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Guillermo del Toro wrote and directed this “copy-cat crime” of a movie. As imitation is alleged to be flattering, George Lucas, Bryan Singer and Peter Jackson may want to send del Toro a “Thank You” card for this heaping homage to their work. It is true that all directors learn from the past masters, but usually the “portions” are more measured. Still, the formula must be profitable, as they all seem to repeat as long as the cash registers ring.

Ron Perlman (Hellboy [adult version]) and Selma Blair (Liz Sherman) did well as a tempestuous duo, living, working and soon to be parenting together. Doug Jones’ “Abe Sapiens” took some time to tolerate. He just looks “Dr. Who-ish” almost in his costume. By this I mean that the level of special effect, make-up, costume, mask, et al, doesn’t seem to be well done. I originally took him to be something of a cross between a salamander and a tropical fish which had “quantum-leaped” into a bipedal hominid. He’s blue primarily but has sporty slivers of darker colors, such as kelp leaf. He seems a bit “artsy,” but his sensitivity isn’t limited to Alfred, Lord Tennyson. He has tactile sensitivity to “life events” and even “private feelings” such as love. Still, as a life form, only the “top brass” at the institute for paranormal research could tolerate his “dumb” appearance, one would suppose at first glance.

On the “other side of the film” were the royal twins, “Nuada” (Goss) and “Nuala”(Walton). Goss is very effective in two ways: his demonstration of martial skills and physical athleticism on the one hand and his strange, not-quite-human appearance on the other. This is important because he isn’t human and, in fact, wants to lead his people and their allies (trolls, elfs, fairies, giants, et al) into a “winner-take-all” fight with the humans. His sister, Nuala, opposes her brother’s warlike approach. She’s also a very sensitive creature in a physio-spiritual way, which makes her a parallel sort of creature to Abe Sapiens. In a movie, can two such beings fail to meet? Folks, when it happens, they are soon drawn together like pressed hands. Can interspecial romance succeed? Don’t ask Ann Landers, folks. Ask Hellboy and Liz. This is a movie that would never let an odd tentacle get in the way of love.

Incidentally, Hellboy is all red, has apparently clipped horns, and a right hand that is massive (it doesn’t look too natural in the special effects department, either). He also has a rather thick, long, and prehensile tail that doesn’t appear to taper much, if at all. Although I can’t recall seeing them, his feet may be cloven. He is sometimes referenced as “Red.” Abe is referred to by Hellboy as “Blue.” One wonders if Charles Manson may have advised del Toro on aspects of this film.

The special effects were not remarkable, considering the advances that have been employed previously and often better than in del Toro’s effort in Hellboy II. However, they were done well enough, and, in conjunction with an ample number of lifeform oddities, keep the audience amused. It is something of a credit to Ron Perlman that he gave Hellboy credibility, when his costuming seemed more than a little fake. I must say that his prehensile tail was a good effect in the scene with the baby.

Some cleverness was exhibited by del Toro here and there. I was especially appreciative of the troll’s “baby,” who informed Hellboy that he wasn’t actually a “baby.”

There is also an indebtedness by del Toro to the characterizations achieved on TV sitcoms in countless programs over the years, resulting in a certain sterotype example of what may accurately be described as “working class” males. These stereotypes also have parallels in “big screen” supporting roles which flash the urban worker on location or in a wartime milieu.

