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Hellboy II is a second outing for Red and friends, this time out to stop the Elf prince, Nuada, from taking control of a vast robot army (the Golden Army of the title) and wiping out Humanity.
What this equates to is a very Lord Of the Rings style prologue to the splitting of the crown that controls this army, but not before we have a sweet flashback scene of the young Hellboy getting ready for Christmas. However, this scene doesn’t really do anything other than introduce Ol’ red himself and feels awkwardly stuck on to the beginning of the film.
What follows then is a mix of bickering, fighting and goofy comedy, including a great singing scene that had me in stitches. Unfortunately, when put together they feel a bit disjointed and make the pace far slower than it should have been.
As can be expected from Del Toro, there are some fantastic characters. Firstly there is the new recruit Johann Kraus, who tries to provide some leadership to the group despite being made of ectoplasm. He is voiced by Seth McFarlane of Robot Chicken and Family Guy fame, who provides the most over the top German accent since The Great Escape, but also adds some much needed tension and character to the group. Next we have the elf prince, Nuada, played by Luke Goss (fast becoming a Sci-fi regular and leaving his Bros days behind) and his sister, who is trying to keep the last part of the crown away from him.
Regular team member Abe’s love for this princess is well written and acted, it doesn’t get in the way of the action and actually makes you care about Abe, which is important towards the end of the film. However, some of the scenes just feel out of place or plain goofy. The singing part works better than the dancing did in Spider-man 3, simply because of Abe, but Hellboy and Liz’s bickering does get in the way at times, while Liz’s 2 main scenes show what a good character she can really be when put to good use.
As a whole, the film suffers from being fractured, but ultimately redeems itself in the last quarter. The one issue that still remains is the lack of threat it provides to humankind (bearing in mind this is why the team are out to stop Nuada in the first place), but this is replaced by a more immediate danger that doesn’t feel quite as epic as it should.
Visually, then, this is a masterpiece, but the story just needed to be a little more punchy, with less flipping between scenes, for this to really work. It’s still a great film and on a par with the first Hellboy, but you do get the feeling it could have been better.
8/10
What this equates to is a very Lord Of the Rings style prologue to the splitting of the crown that controls this army, but not before we have a sweet flashback scene of the young Hellboy getting ready for Christmas. However, this scene doesn’t really do anything other than introduce Ol’ red himself and feels awkwardly stuck on to the beginning of the film.
What follows then is a mix of bickering, fighting and goofy comedy, including a great singing scene that had me in stitches. Unfortunately, when put together they feel a bit disjointed and make the pace far slower than it should have been.
As can be expected from Del Toro, there are some fantastic characters. Firstly there is the new recruit Johann Kraus, who tries to provide some leadership to the group despite being made of ectoplasm. He is voiced by Seth McFarlane of Robot Chicken and Family Guy fame, who provides the most over the top German accent since The Great Escape, but also adds some much needed tension and character to the group. Next we have the elf prince, Nuada, played by Luke Goss (fast becoming a Sci-fi regular and leaving his Bros days behind) and his sister, who is trying to keep the last part of the crown away from him.
Regular team member Abe’s love for this princess is well written and acted, it doesn’t get in the way of the action and actually makes you care about Abe, which is important towards the end of the film. However, some of the scenes just feel out of place or plain goofy. The singing part works better than the dancing did in Spider-man 3, simply because of Abe, but Hellboy and Liz’s bickering does get in the way at times, while Liz’s 2 main scenes show what a good character she can really be when put to good use.
As a whole, the film suffers from being fractured, but ultimately redeems itself in the last quarter. The one issue that still remains is the lack of threat it provides to humankind (bearing in mind this is why the team are out to stop Nuada in the first place), but this is replaced by a more immediate danger that doesn’t feel quite as epic as it should.
Visually, then, this is a masterpiece, but the story just needed to be a little more punchy, with less flipping between scenes, for this to really work. It’s still a great film and on a par with the first Hellboy, but you do get the feeling it could have been better.
8/10
I have to agree, i like the film but something was missing. A good solid film that i enjoyed and i think fans of the genre or Hellboy series will also like.
Not an essential go to the cinema for, i think watching it at home will suffice!
