Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Times Watched: 2
Watched With: Miss Q @ GV Yishun (14/07)
Miss Liana @ Cathay EHub (17/07)
Snacks: Cadbury Raisin Chocolates @ GV Yishun
Green Tea @ Cathay EHub

Oh... crap.

So Hellboy (Ron Perlman) is back with his girlfriend Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) and pal Abe Sapien (Doug Jones). Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense hotshot Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor) is still breathing down his neck and new team leader Johann Krauss (Seth MacFarlane), who happens to be a ghost in a suit, is not helping either.

And the threat this time?
Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) is an ancient elf who still believes that the world should be taken back from humans and he intends to wage war with the legendary and unstoppable 'Golden Army' that lies dormant in slumber.
But his father King Balor (Roy Dotrice) and twin sister Princess Nuala (Anna Walton) do not share his dream of world domination and will obviously try to prevent him from awakening The Golden Army that will surely spell doom for the world.

so everyone loved the first Hellboy movie and were obviously expecting an even better sequel since director and monster/creature enthusiast Guillermo del Toro took the helm. who better to deliver such a movie right?

Well Del Toro definitely delivers in terms of visual splendour and his vivid imagination and vision are well displayed in this movie.
The creatures like the royal guards and Mr Wink are solid.
and my personal favourite was The Angel of Death.
and the camera work and cinematography was superb especially during the fight scenes.

but the problem is that tha's about it.
in terms of character development done in the first film, it's different.
Hellboy is now a wuss (even his bulky frame was adjusted for this movie and was so disproportionate if you ask me) and the irritating yet relavant Agent Manning seems to do absolutely nothing useful at all.
And please don't get me started on the new addition of Johann Krauss.
i was however really impressed by Prince Nuala. excellent casting in Luke Goss (you might recognize him as Nomak in Blade II) and to be honest i was rooting more his character more than i was for Hellboy.

with this film taking a new direction in terms of character development and the highlights of the show being the visuals instead of the actual action i'm sad to say this seems more like another vanity project to display the talent of Del Toro instead of a sequel to the first film.
maybe if they combined the tone of the first movie and the imagery of the sequel then you might have a better movie.

Final Verdict: