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Yeah, so Hellboy. The more I think about it, the more I think it’s a great adaptation of the comics. It’s by no means a great action movie — it’s a good one, but not great. But the comics aren’t great comics, either; they’re just (just?) very very entertaining pulp. Hellboy is exactly that.

Also, del Toro infuses the movie with some of the best Lovecraftian feel since Dagon. The monster design is great, the villain design is great, it’s all great. I loved the tentacles. The movie looks just about perfect. Likewise, Ron Perlman is ideal for his role.

Flaws: the pacing of the ending is really odd. There are a couple of places where the transitions make absolutely no sense (weren’t those demons in New York five minutes ago?). But really, that’s about it.

And Hellboy’s stone right hand is excellent. It moves right, it feels like it can swat a tank through a wall, and someone was smart enough to use Nick Cave’s “Red Right Hand” in the soundtrack. Ironic musical gracenotes make my day.

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Our mashup subject today comes to us care of Ginger, whose own gaming meme I have shamefully neglected. She put forth the divine M — not Bette Midler, but Madonna. You can use any incarnation, or you can use her ever-changing nature to concoct a rich gaming stew.

Don’t think too hard about that last metaphor.

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