Catharsis on the Fly

We’ve seen two movies so far this summer: Indiana Jones and Hellboy. This is as many movies as we normally see in a year, in the cinema, that is. And we’re planning to see two more–the new Batman and the new X-Files. I’m not certain, but our seeing four movies in one summer *may* be one of the signs of the Apocalypse. Stay alert for unexpected horsemen, or whatever.

I can’t help but contrast the two films; they both involve men of, erm, middle age performing feats of derring-do. In one of the special features for the first Hellboy movie, Ron Perlman comes out of his very intensive makeup session, built up with prosthetics from head to waist, and says cheerfully, “From old Jew to young superhero!” Perlman is fifty-eight and has the advantage of the Hellboy look, but he also has the energy, at his age, to portray a character who has superhuman strength and the emotional maturity of an eighteen-year-old. Harrison Ford… is older than that and it shows.

Still and all, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a fun and satisfying movie. It had lots of elements that pleased me: John Hurt and Jim Broadbent, Soviet Russians pursuing paranormal research, Area 51 references, and Cate Blanchett with a cheesy Russian accent and a saber. I have to admire a woman, however fictional, who can crush a giant killer ant between her thighs. And it had the obligatory John Williams score and lots of chase scenes and some coolio sword-fighting.

But it also has Harrison Ford looking weirdly scrawny, people being eaten alive by the aforementioned ants, and–I keep coming back to Harrison Ford’s scrawny neck. He’s beginning to remind me of the late DeForest Kelley in Star Trek V? VI? whatever, climbing a ladder in the turboshaft and muttering, “I’m too old fer this.”

Ron Perlman is anything but scrawny. He’s robust and having enormous fun as the stone-handed, cigar-smoking demon guy who can’t figure out what his girlfriend means when she says she “needs space”. *Everybody* is having enormous fun in Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and it shows. Doug Jones steps forth to shine as his character gets a romance and an absolutely hilarious comic scene involving schmoopy popular music. I’ve come to the conclusion that Guillermo Del Toro is Just. Fucking. Brilliant. He can scare me, enchant me, and make me laugh, all in one movie (oh noez! more people getting swarmed and chewed up to death!). There’s that same balance of wild fantasy and deadpan humor that I loved in the first movie, with a big dollop of authentic faery lore. The idea that the Fair Folk once dominated the earth but were driven away or underground by humans is a very old one; I think it underlies the relationship of demons and humans in the Buffyverse, and Del Toro uses it to good effect here. He strikes the true notes of fairy tales–the horrifying, the dream-like, the sublimely beautiful–better than any other filmmaker I know.

I do recommend seeing both movies; if you liked the previous films, you’ll like the new ones, I think. I hope we can get to see Batman and my favorite FBI agents before we head for the beach.

Here’s a Mental Floss article that presents five short films from Pixar animation, in chronological order. Wow.

… to the screenwriter of The Lost World: Jurassic Park II:

Dude, no way would my beta-readers let me send out something as full of plot holes as that script was. Back to the desk with you!

Sincerely,

K.S.Z.

Not even Jeff Goldblum could save this movie. Plus, palaeontologists are now saying that dinosaurs had feathers, not scales. You can imagine how much I like this idea. :-D ‘Ray for the ‘Rexes!