In contrast to the other superhero movies I’ve reviewed this summer I don’t really know much about the Hellboy franchise. I didn’t think that 2004’s ‘Hellboy’ was much better than average but, due to my unconditional love of director Guillermo del Toro, I decided to give this film the benefit of the doubt.
Hellboy 2 follows a similar story to the first Hellboy movie. The fate of humanity is, once again, at stake, and only the harbinger of a future apocalypse can save it. It’s an irony that, personally, I really appreciate, since it’s something that’s increasingly hard to come by in most mainstream movies. While the main plotline is fairly straightforward, there are enough subplots following individual characters to give the film a decent amount of depth, and the extra character detail is something that, as a relative newcomer to the series, I was thankful for.
As well as a solid plot, Hellboy 2 has a spectacular amount of beautifully animated creatures on show. While not quite living up to the beauty of del Toro’s visionary Pan’s Labyrinth, there is still some excellent animation and design in the film. In general the film is presented brilliantly, and it really adds to the entertainment value when something looks as good as Hellboy 2 does.
The performances, in general, were solid, if unspectacular. Apart from Hellboy (Ron Pearlman) and the antagonist Nuada (Luke Goss), nobody really stood out as being far above average. I’m not saying that any of the cast were necessarily bad, they just failed to engage my interest for longer than the occasional brief spell. However, it’s probably unfair to blame the cast entirely, as the dialogue is filled with cheesy, clichéd one liners, and as a result feels incredibly forced.
Now I’m a huge fan of del Toro, he’s probably my all time favourite director. But I don’t think that directing action movies comes as naturally to him as directing movies such as Pan’s Labyrinth or The Orphanage. Don’t get me wrong, some of his recognisable traits - such as creating fantastic creatures - are still present in Hellboy 2. But he ends up overloading the film with silly clichés and bad one liners. I’d like to think that it’s intentional, that del Toro doesn’t intend for the movie to be taken seriously. But the end result is still the same; a movie that, while entertaining, still feels forced.
I still enjoyed Hellboy 2, but it’s not as good as I’d hoped. However, it’s a step up from the previous film, so I’ll be keeping tabs on any potential sequels. I have a feeling that Hellboy still has a lot to offer, and with del Toro behind it, hopefully the potential can be realised.
3/5
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