That was an excellent one.

Great Film overall

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

I agree with the bad reviews here. This movie was a huge dissapointment that leaves you with the worst earworm ever. If you love Hellboy, skip this.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. 2004's Hellboy was mostly a dull, plodding movie. Every once and a while there were flashes of potential from the creative team: a crackling one-liner, an iconic image, a piece of hard-hitting action, a great character moment. But on the whole, the whole thing felt watered-down, forced, and a waste of talent. Rumor has it that studio suits interfered, as they're wont to do, with the creative vision of the director. But that director was Guillermo Del Toro, whose next film, the visionary Pan's Labrynth, won three Academy Awards, received a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, and got a whopping 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This time, the studio suits politely stood out of his way.Hellboy 2: The Golden Army is at once an altogether superior sequel as well as a highly entertaining standalone adventure movie. The characters are terrific, the action sequences genuinely thrilling, the comedy hits the mark (it rarely did in the first film), and the visual design is at times among the most original and unique of anything I've ever seen. Go see this movie to enjoy the craft of a great director on the rise. You don't have to have seen the first film to enjoy this one.For me, this is on par with Iron Man as the summer's best action entertainment so far (The Dark Knight, of course, soon cometh). While no character in this shines as brightly as Robert Downey Jr's ultra-cool Tony Stark, the ensemble here is better, the action is just as good, and the creativity and visual imagery are terrific. When I saw the first Hellboy I didn't care if the series continued; having seen it's brawny, spunky, and imaginative sequel, I cannot wait for another installment. **** (out of five) Rated PG-13 for creepy images, action violence.

Let me start of by saying that Del Toro had one message to the fans, and it was "I will not disappoint"I have long felt that the first Hellboy installment is one of the most underrated films of the 2000's. The first thing you notice about both the first film and this more than worthy successor is the passion. Everything is simply beautiful (not in the typical beautiful sense, but in that you appreciate the art that it is), and it should come as no surprise as the film's director, Guillermo Del Toro, is a long time fan of the comic stories on which the movie is based. Del Toro turned down multiple high profile projects, including multiple Harry Potter films, so he could work on the Hellboy series, which we all know will not gross as much money. Del Toro's passion for excellence is evident in this wonderful sequel, which is better than the first, and cements Del Toro's place as one of the top filmmakers of today.The first thing I liked about the movie: the easy transition from the first to the second movie. Though I don't remember exact plot details, it was very easy for me to get back into the story, world, and especially our three main characters. I'd reckon that you could watch this movie without having seen the first and still have a great time (though, it helps). A great cast with great chemistry more than sets the tone and makes this one very watchable.First, you've got Ron Perlman. For those of you who don't know this terribly underrated actor, he's one you can't afford to miss as Hellboy. Even though he's covered in make-up and prosthetic's, Perlman does a great job of making us love him as a hero, and a man. This is something most of the superhero performers do not (or perhaps cannot) do. The just-as-passionate-as-Del-Toro Doug Jones leaves a HUGE mark on the viewer here, not just for his performance as Abe Sapien, but for his remarkable range as a couple of other characters in the movie. Luke Goss is the film's villain, and I really saw the dedication in his performance as well, something required for his character, who is of course a dedicated man. He's not necessarily the typical 'evil' character, but a somewhat misguided one, and I think Goss got that across to me very well. A fact often ignored by critics in the comic book/superhero realm of films is the supporting heroine. Most times, without the audience knowing it, this character makes or breaks the movie. Selma Blair, boy does she make it. Not only does she look absolutely stunning as Liz Sherman, she takes the final act into her hands and does wonders with it. Definitely the best performance I've ever seen from Ms. Blair. Add in a hilarious and great performance from Seth MacFarlane (yes, the voice of multiple Family Guy characters, I know I looked it up too!! Have to give it to him) as Johann Kraus's voice, and Anna Walton as Princess Nuala, and you've got the best ensemble of the year thus far.As for the action, it's stunning. Hellboy has a LOT more to work with than the traditional superhero film, and Del Toro more than takes advantage of it. With action ranging from lighting fast and well shot sword fighting and hand to hand combat to Hellboy versus a giant plant (the Last forest Elder) and what a fight it was, it's a sight to behold as we watch a legendary director in the making perfect his craft once again. There were multiple times where I found myself saying "holy crap", or "wow". Del Toro also keeps some humor in there to balance the much darker tone of the film. The film has also an incredible awesome version of the song lovesick. but that's for you to find out.

Hellboy 2 is an exercise in sheer visual imagination at the expense of depth, emotion and pacing. I mean, in what other film would the main character, a crimson devil who files down his horns to look more human, blow up the head of a nature god with a massive revolver and watch as the nature god's green blood turns everything into a natural paradise? I would hazard to say very few. That's really where the film succeeds. Each monster and set piece in this film is crafted with meticulous innovation and creativity, Del Toro putting a generous dose of creator's love into his work. However, his narrative, while also imaginative, relies too much on clichés and his characters are listless and tiresome. If Del Toro put the same love and innovation he put into crafting the visuals into shaping his characters and his narrative, Hellboy 2 would have been a fine film indeed. But as it stands, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army is limp and forgettable, buoyed by little more than few surprising twists and a stunning visual arsenal.Hellboy (Ron Perlman) is a reluctant government agent who arrived from another world. He loves cats, television, and his wife, Liz (Selma Blair), but is discontent with his sheltered and secretive existence in the basement of some government facility in the middle of nowhere. He wants, as the saying goes, "to fit in". But of course, considering the fact that he happens to be a crimson devil, complete with horns and tail, that isn't going to happen. I did like Perlman's performance. Hellboy is a beer-drinking, gun-toting badass with a surprising outlook on life. He's an irresistible character, if a tad shallow and impulsive. But the other characters are significantly less so. Both love interests in the film are extremely boring, Del Toro seeing it fit to give them the most clichéd and hackneyed lines in the book. The villain is ridiculous, and the other characters simply aren't there enough.The narrative is innovative, but lacks depth and even entertainment value, relying on strange action scenes (most of which lack fluidity) while barely ever giving us a break. I suppose that that could be taken as a pro, but I'm going to put it down as a con, simply because the running time is too short to have all that action without sufficient emotion or character development. I mean, if they could squeeze the character development and emotion into the action, I would have been happy.Hellboy 2 is basically this: Years ago, humans massacred elves, and now, one of them is deciding to bite back by reawakening the "Golden Army", which is literally a massive army of golden cyborgs hidden underground.Sadly, much of the film is forgettable, excluding some neat set pieces and a few solid action moments. But even the action scenes lack fluidity and movement, opting instead for a slow, blow-for-blow which lasts usually about five to ten minutes, making them rather plodding and unspectacular. Some of them are simply senseless, and some of them focus on Hellboy way too much.What I wanted from this film was del Toro to put the same love he did into making his characters into shaping his characters. There is tension, yes, but the tension is often laughably clichéd. The characters develop in tiresome, by-the-book ways. It becomes difficult to care for anybody excluding Hellboy.Creativity alone is enough to designate this film as a good film, as creativity is so often lacking in modern blockbusters. However, this film falls short past the realm of visual creativity, creating a story that is poorly paced and executed, characters that are for the most part tiresome, and action scenes that lack motion. All in all, Hellboy is a fine visual piece, but rather a dull film.