Nice review and good to see you enjoyed it aswell.
Not an essential go to the cinema for, i think watching it at home will suffice!
Nice review and good to see you enjoyed it aswell.
Hellboy II is a second outing for Red and friends, this time out to stop the Elf prince, Nuada, from taking control of a vast robot army (the Golden Army of the title) and wiping out Humanity.
What this equates to is a very Lord Of the Rings style prologue to the splitting of the crown that controls this army, but not before we have a sweet flashback scene of the young Hellboy getting ready for Christmas. However, this scene doesn’t really do anything other than introduce Ol’ red himself and feels awkwardly stuck on to the beginning of the film.
What follows then is a mix of bickering, fighting and goofy comedy, including a great singing scene that had me in stitches. Unfortunately, when put together they feel a bit disjointed and make the pace far slower than it should have been.
As can be expected from Del Toro, there are some fantastic characters. Firstly there is the new recruit Johann Kraus, who tries to provide some leadership to the group despite being made of ectoplasm. He is voiced by Seth McFarlane of Robot Chicken and Family Guy fame, who provides the most over the top German accent since The Great Escape, but also adds some much needed tension and character to the group. Next we have the elf prince, Nuada, played by Luke Goss (fast becoming a Sci-fi regular and leaving his Bros days behind) and his sister, who is trying to keep the last part of the crown away from him.
Regular team member Abe’s love for this princess is well written and acted, it doesn’t get in the way of the action and actually makes you care about Abe, which is important towards the end of the film. However, some of the scenes just feel out of place or plain goofy. The singing part works better than the dancing did in Spider-man 3, simply because of Abe, but Hellboy and Liz’s bickering does get in the way at times, while Liz’s 2 main scenes show what a good character she can really be when put to good use.
As a whole, the film suffers from being fractured, but ultimately redeems itself in the last quarter. The one issue that still remains is the lack of threat it provides to humankind (bearing in mind this is why the team are out to stop Nuada in the first place), but this is replaced by a more immediate danger that doesn’t feel quite as epic as it should.
Visually, then, this is a masterpiece, but the story just needed to be a little more punchy, with less flipping between scenes, for this to really work. It’s still a great film and on a par with the first Hellboy, but you do get the feeling it could have been better.
8/10
What this equates to is a very Lord Of the Rings style prologue to the splitting of the crown that controls this army, but not before we have a sweet flashback scene of the young Hellboy getting ready for Christmas. However, this scene doesn’t really do anything other than introduce Ol’ red himself and feels awkwardly stuck on to the beginning of the film.
What follows then is a mix of bickering, fighting and goofy comedy, including a great singing scene that had me in stitches. Unfortunately, when put together they feel a bit disjointed and make the pace far slower than it should have been.
As can be expected from Del Toro, there are some fantastic characters. Firstly there is the new recruit Johann Kraus, who tries to provide some leadership to the group despite being made of ectoplasm. He is voiced by Seth McFarlane of Robot Chicken and Family Guy fame, who provides the most over the top German accent since The Great Escape, but also adds some much needed tension and character to the group. Next we have the elf prince, Nuada, played by Luke Goss (fast becoming a Sci-fi regular and leaving his Bros days behind) and his sister, who is trying to keep the last part of the crown away from him.
Regular team member Abe’s love for this princess is well written and acted, it doesn’t get in the way of the action and actually makes you care about Abe, which is important towards the end of the film. However, some of the scenes just feel out of place or plain goofy. The singing part works better than the dancing did in Spider-man 3, simply because of Abe, but Hellboy and Liz’s bickering does get in the way at times, while Liz’s 2 main scenes show what a good character she can really be when put to good use.
As a whole, the film suffers from being fractured, but ultimately redeems itself in the last quarter. The one issue that still remains is the lack of threat it provides to humankind (bearing in mind this is why the team are out to stop Nuada in the first place), but this is replaced by a more immediate danger that doesn’t feel quite as epic as it should.
Visually, then, this is a masterpiece, but the story just needed to be a little more punchy, with less flipping between scenes, for this to really work. It’s still a great film and on a par with the first Hellboy, but you do get the feeling it could have been better.
8/10