A great comeback!

Rating: 8/10 (24 July 2008)

Is it just me or does it seem that many sequels these days are better than the original? X-Men 2, The Dark Knight, Chamber of Secrets, Prince Caspian, to name a few. "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" is one of them.
I liked the first Hellboy, but it didn't blow my shirt off as a great fantasy/superhero film. Hell-boy 2 however is a great comeback. The action sequences are bigger and better. The CGI is amazing. And the story is wittier.
I like all the good guys, and they're more alive and enjoyable to watch in this sequel. Ron Perlman as Hellboy is funny and a good hero, but he's also a character drawn between what to do with his girlfriend and sidekick Liz (Selma Blair) who has some secrets of her own. This adds a little bit of humor to the movie. Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) is not just a smart "fish man" who likes listening to classical music and has the unusual power to see and sense things in the past and future, but he's also a hero who has trouble putting business before pleasure from the damsel in distress Princess Nuala (Ann Walton).
The movie also introduces a power driven villain Prince Nuada, played wonderfully by Luke Goss and has annoying yet rather funny new sidekick Johann Krauss (voiced by Family Guy's Seth Macfarlane).
Unlike most action flicks, this film has a creative director and screenwriter (Guillermo Del Toro) that has the ability to bring an imaginary world to life. So, Hellboy 2 is a movie to see by fans and even for people who aren't. The only people who would not like this movie are those who either don't like fantasy or have no imagination. 8/10