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Equal in quality to its predecessor, Hellboy II: The Golden Army is a decent film, thanks mostly to its good humor and well-crafted visuals. It is interesting to note how several of the images and even many of the creature types that we come across are reminiscent of what we saw in Pan's Labyrinth, which was Guillermo Del Toro's last cinematic project prior to this sequel. Through praiseworthy cinematography and an enjoyable plot that never takes itself too seriously, Del Toro and his team haven't created a great film, but they've definitely crafted an entertaining summer movie, and that's exactly the point of the Hellboy films.
Many will be outraged by what I'm about to say, since a lot of people would think it's an insult to compare Del Toro's work to that of the creators of the Fantastic Four movies, but I have to admit that I sort of enjoy the Hellboy series in the same way that I do the Fantastic Four series: both sets of films are pretty much just having fun with themselves and don't aspire to delve into the darker themes that other superhero films have covered. Before I start getting hateful comments, I'll concede that visuals in the Hellboy films are (obviously) much better, and the acting is also certainly better (especially now that Selma Blair has apparently finally learned how NOT to give wooden performances). But I think that, still, both series are characterized by an effective overall sense of fun, and I think it's commendable in both cases.
Hellboy II does have plot holes at the end, particularly in certain areas that aren't consistent with the story that we get at the beginning on the Golden Army. For the most part, though, they are things that sort of need to happen in order to have the conventional "happy" ending (hopefully you don't think that's much of a spoiler), even though certain things aren't completely resolved. In fact, one of the good things about the film is that it introduces something that is certainly going to lead to further sequels, and that even leads me to suspect that things could get even better from here. Much is revealed about the choices that our title character will have to deal with in the future, and this sets things up very nicely for future entries into this series. I also appreciated the lighthearted note that the film ended on, particularly the final exchange between the two characters that are on-screen before credits roll and the same song that we heard during a very funny drunken scene between Abe and Hellboy starts playing.
Though I certainly was looking forward to this sequel, what I absolutely cannot wait for is to see what Del Toro does with The Hobbit. I expected Hellboy II to be as enjoyable as the first film in the series was, just like I expect The Hobbit to be a worthy prequel to the supremely masterful Lord of the Rings trilogy. That task will be a little bit harder, because in my opinion, the three Lord of the Rings films FAR AND AWAY represent the finest cinematic achievement ever reached, and that nothing comes even close to rivalling them. But I also have no doubt that Del Toro can accomplish it. I didn't think Pan's Labyrinth was perfect, but it definitely is a near-masterpiece and it's got everything in it to prove that the man is more than up to the challenge, and the day can't come fast enough when we finally get to see what he does with it.
At this point, Iron Man (which I rated 7/10) remains the best superhero film I've seen this year (though I've yet to see The Incredible Hulk). So, now it's a matter of waiting four days to see what Christopher Nolan has in store for us, and for that matter, whether it's even fair to place The Dark Knight in the "superhero film" category, as the hype is warning us that it's more in the territory of crime dramas like The Untouchables and The Departed (in which case it goes without saying that it has a truckload of things to live up to). But as far as Hellboy II is concerned, it is a worthy accomplishment by a filmmaker who we know is capable of a lot more, but in this case, he's simply having fun with the images and specimens that his visionary mind has come up with, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that because, in this case, it still makes for a good film that has at least set a precedent for potential greatness in future entries.
6/10
