Weaker Story/Villains than the Original, doesn't make it to the original's level

Rating: 6/10 (31 August 2008)

I was pleasantly surprised by the original Hellboy a few years ago, and so I was eager to watch it's sequel hoping for another fun experience. The original was more involving and sharper focused with Human beings and paranormal agents had much better dynamics. However, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army falls a bit short. The overall story seems like conjured from a 3rd grader, lacking any depth. There was a feeble attempt at making the villain half-way noble as well as a stupid gimmicky twin sister and side-romance that bored. None of it was really explained - mostly glossed over escapading from one visual CGI background/character to the next. And the finale scenes were too run-of-the-mill and overlong, with actually the CGI sort of spotty sometimes in the movie. At times the movie felt like it was ripping off from Men in Black and Harry Potter. (Spoilers) There was a semi-interesting new paranormal agent - a German Spectre, and a comical long sequence with beer involving he and Hellboy fighting to help give the movie a pulse. I liked the inventive goggles too seeing the paranormal. Many of the Visuals (spoiler) particularly in the Troll Market were competent and wonderfully grotesque. But the movie needed a better framework, story, and villain - Overall it was somewhat disappointing compared to the original - if not OK. Probably worth a watch if you liked the original - just doesn't break new ground or quite make it as involving.