Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and some language.
120 Minutes

Written and Directed By: Guillermo del Toro
Staring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, James Dodd, John Alexander, Seth MacFarlane, Luke Goss, and Anna Walton

Hellboy: You’re in love. Have a beer.
Abe Sapien: Oh, my body’s a temple.
Hellboy: Now it’s an amusement park.

Review

There was an obvious shift of perspectives from the first film to the second, and as Guillermo always does deliver, his unique quality and style was ever impressive in this new installment to the franchise.  While I absolutely adored his presence and the direction he took the “Hero”, I could see others being put off by the change as this film was largely fantasy driven, rather than mostly science fiction and action.  This was not a problem for me, as both genre’s often mesh anyway, but the darkness that Guillermo takes this to is far deeper than it’s original and more superficial flick.

The storyline immediately takes a darker, but also more in depth twist.  We are quickly privy to different dynamics in our main characters personal lives, but also where they’ve derived from.  With that building storyline we are also introduced to a new group of characters and an ancient mythology about a “Golden Army” and legends involving a bitter Elf Prince.  Any entirely different feel is evoked, and an impending sense of doom is continually lurking in the background, even though Guillermo keeps the characters essence very similar to how we were introduced, which was important to me, because that’s why we liked Hellboy in the first place.  In this sequel he’s just placed them in a far darker and far more serious universe, with some of the most amazing and daunting

That's a really big...............gun

looking alternate universe ever presented in film.

If anyone has seen Pans Labyrinth (if you haven’t-GO-rent it now) you recognize some of the visual characteristics, and can see how Guillermo got to take his ideals of that dark world and expand on them in this film, which suddenly becomes his vision and dream as he turned down some pretty high profile films to doHellboy II.  The final project shows a distinct love an affection.  Whether the audience loved this film visually or not, it’s clear it is exactly what Guillermo wanted.  The creation is jaw dropping.  The cinematography and the special effects will floor you.  The costumes are mystical, and for once I feel like I’ve truly been whisked away into a new found fantasy world.  It’s dark and enamoring.

The depth the plot delves into and the foreshadowing of a dark future is unequivocally another thing that drives the anticipation of this film.  There is an end here, but there is a large looming question of what happens in the next film.  If there won’t be a next film, the question of Hellboy’s destiny is still interesting enough to make watching this sequel repetitive times an option worth choosing.

What I really love about this movie is the fact that the characters still remain true to the design of it’s first film, but the entire structure and change in their universe doesn’t matter.  Usually this does not work for films, but the simplicity of what was depicted originally leaves this evolution a very natural change.  It really feels like if a third installment happens, ANYTHING is possible in it, and I like the idea that I don’t know what to expect.  Fresh and new is so difficult to come by now, that when it does and is executed so supremely I appreciate it on all levels.

I loved this Dark Prince as a villain! He was actually empathetic.

What can I say?  I was pleasantly surprised the first time, and even moreso the second time around.  This film just appealed to me in every way possible.  Great exciting fun, and dynamic characters that stay true to themselves, but also change when the change is required, with an intense focus on special effects, but with a drivenplot line that balances the melodrama of it’s characters out beautifully?  And all of this set into some mythical world that I know nothing about?  Of course I’m sold.  This movie was far beyond what I could have anticipated.  Guillermodel Toro is a genius.  I can’t wait to see what he does with The Hobbit.

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