THE BIG CAPSULE:  The movie story opens with a quasi-documentary that establishes the arrival on Earth of “something else.” It is the toddler, “Hellboy.” There is a brief recounting of the U.S. authorities reaction to and treatment of this strange foundling. He is shown as a boy being reared by a kindly gent, who is a surrogate or adoptive father. He’s probably attached to the military-industrial complex, as Hellboy is quite the “ace in the hole” from their point of view, I’m thinking. This “father” reads to the enthralled lad a legendary story from an old tome. It involves heroic strifing. The story tells of a world continuously at war. This is due to “the hole in humans,” which can only be filled by greed, plunder, blood, and so forth. Fighting against the humans is the king of the “others,” Balor. There is much carnage. King Balor commissions a skilled craftsman to build him an invincible army. The craftsman builds him the Golden Army. Made from gold (and presumably iron), these “70 times 70″ horde of oversized transformers prove to be too fierce an adversary for the aggressive human leaders. They sue for peace, which King Balor agrees to. The Golden Army is put in mothballs and hidden away. King Balor’s son, young Prince Nuada, refuses to agree to peace with the humans. He storms off, vowing one day to return and wage war against the humans again. Nuala, the princess and twin of Nuada, stays with her father, favoring the road of peace. Predictably, over time and with the Golden Army “deep-sixed,” as it were, humans again proved troublesome, and trolls, elves, fairies, et al, had to go into “undercover” work or hiding. About this time the story told to the Hellboy lad transforms into the present time where the full grown Hellboy is emplyed with other “freaks” as agents for the institute for paranormal research. This gives director del Toro the opportunity to present his main “protagonists,” Hellboy, Liz and Abe. In fact Abe is first encountered as he floats in a great aquarium. There is a normal human “control” trying to keep the “gifted” agents in order. Soon, he is replaced by a new expert in the form of a “German”–basically gas in a deepsea-diving suit. What the implication of that is I dare not say. Hellboy doesn’t like “Germans,” so there is a period of adjustment. The “German” proves resourceful–and ultimately almost “Devil Take the Hindmost.” After a few agent adventures, the paranormal team find themselves in a Troll section of the city [it’s sort of hidden from human sight in the same way that the warlock & witches section was hidden from the “muggles” in the Harry Potter flicks. Meanwhile, Prince Nuada has returned with Mr. Wink (apelike brute), killed his father, Balor, after slaying Balor’s personal guard of raven-headed warriors, and seized the crown, proclaiming himself king. Princess Nuala splits, after seeing her father killed and realising that she could never support her brother’s “way of war.” As with X Men (2000), there is a “we against the humans” tension. At one point late in the film, Nuada tells Hellboy, “You belong with us.” Prince–now King–Nuada may rule with the help of main “man” Wink, but it’s a hollow sovereignty without the Golden Army. To keep this army dormant, the late King Balor had divided his crown into three parts and spread the wealth. Princess Nuala had one part. The power of the crown over the Golden Army required a whole crown. Prince Nuada needed the missing parts and didn’t plan on being denied. The search begins. Since Nuala has gone into hiding in the Trolls’ village section of the city, there goes Nuada and Wink. Incidentally, Wink has a metalic right fist that shoots out from his wrist, sort of like the way a frog’s tongue shoots out at prey. Crushing! Be that as it may, at this Troll metropolis Abe spots the royal insignia on the waistband of a caped lass and pursues. He’s chasing Nuala. She confronts him. He goes deferential before her challenge. Quietly, they begin to “feel each other up,” using their individual gifts for sensing such. Soon, Abe is rather taken with Nuala. He is impressed by her appreciation of Tennyson’s In Memoriam poem. She likes sensitive “men” too. From this point the film is pretty much a quest film. The secondary theme of the lovelife of Liz and Hellboy is given plenty of play along the way, and the moviegoer can watch with her the developing events regarding her pregnancy (which Abe “sensed”). Aspects of this film echo, as when, at the end, the viewer learns that “it’ll be twins,” as were Nuada and Nuala. Is this portentous in regard to the next episode: Hellboy III? The Clash Of The Twins? At any rate, King Nuada and Hellboy have two meaningful clashes. In the first Hellboy suffers a life-threatening wound, which requires Liz and Abe to take him to Ireland, where he is to beg the help of the Angel of Death !! He gets it, after a small shiny bribe to a legless Irish Leprechaun, who has shown them the way. Then, they all go to the Throne site for a last tussle. Meanwhile, having gotten the remaining pieces of the crown, Nuada has summoned the Golden Army. When Hellboy arrives, things are tougher than when he fought Wink in Trollville. Folks, the Golden Army is invincible. What to do? Can Liz burn up the Golden Army the way she burned up the horde of  ”Tooth Fairies?” No sir! So what can the “good guys” do? Well, there is that article of law which binds King Nuada, who must obey. As twins, Nuala feels the pain of Nuada. What one suffers, the other suffers. They know what each other thinks. [I wonder why they even disagree.] When Nuada fights Hellboy–mano a mano–at the Throne Room of the Turning Gears, things don’t look so good for Hellboy. He does wound Nuada, but its only a flesh wound. Still, Nuala feels his pain. Abe feels her pain. The moviegoer just feels pained. Well, some of them. Nuala, seeing that her brother is near to victory over Hellboy, and will unleash the “dogs of war” upon the world, if he wins, draws her knife and–and–… The moviegoer may want to check this film out to learn “the rest of the story.”

