King. The problem with the film is that it looks like it should be a spoof, but it isn't. Maybe trailers to come will do it better justice, as for now it kind of reminds me of that horrible movie Bulletproof Monk that taints Chow Yun Fat's resume.
Release Date: April 18, 2008
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