Hellboy II: The Golden Army

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)

Hellboy II is the most fantastic and beautiful fantasy movie since The Return of the King. Guillermo del Toro loves these monsters and you can feel it from this movie’s every pore. The Forest Elemental made me fall on my knees. There is not one but two love motifs, a ton of cool humor and colorful visuals tastefully blended with the fantasy world without a single tacky shot. And the film is NOT overstuffed or chaotic as some accuse it of being. Del Toro is a true magician with a clear vision, who is able to execute it with perfectionism. (21/09/2008)

Guillermo Del Toro did exactly what was expected of him. The film looks like it cost three times as much as it actually did, and the parade of entertaining action scenes, monsters and original ideas is almost never-ending. Unfortunately, the film loses its pace when it works with emotions. Nevertheless, Hellboy and his crew saving the world from an invincible army is definitely worth a cinema visit, because it's still a damn good film. (11/08/2008)

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)

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)