I saw the first film back when the DVD came out and I barely remember anything about it, but despite that I snuck into the film after I got out of The Dark Knight today. If there's one key problem to the film it's that it's hard to care about any of the characters outside of Hellboy and Liz. Outside of them it's all about the pretty colors, the different creatures and the action. The film is very good in those three departments although I thought some of the action scenes could've been more expansive (the Brooklyn scene is good) and some of the creatures felt like they were rejects from Pan's Labyrinth. That just goes to show you though what a vivid imagination Del Toro has. I also liked that the film never comes close to taking itself too seriously. How can it when you have two drunk characters singing Can't Smile Without You. And yet the film's biggest weakness is the villian. He wasn't interesting and didn't even seem to pose much of a threat, even when he did kill Hellboy.

I had fun though. It's great to look at, the action for the most part is fun and I once again liked Ron Pearlman as Hellboy.

***

Finally saw this tonight.

Beautiful film. And I loved how they focused on the whole group this time, instead of just Hellboy. As Liz is by far my favorite character

Loved the action and loved the comedy. Good plot.

Probably around a 9.4/10. A solid A. Just above the original

I loved this movie. Hellboy is my favorite superhero. It had great action, it was funny, and it was just so enjoyable to watch. Hellboy was awesome, but HBII was better.
I've only seen 28 Films this year, but so far this is #4



A

I love what Del Toro has done. He completely turns around the superhero genre and delivers a quirky, original and wildly imaginative spectacle. Yes, the Liz-Hellboy drama falls flat (despite their chemistry together) and some parts lack energy, but its a really good movie. The story is great, and the villain is treated with respect and never descends into a stereotype. You understand his motivation. The acting is great all-around, especially Perlman who completely owns the Hellboy role. The creatures are fantastic, especially the Angel of Death. The action is also great (except the troll market fight which was too confusing), I particularly enjoyed the forest elemental bit (superb visuals there as well). All in all it was a really entertaining, engrossing experience, and ranks as one of the best comic book adaptations.

A

Quite dissapointed in this, as I saw it, lazy movie. Instead of giving us something more, which I think Del Torro might be capable of, we're fed with some cliches that really decreased the enjoyment of the movie for me. For example, situation with "normal" people after elemental, or "give him a reason to live", or twins feeling the same...

Meh.

C-

7/10 -> B-

A bit dissapointing. A bit better than Hellboy.

HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY - 7/10 (B-)

Disappointing, unfortunately. It's good, but despite this being so much more visually stunning than the first, I actually prefer the first one. That surprises me as this looked even cooler. While still good and pretty enjoyable, I was expecting more from this sequel. Still want a third though.

I thought it was okay. Hellboy would work better as a TV series. Character wise, superb, but the films just don't feel meaty enough to satisfy the big screen.

I also liked it a bunch more than the first, though there's still room for improvement. It really dies once Hellboy gets stabbed and it gets all serious and mopey; the funny just gets sucked right out of the film. From then on, it just follows the generic climax of the first one. All is forgiven, though, with that brilliant freeze frame to end the thing. Totally worth it.

The visuals were awesome, and you can really tell that del Toro's gained a lot of cred from Pan's Labyrinth (which translated into cash). Much-deserved cred, at that. I can't wait to see his Hobbits.

And Krauss was indeed a brilliant addition. Props to Seth MacFarlane and his amazing voice work.

Finally saw it on DVD. Visual treat as usual, and fun characters. I quite enjoyed it... Looking forward to the Hobbit.

I wanted to like it but the plot holes and lazy screenwriting is just too much to bear. Like how much hinges on the Prince threatening to kill his sister if Abe doesn't find the crown. Everyone seems to forget there's no way he can harm her. Even if he could, Abe throwing the crown would be one of the dumbest decisions by any character this year, the "but he lied!" shocked tone after is hilariously bad. Not to mention he's a psychic and genius apparently. The addition that Liz is in no danger makes that moment an all-time car crash bad screenwriting moment.

