Very disappointed

Rating: 4/10 (31 August 2008)

The original Hellboy movie had atmosphere coming out of it's red ears, Hellboy II unfortunately misses this point entirely.
To begin with you're immediately hit with the stark voice change of the Abe character, this was a major mistake. The very essence of the Abe character is the way the voice is a mismatch to the heroic way in which he interacts in the many 'situations' - to change this voice for a generic one is a great over-sight and one which straight away puts you on the back-foot in terms of your anticipated enjoyment.
The initial scene of Hellboy as an adolescent looks cheap and feels cheap, both in terms of the acting and the way in which the young Hellboy looks, all adding to a feeling of impending dread that the films makers just don't 'get it'.
Moving onto the older Hellboy character and this too has suffered from a change for the worse. In an effort to introduce more obvious humour the character doesn't have the same touch to it, it's all very disappointing.
I was really looking forward to this film but unfortunately the opportunity to capitalise on the original movie's feel and atmosphere has been totally missed.
It feels like a cynical attempt to make a few more $$$ at the expense of a great premise and some great theatrical characters.
Please understand I'm in no way a comic book purist as in fact I've never even read the comic book version, but I am just someone who really enjoyed the first Hellboy film.