Fantasy

Self-invited to a movie with friends and their folks yesterday.

You guess it! It is “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” by renowned fantasy director, Guillermo del Toro. In my opinion, it is not a awesome movie as the story is rather perfunctory. Nevertheless, there are likable moments in the movie such as the sassy little tumor.

According to the dictionary.com, fantasy is defined as:

1. imagination, esp. when extravagant and unrestrained.
2. the forming of mental images, esp. wondrous or strange fancies; imaginative conceptualizing.
3. a mental image, esp. when unreal or fantastic; vision: a nightmare fantasy.
4. Psychology. an imagined or conjured up sequence fulfilling a psychological Lneed; daydream.
5. a hallucination.
6. a supposition based on no solid foundation; visionary idea; illusion: dreams of Utopias and similar fantasies.
7. caprice; whim.
8. an ingenious or fanciful thought, design, or invention.
9. Also, fantasia. Literature. an imaginative or fanciful work, esp. one dealing with supernatural or unnatural events or characters: The stories of Poe are fantasies of horror.
10. Music. fantasia (def. 1).
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
11. to form mental images; imagine; fantasize.
12. Rare. to write or play fantasias.

Then it strikes me that the line between a dreamer (imagination) and a lunatic (hallucination) is rather thin. Guess the difference lies in the pleasure that the former could deliver to the audience/people.

Time for me to own up. I never thought this movie would have a sequel. To begin with, selling a superhero movie about a character who looks like Satan is never a sure thing. Still I have never been happier to be wrong.

Guillermo del Toro, director/writer, deserves to receive most of the credit for this movie. However, it is Ron Perlman, the guy under Hellboy’s red makeup, who makes the story endearing. Packing in more of the charming yet growling, cigar-chewing character in the movie has made Hellboy more engaging to his fans. In reality, he is a living, breathing person who just happens to be really red. Underneath his hideous appearance spells plenty of personal problems. In short, he is the kind of friend one would want to hang out with.

It is when one is hooked on the movie’s bizarre characters that Hellboy II is most fun. The defining moment in Hellboy II I must say is when Hellboy and Abe decide to get drunk, play mushy music, and share their love issues openly. It is wonderful because their emotions are so raw and real, yet their appearance is anything but.

That juxtaposition will just draw you in, and leave you longing for more time with Hellboy and his strange-looking buddies.

At the end of the movie, I have had an enjoyable time and hope it will be the same for you.

PS: On a daily basis, fascination with red continues. This time the’cycle chic’ matched her pink bike. The picture is available at my friend's blog.