A labour of love, and it shows

Rating: 8/10 (2 September 2012)

HELLBOY II threatens to be nothing more than your latest CGI-laden braindead Hollywood action movie, and yet it's not, thanks to the presence of director Guillermo del Toro. Del Toro has to possess one of the most imaginative minds in Hollywood and he brings a level of creativity to the movie that's sorely lacking in most genre fare getting released these days. Del Toro's imagination comes to the fore in the myriad creatures he creates for this movie, bringing to life monster upon monster with no end to the creativity in sight.
Even better, the producers have the budget to match the vivid creations coming out of the minds of this film's makers, and the special effects do not disappoint. The CGI in this movie is phenomenal, with not a single effect out of place. Having just sat through the dodgy, odd-looking chimpanzees of RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, I'm doubly impressed by the quality of the CGI in this movie (which was made with a lower budget than the ape film, it has to be said). It's an entirely visual film, one which never disappoints.
The plot, of course, is secondary to the effects, but that doesn't matter so much this time around. As usual, there's a bad guy (Luke Goss, returning as a del Toro villain after BLADE II) who wants to take over the world and who has all manner of mean and wild creations to help him in the process. Up against him is Hellboy and his companions. The return of welcome old faces is great (and kudos to the writers for giving the excellent Abe Sapien a bigger part this time around) and the new character of Johann Krauss is similarly a work of genius. Hellboy is his usual wisecracking self and Perlman brings plenty of laconic humour to the part.
The narrative pretty much leads from one wild set-piece to the next, with some more effective than others. Hellboy's encounter with the nature god is my favourite part of the film, although the run-in with the titular army at the movie's climax is also fairly exhilarating. Okay, so this isn't a great movie – the story doesn't hold up to a great deal of scrutiny, after all is told – but it looks the part and I can't dislike any movie with this level of sheer inventiveness behind it.