Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Hellboy II has one fatal flaw that will make it a box office bust and I must start out my review by stating what it is. Pure and simple, it is the fact that The Dark Knight opens on Friday, July 18th giving Hellboy only one week before the real dark hero walks away with more money than Bruce wayne ever thought he would see.
Hellboy II raises the bar many times over the previous movie. I remember going to see the first Hellboy with low expectations and enjoyed every minute of it. It incorporated a great mix of humor and action. When I went to see Hellboy II, I had a little bit higher expectations but I was worried Hollywood would try to sellout and not give the second movie the justice it deserves. Man was I wrong. Hellboy II is probably on the same level with Iron Man and will measured against TDK at the end of this week. Hellboy II keeps the humor and action but ups the ante as well as throwing in new characters, better effects, and a love story.
This movie is led by two great artists, Ron Perlman and Guillermo del Toro. Perlman gets even better as Hellboy as the character struggles to fit in with the human world once the secret is out that a devil boy does exist. He even tries to shrug off those that see his skills as inadequate while also imparting great relationship advice to a few of his friends. Guillermo’s eye for the dark and creative is simply amazing. The creatures he creates are spectacular look at while also allowing the characters to seem human.
The two best scenes of this movie are the Hellboy/Dr. Phil style moment with Abe and few brews as well as the fight between Red and his new boss. You might find yourself falling on the floor laughing and as well you should. However, please forgive the “new” direction for Jeffrey Tambor’s character. They do make him look more like a bumbling idiot than he was in the first film. Oh well, it works for him in some ways.
As a side note, it never hurts to see a movie with a friend who brings a cell phone jammer along for the ride. It doesn’t stop the chomping on food and talking but it does limit the most annoying part of seeing movies today, cell phone chatter.
[Rating: 4.5/5]
Posted under Heroes, Movies
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