based on a comic
[8/10]
I've caught up on my comic-book movies; now to catch up on my reviews!
Hellboy 2 continues in the same vein as Hellboy - it has the same quirky humor, the same personality, the same awesome effects and fantastic creatures. In this story, Hellboy (along with the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense - the BPRD) has to stop a mechanical Golden Army that is bent on death and destruction. I have to say that I enjoyed this as well as the first, though Guillermo del Toro (who also directed Blade II, and incidentally will be directing The Hobbit) took a bit of a departure and tried to break up the action with a bit of character development in the middle. I don't think it actually took away from the film, but I think it went on a bit too long and very nearly derailed it. (Though del Toro did a much better job trying to break up his fantasy with character development than Wimmer did with Ultraviolet.) This particular plot, though, isn't based directly on the comics, as the first one was. This is an original story, although it has seeds in the mythology that Hellboy creator Mike Mignola has planted in the comics.
Hellboy is obviously back (Ron Perlman - Blade II, Comic Book: The Movie, Prince Valiant; Killer Croc in The Batman; other voices in Kim Possible, Afro Samurai, Justice League, Teen Titans, The Tick, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman: The Animated Series, Phantom 2040, the 90's animated incarnations of Iron Man and Fantastic Four). As is Liz Sherman (Selma Blair). David Hyde Pierce is gone as the voice of Abe Sapien, but he's replaced by Doug Jones (Fantastic Four: The Silver Surfer, Men In Black II, Monkeybone, Mystery Men, Tank Girl, Batman Returns), who actually played the physical part of Abe in the first movie. Several other actors have had parts in other comic book films: John Hurt (Professor Broom) - V for Vendetta, Luke Goss (Prince Nuada) - Blade II, Jeffrey Tambor (Tom Manning) - Superhero Movie).
See it if you like fantasy, and you're a fan of the first Hellboy.
Don't see it if you haven't seen the first, which really sets the backstory and the tone.
