PIC of the Week – Shazam! and Hellboy
Article series by Ray Schillaci
I was off a couple weeks with another writing assignment. Did I miss much? Not really. Disney and Tim Burton’s re-imagined live-action version of the 1941 animated classic, Dumbo, was especially disappointing because the trailer gave me such high hopes. The trailer ended up being the best part, accentuating a sense of awe and wonder with a hint of nostalgic sensitivity. What Burton delivered proved to be dreadful, boring and with two lead children sans any acting ability. The viewing made me only yearn to go back to the original animated tear-jerker.
An updated version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary was worthless. Not only did it not improve upon the mediocre original, it was also far from being frightful. And, both Johnny Depp (The Professor) and John Travolta (The Poison Rose) returned with trite and cliche ridden projects. So bad, they went to straight-to-home video, and no one cares to even check them out at Redbox.
Now, it wasn’t all bad. KL Studio Classics finally delivered the goods with a Blu of the classic horror anthology, Dead of Night. There have been so many iterations of this classic on VHS and DVD, but none have ever looked this good. This anthology is best known for being one of the first films to feature a ventriloquist and his murderous dummy. Creepy.
Disney also released a 4K/Blu of Mary Poppins Returns which had audiences divided. But, this new Mary Poppins won me over. Not only did it hit a sweet nostalgic spot, but I found the original songs, choreography, Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda extremely enjoyable. The 4K picture and Dolby ATMOS sound is a symphony of color and music to our ears.
I’ll still go to bat for 20th Century Fox’s 4K/3D Blu/Blu of Alita: Battle Angel. There is so much eye-candy throughout this film, and director Robert Rodriguez nearly brought Japanese Anime to live-action successfully. Rosa Salazar as Alita is pure wonder on screen. Yes, the action does get over-the-top at times. Then there are the sensitive scenes of a young woman or bot discovering her true self that will have some cheering. The 4K and James Cameron’s 3D version are reference quality. This is nearly the best 3D since Cameron’s Avatar and it loses little on the smaller 65” and up screens. The Dolby ATMOS track immerses you in Alita’s world, once again reference quality sound.
The two releases that surprised me the most may raise some eyebrows. Warner Brothers/DC 4K/Blu of Shazam! is a boatload of fun. On the DC scale, this one probably ranks second next to Wonder Woman. Now, if one glances at the DC Universe, you may think that is not saying much. But, Shazam! is every bit as much fun as Marvel’s Ant-Man. A sweet story with lots of surprises (providing you don’t keep up with the comic book universe) and plenty of laughs.
Visually, this 4K fans better than DC’s previous hero, Aquaman. That film had ten times the effects and spectacle yet it maintained a very drab look. Shazam! on the other hand really pops with the simplest effects scenes (i.e. the thunderbolt on his chest) and provides a down-to-earth quality for the non-hero sequences. The Dolby ATMOS goes into overdrive with the superhero heroics and scales back beautifully in the quieter scenes. Bonus wise, we get a little over an hour-and-a-half with a “making of,” a closer examination of the carnival scene, a brief history on the titular character, a 4 minute motion comic, deleted scenes, and a fun gag reel. This disc is an all around winner.
The Summit Inc/Lionsgate film of Neil Marshall’s (Dog Soldiers, The Descent) Hellboy was raked over the coals until it went lifeless. I’m here to cry foul upon its 4K/Blu release. The one thing many of us fanboys know is that Neil Marshall knows how to deliver things that go bump in the night. He also has an uncanny ability to bring a graphic novel to life on screen.
Now, I do realize Guillermo Del Toro gave us a Hellboy that was near poetic, sensitive, and dare I say sweet. Marshall was not interested in delivering Del Toro’s vision. He wanted to capture the creator’s vision, Mike Mignola with that he delivers an all out monster bash. The film is filled with monster’s galore in all their gory glory. If I had one issue with the film, it was Hellboy’s makeup. It just feels thrown together and does not capture the graphic novel character. But, with all the other monsters provided, it’s easy to look this over.
This is not a thinking man’s Hellboy like Del Toro’s. This is a violent hellish world provided with comic one-liners that amuse most of the time. It can be infantile, simple, and moody, but it does trigger the man/child glee of monster lovers. I think the mob was already gathering torches once they heard that Del Toro was not going to have anything to do with it, and the filmmakers were just going for a straight story.
The 4K presentation is dynamic to say the least. The only time it may lag is in some of the darker, shadowy scenes in which it does not improve upon what was scene theatrically. But, that is probably how the filmmakers intended it. Other than that, attention to detail is very impressive, color are sharp, and monsters are beautifully represented.
Did I just hear a bomb go off? The Dolby ATMOS sound will kick your ass off the couch as monsters battle it out in your living space. Every bloody thunk is realized. But, it’s not just a freakout free for all of horrors. Ambient sound is represented just as well.
Unfortunately, the bonus side is not as monstrous a treat with a 71 minute making of that is far from entertaining, a brief look into animated story boards, and deleted scenes. Even with the lackluster extras this is still worth a rental/purchase if you’re a fan of the original graphic novel or just love to see monster mayhem with no apologies.
Lowest Price – Shazam! – Best Buy – (4K/Blu) $29.99 (Blu) $24.99
Lowest Price – Hellboy – Amazon – (4K/Blu) $24.96 (Blu) $17.99
