With $13,777,000 in ticket sales, Hellboy II: The Golden
Army has managed to earn the first spot in Friday box office, pushing the last
weekend number one, “Hancock”, on the second place.
However, “Hancock” earned $10,250,000 and it remains to be
seen which movie will emerge as this weekend champion.
Directed by Guillermo del Toro, “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
marks the return of the bloody-red devil
supporting humankind. Who said all devils were evil hasn’t met del Toro.
Hellboy (still played by Ron Perlman – still the tenebrous voice, still the
perfect match for the dark hero) is still the love interest of Liz (Selma
Blair), a girl who looks perfectly normal (actually, she’s more beautiful than
normal), but has the special ability to engulf fire. Hellboy is bound to become
Helldaddy, only that he doesn’t know it until later, but demonstrates since the
beginning of the gig how caring a father he might be.
But what triggers the adventures this time? Hellboy, Liz and
the Piscean Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) are still devoted to their work for the
Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense when a great peril threatens
humankind. The ancient truce made between the humans and the ancient people was
crossed and Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) wants to wake up the Golden Army. The
latter was retired as a result of the before-mentioned truce, as its golden
soldiers proved to be ruthless killing machines.
Prince Nuada’s twin sister, Princess Nuala (Anna Walton)
sides with the humans and hides the key part of the crown that has the power to
wake up the cruelty of the Golden Army. The team that fights for the good of
the world also includes the Teutonic gas-organism Johann Kraus (voice of Seth
MacFarlane) and Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor), who is, unfortunately, not of
great help. As promised, the movie includes all kinds of creatures and
monsters, battles with giant monsters on the streets of Manhattan, a suite of jaw-dropping action
scenes and also, two love stories.
Another movie that opened this weekend, “Journey To The
Center Of The Earth 3D” ranked third in Friday box office, with $6,750,000.
Starring Brendan Fraser and Anita Briem,
“Journey to the Center of the Earth” is based on Jules Verne’s book and
is filled with numerous visual effects which would require some 3-D glasses in
order to see the best of the movie. Brendan Fraser plays the role of Trevor
Anderson, a scientist whose brother went missing 10 years ago and who teaches
small classes.
He is very passionate about Jules Verne’s writings and
believes that “Journey to the Center of the Earth” is not entirely a work of
fiction and it has some elements that are true. He is also researching volcanic
tubes, work left behind by his brother Max Trevor. With Max’s disappearance,
Trevor has to take care of his teenage nephew Sean Anderson, played by Josh
Hutcherson.
The scientist and the boy set off to Iceland when
Trevor sees that some lab apparatus registered unusual seismic activity around
the world. In order to get to a sensor that is on top of a mountain, Trevor
gets help from a guide Hannah Ásgeirsson, played by actress Anita Briem.
Unfortunately, when they arrive at their destination, a storm causes an
avalanche and the three hikers remain trapped in a cave.
Although they try to get back to the surface, they always
end up closer to the center of the Earth. The viewers’ eyes are pampered by
some pretty impressing effects and décors. The characters end up running from a
living dinosaur, fighting some aggressive and scary fish. Brendan Fraser is
goofy but still courageous, Anita Briem is smart and funny and they make a
wonderful team.
“WALL-E”, Pixar’s movie about a lonely robot which falls in
love, ranked fourth on Friday, earning $5,600,000. Released two weeks ago “WALL-E”
has earned already $149,862,000.
The fifth place went to “Wanted” with Angelina Jolie and
James McAvoy, which earned $3,615,000.
Eddie Murphy’s “Meet Dave” had a disappointing Friday debut,
ranking seventh with only $1,700,000 in ticket sales, behind “Get Smart”
“Meet Dave”, Eddie Murphy's latest movie, which is a B
comedy about an alien ship disguised as... Eddie Murphy, with a captain who is
a tiny Eddie Murphy, bombs all the way. Meet Dave is disappointing especially
because Eddie Murphy is one of the actors who could indeed put out something
valuable, but apparently he doesn't care and is in it totally for the money.
The Top 10 was rounded by “Kung Fu Panda”, “Kit Kittredge:
An American Girl” and “The Incredible Hulk”.
