Unfortunately points are lost for being an art showing for Guillermo del Toro...which loses some of the Hellboy greatness

Rating: 8/10 (30 July 2008)

After seeing the first Hellboy again and being generally blown away by the powerful story, strong characters, really emotionally charged super heroes and with a beautiful array of characters and general science fiction greatness I certainly set my expectations high for this sequel. In some ways it was terrific, especially to see the old gang back and getting into their relationships. I definitely had wished character Abe Sapien had played a bigger role in the first one and they brought him to the forefront for the sequel which was awesome...even gave him the romance story line. The reviews started flooding in and they all said the same thing...beautiful, stunning creatures, the brilliance of del Toro...and all that is true but is that why I wanted to see Hellboy on the big screen again? If they managed a balance of stunning artistry and cinematography with the characters and story like they did the first time around then it would have been perfect but it seems like the film makers (del Toro in particular) wanted to use Hellboy 2 to show off his artistry and pretty, pretty designs and the movie suffered a little because of it. I'm not saying it wasn't good...the film was good enough and very entertaining and some genuinely great moments (Abe and Hellboy's drunken love song, the battle with the beast in the streets while Hellboy balances a baby.) Also the relationship that has grown with Hellboy and Liz. Still it didn't quite have the same magic of the original.
Ron Perlman flies back into his incredible role as the one and only Hellboy. He is quite simply amazing and perfect in the role. I didn't feel like he had quite the same biting wit but the character is still amazing and Perlman nails it!! Selma Blair returns as Hellboy's now girlfriend Liz Sherman. I loved her character in the first film, they gave her so much depth and a terrific story and somehow this time around she lacked the same depth and came across as a little cold overall. Still her and Perlman have great chemistry. Doug Jones returns as well as one of my favorite sidekicks Abe Sapien. He gets a much bigger role as I mentioned and that's terrific!! However I felt the missing component was David Hyde Pierce as Abe Sapien's voice. While Doug Jones was good (he is very talented) I still felt like something was missing, like he wasn't quite the same. Pierce has a very distinct talent at voices. Luke Goss is decent as the main bad guy Prince Nuada although from the trailers I kind of expected more from him somehow. Anna Walton is also decent as Princess Nuada and the object of Abe's affection.
Even with all the new demons and monsters and bad guys and a decently solid story the bad guys weren't nearly as good or effective as they were from the first installment. Who could forget Hitler's Assassin with his killer blades, Rasputin and Sammeal. Prince Nuada seems almost useless compared to them. Still the adventure is well in tact and as I stated there are some very cool scenes and plenty of adventure. The Angel of Death was an incredible site to see and Brian Steele who played Sammeal in the original film is terrific as Fragglewump. When all is said and done Hellboy 2 is a solid action summer film but doesn't quite live up to what they started with the original brilliance of the original film. I think they took a step down to let del Toro who has become a bit of an icon do his thing and it took away from the core idea of the film. Still well worth seeing if you love Hellboy like I do. 8/10