The “Journey” for me was a bit too pedestrian. Anita Briem was a pleasant surprise. Brendan Fraser is very good at adventure stories generally, but he doesn’t seem to have acquired a credible demonstration of sorrow, as is readily perceivable in the instance of his discovery of his brother’s gravesite at the center of the earth. He doesn’t seem to be especially “into” this character. His character, “Trevor,” doesn’t know what’s up nor where he’s going. Fraser doesn’t appear to know how to react to an environment of rocks and water. You sense him wondering: What’s my motivation, again?

Then there is Trevor’s ridiculous fistfight with plants that are either maneaters or floral hoodlums presumably out “wilding.” He admittedly must tussle, as vines are trying to strangle Miss Hannah, and he is duty-bound as the hero-figure in this adventure to save her, which he does. To this day I can’t say for sure whether it was a “gang” of predatory plants, or perhaps a single plant with “hydra-like” appearance. At any rate Trevor added a touch of manly humor to his victory by “knocking out” a “bushwhacker” with a sort of backfisted blow. The plant dutifully executed a cartoon-like swoon of the “lights out” type. My botany education is weak. I did not realise that plants had brains which might go comatose under certain circumstances. Or is it a peculiarity of this “world within the world” in which they dwell? I don’t know.

Thankfully, the pretty Ms. Briem (Hannah) was more than able to keep the “show on the road.” Seth Hutcherson ( “Sean”)seemed to wander about uncertainly, typically looking grim. Well, admittedly, the objective situation wasn’t too promising for a thirteen year old, who may have ambitions of a successful IT occupation one day. Besides Hannah and Trevor, he chiefly interacts with a magical bird–one of many–who apparently “takes a shine” to him.

Most absurd movie line? One contender would be: “Eat all your trilobite, Sean–you’ll need all your strength…”

This film is based on the premise that there are scientists operating at Universities and elsewhere, known as “Verneans,” who believe that Jules Verne, the French  sci-fi writer, wasn’t actually writing fiction, but rather he was providing clues how to get there. Hence, the concept is related to other heroic films which rely on clues, such as the National Treasure series and the Indiana Jones series. Imitation is one of nature’s most affirmed roads to success–or disaster. On the basis of “big bucks,” Hollywood imitations seem to equal the road to success.

There are decent visual experiences on occasion in this film. Falling misadventures and roller coasteresque rides on mining cars occasion a moment or two of diversion. Certainly, these are not novel situations for experienced moviegoers (or theme park goers). There just aren’t too many positive things to say about this harmless, B-grade experience. From a parent’s point of view, this is a very safe, tame flick that, however, contains elements that kids might fancy, such as the “light bird,” toothy fish, and dinosaurs. Hannah may be deemed a good role-model for the lasses.

In my view the best part of the film was the brief, enigmatic, and perilous situation in which some unknown man (at that time) was caught. This preamble was followed by a look at Trevor at home. He isn’t fastidious in his lifestyle. He notes a familiar woman drive up, recalls the date, attempts to make the abode presentable, and greets his sister and nephew at the door. Brendan Fraser is pretty good at this. The sister, “Elizabeth” (Wheeler), quickly takes in the situation and says: “You forgot!” The situation is that she is going to leave her son with her professor-brother, Trevor, for a week or so. The boy, “Sean” (Hutcherson) is about 13 years-old. He’s a boy of nerdy interests and is possessed of a sober, somewhat menacing expression. Fun! Folks, it’s another “odd couple” scenario. However, as time passes, they do warm up in their relationship, due to their mutual devotion to the memory of  “Max.” For Sean he is a dim memory, and he privately hungers to know more. Max had gone missing some ten years back. Trevor introduces Sean to the earth -monitoring equipment he uses at his lab at the University institute at which his seemingly futile search for the Vernean key continues. They luck into a situation that hasn’t existed since–since–since the very day on which Max went missing in action. Immediately, Trevor decides to go to Iceland where a probative volcanic “hotspot” may prove to be a “gateway” to the center of the Earth. Wow! Count me in, says Sean. Once in Iceland they seek a Vernean scientist to confer with. They proceed across surely the ugliest terrain that Iceland offers a tourist, thus depriving the moviegoer of at least a traveler’s thrill at beauty not seen before. They meet the dead man’s daughter, “Hannah” (Briem), and purchase a guided trip to the  seismic ”hotspot.” It is not too much longer before they are trapped under ground. What to do? Well, stupid! You keep going down! There must be a way out–perhaps the Beijing “worm.” At any Trevor & Hannah get a tad romantic during the adventure. Bonding–but not JamesBondian. Sean, too, warms up to being almost agreeable. Incidentally, besides reptiles, et al, the core starts heating up. There are perils. I just couldn’t “pop” a goose bump. Intrepid moviegoers may want to challenge the ennui and take this film into their brain archive.

