Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Hellboy II - DVD Review

HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY (**1/2) - Starring Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Jeffrey Tambor, Luke Goss, John Hurt, Anna Walton, James Dodd and Seth MacFarlane.
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro.

Some changes are in place for this sequel, free of the shackles of origin-establishing. Gone is John Myers, the through-his-eyes character from the first one that might have been in the sequel if he'd been played by an actor more famous than Rupert Evans. Gone is David Hyde Pierce's voice for Abe Sapien, for now bodymaster Doug Jones can do it himself. Added to the mix are more goblins and creatures that would have been equally at home in Pan's Labyrinth.

Hellboy's still got working-man troubles, but his agency is under more pressure to keep their existance secret, as YouTube is really making cover-ups difficult. Meanwhile the Prince of the underground creatures has decided that enough hiding, it's time to conquer the surface and the ungrateful humans who walk the Earth.

The movie turns into a colorful explosion of CGI, like a better-produced Spy Kids after a while. The gooey fluidity of it all made me lose interest. If the movie's effects are making me think of Spy Kids movies, that's not a good thing.

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