Del Toro's unbelievably imaginative visuals keep "Hellboy II" out of the rough

Rating: 6/10 (15 March 2009)

Guillermo del Toro has made his name as a director of action movies ("Blade II") and imaginative fantasies ("Pan's Labyrinth" and soon to be "The Hobbit"). Naturally, combining the two as he does in "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" is going to yield some successful results, and the renewed emphasis on the imaginative mythical creature element makes this sequel crush its predecessor.
While the original "Hellboy" showed us red devil creature Hellboy (Ron Perlman) fighting off a futuristic clan of Neo-Nazis, the sequel surrounds a mythical truce between magical creatures and humans on the verge of being broken. "The Golden Army" refers to secret force of mechanical soldiers that can shift the balance toward one side. This is much more stomach-able than the Nazi origin story (god knows Hollywood doesn't need another Nazi film) in the first movie and it allows for the infusion of some fantastical creatures with great make-up and CGI.
That's really the strongest point of this film. The action is slightly above par, but the visuals make "Hellboy II" standout with a unique presence among the superhero films of today. There's no doubt that del Toro has the best imagination of any director working right now. Much like "Pan's Labyrinth," this movie will capture your attention with its stunning and bizarre creatures. The whole film is like the Mos Eisley Cantina scene in "Star Wars" except George Lucas' colorful and gross monsters can't compete with the artistic elegance of del Toro's creations.
The plot of "Hellboy II" is predictable and its characters even more shallow than the first film. For these characters, it's really what's on the outside that counts: the make-up, costumes, etc. Each character is an archetype with no sophistication that spits out terrible and pointlessly inappropriate one-liners. For example, one new introduction to Hellboy's team at the Bureau of Paranormal Defense and Research is its new leader Johann Strauss, a German ghost who promptly tells a human to "suck his ectoplasmic shvanstuker." Also, our main hero has a deep affection for Cuban cigars and sucks down cans of Tecate beer (yes, Tecate) because his love life with Selma Blair's character Liz (she can light herself on fire) is not exactly swell--nor believable, but that's another matter.
So beyond the bad acting and plot clichés lies a visual fantasy/action tour de force in "Hellboy II," which is enough to recommend the film to anyone with an imagination anywhere half as vivid as Guillermo del Toro. It's amazing how stunning make-up and effects can be enough to turn the likes of Hellboy into an interesting and attention-grabbing film.