Hellboy II: The Golden Army

For having a budget of eighty-five million, del Toro delivers an incredible piece of theatre, but the plot itself gets somewhat lost. Gone is the flamboyance of the first film, when the in-love "red man" was spouting dry catchphrases, and in the dark alleys he would fight other monsters from time to time. It does go into some of the depth of the mythology, but del Toro would have had to take an extra half hour to really get the whole colossus rolling and not just jump from place to place to blow it all away in two hours. Fortunately, it's still done with that passionate creative love for the comics and it's enjoyable all the way through. I give it a weaker four stars. PS: I believe that under Jackson's patronage, The Hobbit will be a smash hit. (18/09/2008)

If you love him, then you have nothing to worry about, and this especially true in the case of the Big Red Guy. The second film is more balanced, visually more varied, more action-packed and funny as far as the characters are concerned. Hellboy's sarcasm and scenes from family life with Liz are great, and Abe was great, too. However, the script was once again problematic. It is shallower than it should be and nowhere is it written that the audience will not be irritated by the evident focus on the Hobbit. Yet, I was fascinated by the fantasy garb of the story, and Guillermo at least had plenty of room for his cute monsters and creatures from another dimension. It still seems to me, though, that Hellboy could be better - it just needs a more dignified plot. Anyway, a strong ****, out of love for rounded corners, I round up. (30/08/2008)

It may hold together less than part one, on the other hand Hellboy II is full of enthusiasm and enough fantasy for another ten movies. Guillermo gives the movie the heart and playfulness of a young child who loved old fairytales and fantasy stories. I used to be like that too and maybe that’s why I gave The Golden Army a full set of stars. In fact, I’m rather disappointed that del Toro signed up for Tolkien’s Hobbit because he’s need elsewhere. Because of him we are going to have to wait longer for the third Hellboy than I would like. I’m going to miss this red guy’s world and I won’t even mention the shelving of the adaptation of Lovecraft’s ‘At the Mountains of Madness’. (02/10/2008)

I have to give it five stars. I simply have to. Not that anyone's forcing me to, but “Hellboy" is my favorite comic, and here it all looks exactly like it does on the pages of the comic books (although it's also completely different at the same time). Mike Mignola couldn't have found a man with more imagination and sense of atmosphere than Guillermo del Toro. I hope we get a third film. (26/04/2009)

The magic about “Hellboy" for me was always in its short, punchy stories. In longer stories, his strength, atmosphere and links with myths and legends fades, like it or not. Then it has to be scotch-taped together with a quickly thought-up mythology that is as dull as it is shameful. Unfortunately, Del Toro took the this path the second time around too. You can see that he concentrated on every last detail of this, but in doing so he forgot about the main thing. Entertainment. Despite action and humor aplenty, it just doesn’t work, even with a ton of tongue in cheek humor. If it weren’t for the central trio and the Ireland trip at the end (you see legends work better in myth-rich parts of Europe than on neon-lit Manhattan), so despite its pleasant visual aspect and a few nice ideas here and there (singing over a beer), it falls apart like Sparta Football Club did at Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona. It’s good to watch, you certainly won’t get bored, but when the final credits came up I found it hard to remember what in fact happened. (16/08/2008)