Saving the world is a hell of a job

Rating: 9/10 (19 November 2008)

In this continuation to the adventure of the demon superhero, an evil elf breaks an ancient pact between humans and creatures, as he declares war against humanity. He is on a mission to release The Golden Army, a deadly group of fighting machines that can destroy the human race. As Hell on Earth is ready to erupt, Hellboy and his crew set out to defeat the evil prince before The Golden Army can destroy humanity's existence.
When the first scenes rolled through the film, my jaw dropped. I was already disappointed by the film. The first scene shows Hellboy being a little boy and John Hurt as his father making a cameo role. It seemed kinda childish and not funny at all. The next scene doesn't do any good either. It shows Hurt telling a Christmas story which is all in Lego-like form. Definitely cheesy.
But it's obvious I was taken aback by the shift in tone from this film. This felt like "Shrek 2," which is the best example I can give here. The first movie took itself very seriously, yet the sequel, although still serious, is very laid back. It took some time to get used to this but I eventually gave in and I came out having the time of my life! This film is immensely entertaining from beginning to end, I can tell you right now. For being not as serious and more laid back, the movie is more entertaining and better by a notch or two. I was kinda upset how they took out Rupert Evans (Myers) out of this movie but I understand that the movie is trying to have this movie about the creatures and not the humans, which is good, I guess.
The originality and variety of the creatures in here are fantastic. Guillermo del Toro's wide use of imagination is simply brilliant and can be seen as hard proof by seeing this movie. There's also one or two brilliant action sequences that absolutely blew me away in awe because of its ingenious thought. Many of the actors reprise their roles with one new added cast member, played by *gasp* Seth MacFarlane! He did, simply stated, a fantastic job as the voice of his character. Everyone else also did a great job with their 3-dimensional characters.
As I end this review, I'm going to say this film surprised me. Yeah, maybe the new tone of relaxation is going to be getting used to and some probably won't buy it at all but in the end, many people will enjoy it. The film is entertaining throughout, has a great use of imagination, some fantastic action sequences, great characters, and everything else you would wanted in a summer blockbuster!