I'm just gonna cut and past all the crap I've posted at PencilJack.com about the film.

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Was great. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Devilman, Exiter, their friends Sylvia and Justin, Xadrian and I (and one of my buddies from work) met up outside the theater, waited in line for a few hours. Were entertained by a bat (Austin claims to be famous for bats) inside the theater (The Paramount. look it up). Were treated to the most Del Toro dick-sucking intro by the guy who arranged the show. Watched a great movie. Listened to a very short Q&A.

Del Toro, Mignola and Perlman stuck around for autographs and further questions, which was cool.

Also, I got some good sketches from my posse. Will scan and post as soon as my host problems are clear.

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It was Sunday because they wanted me to be dead ****ing tired and be on a whole 30 minutes of sleep today.

Possibly worth mentioning that Kevin Smith premiered Jersey Girl a few hours before Hellboy but didn't seem to stick around to see Hellboy.

Something worth noting is that somehow or another, Devilman's friend and living canvas, Justin, managed to bum-rush Del Toro and show him the Hellboy tattoo DM's doing on his arm. Del Toro apparently really wanted to meet the artist, so after we'd all gotten split up and seated (me an X up top, DM, Exiter, their 2 friends just below and my buddies farther down), someone came by and collected Devilman, Exiter, Justin and his girl. They wound up sitting down at floor level (we were all in balcony, originally) close to Del Toro, Mignola and Perlman.

After the show, all the rest of us wound up down there watching people get a few autographs and so forth. Del Toro ran off with a sketch that Devilman did earlier that night of Hellboy shilling for Rogaine.

Some things actually about the movie that I happened to write down:

1) In the trophy hall, in a far back left corner of the screen in one shot, it looks like Roger is propped up on display.

2) Stick around after the credits because there's a nice little entertaining bit.

3) Abe Sapien is one of the most successful creature effects/guy in suit with CG ever. EVER.

4) There's a kind of bit of crap with Kroenen. SPOILER he's got this clockwork mechanism keeping him going as a deadman, which he turns off and gives a death rattle in one scene, only to have Broom take it out in autopsy-- and then he gets up without it running him. what the crap?

Oh, and Cla$$war #4 is supposed to be out next month for sure.

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Something that I think everyone will appreciate but will probably forget about right after seeing it are some visual and circumstantial (is that the right word?) gags like Sammael's eyes bugging out right before a big hit or someone saying "it doesn't exist" and then cut to the place that actually DOES exist and even has location text at the bottom of the screen.

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Oh- The corpse is awesome. One of the coolest, funniest things in the movie. Besides Hellboy and the kid and the situation surrounding them.

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If you no want possible spoilers, you no read!
Rasputin's beard looks fine in motion.

The only thing I was truly disappointed in was Ilsa Haupstein. You'd think that with all the actresses in the world who aren't big names, they'd at least be able to get someone who could pull off such a sinister character and give her a bit of dignity instead of cheese.

No Zinco. No real branding on anything. I thought I saw some product placement, but it was very minimal (except for Baby Ruth).

No jetpacks, either.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS THAT YOU COULD ALREADY INFER FROM THE TRAILERS, SO I DON'T THINK THEY'RE SPOILTASTIC
For the most part, it's Seed of Destruction with changes:

- Cavendish family, Antarctic expedition, frog monsters.
+ City sewers and tunnels, Rasputin's followers expedition, Sammael.
- Torch of Liberty, him having given HB the gun.
+ HB has the gun, but makes his own "special" bullets.
- Sadu-hem statue, Abe recue, or Liz= power source.
+ Rasputin and Sadu-hem-like thing are there, but different order of events, situations.
- Aliens.
- Cool-girl Liz.
+ Doped up Liz.

Basically, it's stripped of anything which would be extraneous to the plot, but what is added in is all pretty good, keeps the story moving and will hold your interest.

Someone in the theater, during the Q&A, mentioned something about the love thing between Hellboy and Liz in the comics, but as far as I could tell (after reading BPRD: Hollow Earth), there is nothing but platonic love there in the comics. As opposed to the film, which sets that up front and center.

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No, Sammael wasn't in the comic. The concept is the same: big bad monster with a tongue that causes problems for Hellboy and is brought about by Rasputin. Thing is, it's totally different. In the comic, the frogs are only like three or four of them and come from the Sadu-hem. In the movie, Sammael is this creature whose essence was imprisoned by a Saint years and years ago and is freed by Rasputin for some reason or other. They didn't really say.

Plus, the tongue function is different. In the comics, it was just used to paralyze the opposition and maybe even kill them. In the movie, it's an egg delivery system.

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Crown of the Apocalypse.

And that's that.

END.