This was a very amusing spy spoof. Director Peter Segal and his writers executed a film which is very much in the spirit of the original TV series. The cast “chemistry” was good. Since much of the film was filled with the usual movie material of today, chemistry and good quips were important elements. There were efforts to “invert” the usual expectations of moviegoers. Further, sometimes it isn’t clear whether the intention of a vignette is meant to be cleverly droll or whether the production just slipped into a stale rendering of “psychological insight.”

One of the most delightful and funny scenes in the film involves a sort of “Tango duel” between Maxwell Smart and his partner and Agent 99 and her partner. I thought this was a brilliant film inspiration and, it makes this film a candidate for “Classic film” stature.

Lastly, besides the good chemistry involving the complete cast, I thought Steve Carell was very impressive, because he was able to compare favorably with the original and very successful  TV version, rendered by Don Adams, which is no mean feat. The addition of a personal history as an “overeater” seemed to be a genuine boost to the appeal of this version of Maxwell Smart. Also, the attribution of superior intelligence to this version, mixed with comical qualities just improved this film beyond the old Mel Brooks quasi-clown version. I really liked this film. My primary reservation in regard to it is the West LA flavor which was introduced, I believe, unwisely. Yet, even here, a rationale was woven into the flick, however tenuous and contrived.

Anne Hathaway’s Agent 99 was admirable. She looks good and has an expressive face. Her timing, relative to Carell, was very good. There have been a number of women who have played roles as an “action woman,” but I can’t recall any better than Hathaway. As implied, she is also very good as a comic “straight man”/foil.

I continue to see Dwayne Johnson as an improving film presence with a definite “romantic comedy” knack. He does comic slapstick well. The fact that he has dropped the old moniker of “The Rock” suggests that he is shedding that “meat man” image. Taking up the slack in this regard is the awesome presence of Dalip Singh, as “Dalip,” who proves that a giant can have a “big heart.”

Story outline:  Wannabe secret agent, Maxwell Smart, works at a desk job, preparing intelligence reports for “The Chief” (Alan Arkin) at CONTROL. He’s good at it, but when he sees Agent 23 (Johnson) and other “stars” of the spying firmament, he gets “starstruck” and wants “to be like that.” The opportunity arises, and he happily joins that number. Intelligence suggests that KAOS is still active. Sabotage at the Washington, D.C., office of CONTROL suggests a KAOS “mole” is present. The threat of KAOS must be met. CONTROL vs KAOS is the scenario. The World Community is at stake. This time KAOS seems to be involved with missing nuclear devices and black market dealings. One “Ladislas Krstic” (David S. Lee), an East European figure of dubious and shadowy reputation, seems to be involved. Maxwell Smart, the newly minted Agent 86, and Agent 99 set forth to solve the mystery. Krstic will lead them to the lair of KAOS. Meanwhile, KAOS leader,”Siegfried” (Stamp) has just made an extortionate demand for hundreds of billions of dollars of the “World Community’s” number one State and its spokesperson, “The President” (Caan), who laughs it off. Therefore, to make his demand credible, Siegfried decides to set off a nuclear device at an American “event” to impress the World Community that KAOS means “big bucks business.” The event is a symphonic orchestra rendering Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Los Angeles. The President is scheduled to attend. Siegfried loves this symphony and tells his right hand man, “Shtarker” (Davitian) and his musclesman enforcer, “Dalip” (Dalip Singh), that The President should get a “bang” out of its ending. Omenous? You Bet! Only Agents 86 & 99 can thwart this evil scheme. Can they do it? And will Agent 23 help–or threaten–their efforts? Moviegoers may want to “check out” this amusing escape from the summer’s heat (assuming that the “ac” is working at the theatre of your choice). Furthermore, the issue of intra-office romance is raised. Can CONTROL control it? Or should it look the other way? This perplexing question may lure those not drawn to strifing and violence to give this flick the “once over.”

As an afterthought, it would have been an amusing addition to this film if the writers could have managed a brief scene in which the fiesty head of CONTROL (Arkin) got into a scrap with the snooty head of KAOS (Stamp). Why not? Just about everyone else got into some kind of tussle. Also, in passing, I thought that James Caan’s rendering of The President was very good and funny. For those who are alert, Bill Murray makes a cameo appearance as “Agent 13.” The difference between Agent 99 and Agent 86 is “13.” Is there a tie-in? Go figure!