Hellboy is an acclaimed comic and a successful independent property. I’ve read most of the Hellboy stories and I like them, but I am not crazy about them. It’s just not exactly my cup of tea. However I liked it enough that I was excited when the first movie was released. The first movie was pretty much like the comic, I liked it but I didn’t love it.
This second movie is actually better than the first one I thought. We’re still getting the same great characters, especially Hellboy and Abe. Ron Perlman is just the perfect fit for Hellboy, and the costume just looks right. His attitude is a bit more immature from what I remember of the comics, but he’s always fun to watch.
Abe also looks good, he certainly has a distinctive look and movement, even the tone of voice sounds good (even though it’s different than the first movie). Liz is a bit more normal looking and Selma Blair is ok in this role. She doesn’t excel, but she also doesn’t drag the quality down.
The story here is more focused than the first one. I loved the fable about the Golden Army, I thought it worked really well as a fable but also as a true story. Nuada and Nuala are great characters, each with their own personalities, even though they’re twins. The villain actually has redeeming qualities, he thinks he’s doing the right thing, and he also has a point when trying to convince Hellboy to side with him.
There are plenty of monsters here, especially in the market scene. I thought that scene was trying too hard to show us cool monsters and it didn’t really seem to serve the story much. Also some of the monsters look too similar to Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, and not like a Mignola design.
The action scenes are fun although I have a hard time believe a creature like Hellboy can be so agile. Also the big action at the end against the Golden Army felt pointless, considering the sheer amount of them. But it was cool to watch I guess.
We also get a good ending, tragic but effective one. Something Del Toro is very good at.
Overall it was a more satisfying experience than the first movie. It might even spur me to give the Hellboy comic another chance.
Rating: 3.5 Stars