How come she agrees on the death sentence for her brother without a qualm, yeah, that makes sense. Hell if the king willingly ordered both deaths, the soldiers would've gone after her first. Why does the Prince send a killing machine brute to chase her if he can't have her harmed? Or how is it the Prince knows the last crown piece is in a nearby book and obviously at the least somewhere in the HQ, so after wounding Hellboy, instead of staying by to make sure they don't fix him or get their shit together and simaltaneously finding the near piece, he scurries off to Ireland? Why not just threaten Abe and make her sister find it? Why not take Hellboy with you and give him back healthy after getting the crown? Didn't he go to villain school? How come Krauss is by far the most powerful member of the movie (unharmable gas, can take over anyone's body), but they never use him for anything until the end? Why doesn't anyone think of just stabbing the Princess in the leg when Hellboy is fighting the Prince one of the many times? Did this guy really survive for thousands of years when all you have to do to kill him is get his frail sister? Why doesn't Liz fire up earlier in the tooth fairy scene? All of this and more is just BAD, HORRENDOUS SCREENWRITING.

On top of that the villains are just bad and generic and the character arcs are predictable and crummy (I want to be normal! wah!). The Princess's decision at the end is painfully foreseeable and stupid, especially considering he was beat! Again, stab yourself in the leg, let them throw him in jail. Dumb bitch.

Acting is good though Selma Blair is just a crap actress.

The visuals are amazing and I like the tone of the film, though at times it felt Del Toro let those things get in the way of the momentum and plot, especially in the first half. It picks up in the second but runs into all those plot holes.

It's not a bad watch, I'd say see it for the visuals alone, but damn, dumb movie.

2/5

Stunning visuals, combined with compelling action sequences, intense moments of thrilling super-hero adventure, and sharp dialogue create for a fun albeit very flawed film. This was clearly not made to be technically excellent, it's not oscar bait after all, it's just a fun, high flying popcorn movie. It'll serve considerably better than Hancock or Wanted IMO
7.5/10

Your comments about the plotting (always Guillermo's achilles heel) are more or less on target. But when the filmmaking is this muscular and creative and funny, it's hard to care about such minor annoyances.

Yeah, both Hellboys have lazy plotting, but the characters and dialogue and visuals more than make up for it.

Pan's Labyrinth is really the only film where del Toro got everything right.

Selma Blair is amazing Shack... HOW DARE YOU!!!

The impish charm of the characters make up for the convenient plotting.

agreed.

Right on target with everything said. Also, for me, I find the character of Hellboy to be an unlikable idiot. He's just way too unrelentingly stupid and immature for me. While the visuals and whatnot were all good and everything, when the story is this subpar the movie just isn't enjoyable.

The first one was lame as well so I sure don't care about any part three in the future.

Also, the good guys turn their backs on bad guys on more than once occasion and not just for a second. They just stand there and chat while whatever bad person can do as they please. Another thing is that they should stop bringing those human agents with them places, as I remember from the first one also how the human people just get eaten/smooshed/killed/etc by whatever creatures are there so why keep sending people just to die? Why?

And I know it's been said, but the Prince can't kill the Princess without killing himself...so what the fuck? His threat is amazingly empty but they buy it still? There's just too much nonsense all over the place.

Cronos is great too. But yeah, Del Toro is eerily like Terry Gilliam in that sense: brilliant, but erratic.

Haven't seen Cronos, actually. But I don't think Gilliam's nearly as erratic as del Toro. He's been cursed lately, but everything from Brazil to Fear & Loathing is pretty much gold.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Not as good as Hellboy. It has some interesting visuals, some witty lines from Ron Perlman, but overall it's just the type of character that should stay on the comicbook page and not on the big screen. It all felt rather jokey and lighthearted, moreso than the first anyway. I liked it, but I think it was too goblin-ish and monster-ish than the first one which seemed more like supernatural enemies. Also, I liked the Nazi link with the first one, but that wasn't present in this one. The whole pregnancy, relationship troubles of Abe/princess and Red/fire woman was all very silly and unneeded.

I kind of like the Hellboy character, but I feel they could and should have made a better follow-up, and he is a bit slow/retarded. When ever there is a threat, he waits and waits and waits before throwing the first punch. It's as if he likes to get hit. He likes to talk when he should sense that a huge monster isn't a big talker. The villain here is also very weak, and it's almost like there is no villain at all with how talky some of the scenes are. The fighting is sometimes cool, sometimes boring, and I found myself (inbetween nodding off) to be more interested in the sarcastic comments of Hellboy than the incredibly lame plot. The shortcomings of the plot are an annoyance (the prince giving empty threats, the prince not finding the third piece of the crown in the books even though he just looked in only two books - why not stick around and look through more blue books! there weren't too many) too.

I just felt that I was in Pan's Labyrinth world more than Hellboy, and that felt odd. It also reminded me a lot of Star Wars; Krauss being C-3PO (even down the voice) and Red being the cocky, smart-ass Han Solo.

C+