Hellboy 2

(Movie Review) 

Last summer I wrote on this blog that I went out and rented the first "Hellboy" movie, a movie I had previously had no interest in, because of all the rave reviews Hellboy 2 had been getting. 

(In particular I was influenced by Time Magazine's review which you can read here.) 

Now a year later this movie has finally hit my video store, so I get to check it out. 

And it lives up to the hype. 

Judged by the standards of normal summer super-hero blockbusters, it's a very strange offering. It mixes in elements of the fantasy genre such as fairies, elves, trolls, and goblins. It is a superhero movie, a "Lord of the Rings" movie, and Harry Potter all mixed together. 

The characters in this movie are wonderfully strange, such as the evil tooth fairies, the baby / tumor, and Johann Krauss, a character completely made up of ectoplasmic gas. 

I was slightly disappointed that the FBI agent John Myers, who was one of the main characters in the first film, didn't return (there was a throw-away reference to his being in Antarctica) but perhaps his absence freed up the film to bring bring in more strange new creatures to fill up the screen. 

In fact, some scenes in the film are so crammed full of magical creatures that I regret not having seen this film on the big screen. It was hard to make out everything on my small little screen. (If you watch the director's commentary, Guillermo (W) is constantly telling you to go back on the DVD and pay attention to this or that creature in the background or upper right hand corner, but I couldn't be bothered). 

The fight scenes in this movie are also pretty cool. What more could you ask for? Someday when I'm back in the US I'll have to get around to seeing "Pan's Labyrinth" (all the copies in Japan don't have English subtitles). And I'm also looking forward to seeing Guillermo's upcoming take on "The Hobbit".

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Hellboy 2: Movie Review (Scripted)