Good, but not as good as the first movie...

Rating: 7/10 (30 December 2018)

I thoroughly enjoyed the 2004 "Hellboy" movie, so it was a given that I would of course also watch "Hellboy II: The Golden Army". And now I have seen it again for the second time here as 2018 is about to ebb out.
While it was not fully up to par with the 2004 "Hellboy" movie, "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" is in itself an entertaining enough movie. However, if you have seen the first movie, then it feels like the two are miles apart.
The storyline in "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" was not as interesting as the first movie. Why? Well, I think it was because of the whole introduction of elves, goblins and trolls that just didn't work for me. Sure, monsters and mythological beings feels more at home in this universe in my opinion, but adding a classical fantasy element like elves, goblins and trolls? Nah, not so much. It just felt like a forced attempt of mixing the success from the 2004 "Hellboy" movie with elements reminiscent of "Lord of the Rings". I wasn't overly impressed.
Visually, then "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" is astounding and downright impressive. There is definitely not spared any expense when it comes to visuals, CGI and practical effects. Everything in the movie looks really amazing, lots of minute details and everything looks very real and genuine. And having such impressive visuals is a must for a movie such as this.
Like the 2004 "Hellboy" movie, "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" boasts a rather impressive array of casted actors and actresses to perform the various roles and characters in the movie. Ron Perlman does of course carry the movie with his phenomenal performance as Hellboy himself. And like in the first movie, I was really enjoying Abe Sapiens, played by Doug Jones - just a shame that they didn't have David Hyde-Pierce doing the voice this time, it just was such a crucial part missing from the character in this movie. The Johan Krauss character was really a wonderful one, a comic sidekick of sorts, but he actually was so unique and interesting that he brought a lot of flavor to the movie, and while I am by no means a fan of Seth MacFarlane then I will admit that his voice acting for the Johann Krauss character was just brilliant. It wasn't until now, the second time of watching "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" that I realized that it was Luke Goss that played Prince Nuada, and he actually performed quite well in that role.
The creature designs for "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" was just brilliant and amazing. I love creatures of such broad and unlimited creativity. There were a lot of interesting creatures to be seen throughout the movie, and the whole Troll Market scene was just feeling like something taken right out of a "Star Wars" movie, and I loved that. Even the tooth fairies, they were just such a brilliant addition to the movie.
There is a lot of action from the beginning of the movie right up to the very end; which is very much in spirit with the 2004 "Hellboy" movie, so that was a major plus in favor of this sequel. And there wasn't really a dull moment throughout the course of the movie.
In itself an enjoyable movie, the whole fantasy flavor just didn't sit well with me. Not that I dislike fantasy with elves, goblins, trolls and such, no no no. It was just not a particularly well-fitting setting for a "Hellboy" story in my opinion.