I did not like the first Hellboy film, for many different reasons. However, hearing that the new release was directed by the same genius responsible for Pan's Labyrinth, I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt. I was even prepared to enjoy the film.
At first I was severely unimpressed. From the very beginning there was a huge juxtaposition between the monsters created by Guillermo del Toro and those that existed in the previous iteration. It was comic book horror meets epic fantasy; bright red heroes meet spectacularly designed villains, and to be honest it made me wince. A lot of the plot sequences struck me as extremely predictable, and it seemed that the first film's saving grace (the witty one liners) was also absent.
However, as the film progressed, I grew to like the new elements. There was a lot in the film that was beautiful and a lot that was very well-designed. The new monster creations were superb rubber-suited actors that looked real and either terrifying or wonderful, giving the other actors real cues to work from and making the scenes flow superbly. One such creature acted as the turning point for me; Johann Strauss the new character that joins Hellboy, Abe Sapiens and Liz on their team in the Department of Paranormal Research and Defence. He is an ectoplasmic matrix (ghost) in a suit, and a wonderful character. Additional bad-guy monsters, and the lead antagonist turned the film, for me, from a mediocre comic-book story to a reasonable fantasy film.
I still had a problem with this film. I loved the monsters, the animations were beautiful. There were some excellent action sequences, and the soundtrack was another wonderful work from Danny Elfman. Even the plot, once forgiven its more predictable elements, becomes a good story. However, all these good points aside, something kept dragging it back for me. The main characters not only stood out like a sore thumb against the stunningly crafted new creations from del Toro's odd imagination, they were actually unlikeable.
Hellboy himself is supposed to play the part of an evil being, 'twisted' to good, and occasionally haunted by his potential for evil. Instead, he comes across as a petulant ass who goes out of his way to annoy everyone around him. There is no tortured soul element at all, much as I wouldn't want it to be overplayed. He is just an irritating foil, who's only use is to hit things hard in the face. Liz is equally petulant and annoying... I just severely disliked her, especially in the face of the antagonists (portrayed by actually good actors). Even Abe, who I liked in the first film, plays the part of the stereotypical science nerd; his knowledge and wisdom is backed up by no physical strength whatsoever, except a passing familiarity with firearms.
Hellboy II is almost two films rolled into one. One of them, I liked... it had amazing visual effects and some excellent characters and creatures. The other one revolved around annoying characters who always seemed to be facing the wrong way when interesting developments were occurring, and who missed blatantly obvious leaps because they were selectively stupid, or because the director wanted to show off some new monster creation. As the film progressed, the first film took over and became the primary interest; it got better with time.
If you liked the characters in Hellboy, I am almost certain you will enjoy this film. The things added on top of the original are supremely good. However, if you did not like the original Hellboy, you may leave the film as I did, wondering whether you'd actually had a good time or not.
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