Hellboy II: the Golden Comedy?

When I saw Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy back in 2004, I was shocked by how different the interpretation of Mike Mignola's world was from that I knew from the comic pages. With Mignola involved in the production of Hellboy, I expected one of the most faithful adaptations of comics to screen. In fact, Del Toro worked had previously worked with the Hellboy creator on Blade II in an attempt to bring a Mike Mignola style alive on film. When I saw Hellboy reimagined as an angsty hero, hiding from world that will fear him all while struggling to get the girl I was underwhelmed.

Even with an at best lukewarm opinion of the first film, I was till excited to see the new one Hellboy II: The Golden Army>at a preview screening the other night. Del Toro had made some of my favorite movies (Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth) and the monsters for Hellboy II looked fantastic. As a expected, the movie did deliver some greater looking monsters and a strong visual style. I, however, was completely caught off guard Hellboy II's true strength as a comedy.

From the opening scene to the very last shot, Hellboy II is filled with laughs. From quippy one-liners to slap-stick fight scenes, Hellboy almost feels like a comedy that happens to have monsters and action scenes. Maybe I carry that opinion because the humor was the element of the movie that played the best for me. I was definitely underwhelmed again by some of the other elements of the movie. I found the romantic subplots uninteresting and a couple of the fight scenes boring. The most awkward part of the movie for me is still seeing characters like Abe Sapien that look like their comic book counterparts, yet who are truly different characters than the ones I read about regularly. While it is no fault of the movie, I find watching Hellboy movies like seeing someone you know acting completely unlike themselves.

Personnel problems aside, I would still recommend catching this movie in the theater. The funny parts are funny, but I would maybe leave before the end because it is a little too boring.

-Nick