Vitally Visual!

Rating: 10/10 (20 August 2008)

Guillermo Del Toro plays the film world as a game of chess. He has his big guns, his noble pieces, he has a few pawns, but he knows what will be mainstream and what will come more from his heart.
It is often said that to own two fluent languages is to be possessed of two souls.
Del Toro exemplifies this. His Spanish-language work is breathtakingly stylistic, but with excellent political and world sentiment.
The visuals are metaphoric as well as stylistic. His mainstream work was viscerally pulled from the world of comic-books and European gore-horror as well as evident influences of the work of Brian Froud, Jim Henson's fantasy movies and the work of Lewis Carroll's chief illustrator. Moebius,. the inspiration for many of the uniquely stylised characters in the 'Star Wars' movies, was influential also.
'Hellboy 2' marries the comic book viscera, lovingly regurgitated references to creature-features such as 'Gremlins 1 & 2', Harryhausen movies, not to mention 'Labyrinth' and 'The Dark Crystal'.
In the casting of former Brit pop star Matt Goss as the elven prince Nuada, for example, there are echoes of legendary British rock star David Bowie essaying the role of Jareth, the goblin king, in Hensosn's 'Labyrinth'.
'Hellboy' himself is clearly a labour of love for Ron Perlman and Del Toro and is sympathetic - even in the stepping-stone plot.
Plot, however, is of little note when these kinds of sumptuous visuals are on display, proving Guillermo, possibly with inspiration from Mike Mignola, has a visual style as recognisable as Tim Burton's.