Hellboy II - The Golden Army

I wasn't terribly enamoured with Hellboy, I have to confess, and I'm not entirely sure why. I like Guillermo Del Toro as a director, I like fantasy comics, I don't mind religious iconography...there was just something about the movie that left me feeling "meh". After Pan's Labrynth and seeing the trailer for Hellboy II, I got the feeling that perhaps Del Toro was taking the series far, far away from the source material. If The Dark Knight is more Nolan than Batman, I was getting the vibe that Hellboy II would be more Del Toro than Hellboy.

I needn't have worried that much. There is a lot more creature feature in the movie, and it does stray further from the comics than the first movie did, but it doesn't completely head off on the wrong tangent, and there is justification for why there are so many beings turning up in the movie.

On the acting front, Ron Perlman is up to his usual standards as Hellboy, a part he was pretty much born to play. I can never quite work out in my mind whether Selma Blair is hot or not, but I have to admit she actually looks very good in this movie, which is great because she spends most of the movie bitching. All the rest of cast are well and truly on form, and Seth MacFarlane puts in an appearance, clearly based on the fact that his Klaus accent is so hilarious.

One thing that slightly irks me about the movie, and mainly because it seems to be set up to go the other way, is the complete lack of emotion the team have for whenever one of their "suits" is murdered while on assignment with them. I love the fact that these agents actually have names, and the team knows them, but it's surprising that when they are murdered the team don't seem all that bothered by it. Hellboy I can forgive, but Abe Sapien and Liz should know better.

Luke Goss seems to have shrugged off the Bros stereotype and adopted the "villain under heavy prosthetic" stereotype as he plays a part not a million miles removed from the part he played in Blade II. The good thing, of course, is that he plays it well, so it's quite a memorable role. His sister, as portrayed by Anna Walton is very sweet, and her relationship with Abe is a really nice part of the film. Indeed the best moment in the movie is when Hellboy and Abe, drunk, sing a corny love song about their relationships. It's the kind of thing you expect drunk guys to do, but the counterpoint of one being a horned demon and the other a amphibious homonid makes it that much funnier. Her normal relationship with Abe is also a counterpoint to the rather bizarre one she has with her brother that, thankfully, is only hinted at being more than just blood relatives.

I actually came away from this movie being more impressed with it than I was with the first one, so that's a good thing Del Toro has done for me, at the very least.

"B"