Hellboy 2

Guillermo del Toro's fantastical vision of a world inhabited by creepy crawlers, goblins, beasts, the unwanted spawn of Satan, and a man made entirely of a smoky gas (as well as others) leaves the viewer dazzled by the creativity and outstanding visual effects. The story is nothing new; kind of a mesh between the Lord of the Rings, X-Men, and Ghostbusters, but the delivery is spot-on action comedy at its finest.

Ron Perlman is the quintessential misunderstood superhero who loves cats and candy, and just wants to be loved by the people who he secretly protects from the creatures of the dark. He plays Hellboy with such blase frankness that it is impossible to imagine anyone else delivering his understated lines. Aside from his machismo, there is a detectable shred of humanity, as evidenced in his Barry Manilow duet with the fish man Abe, which is not quite as awkward as it sounds, but somewhat fitting and endearing.

The story unfolds quickly and with wild action sequences involving CGI creatures such as tooth fairies, a giant tree creature, and a walrus-looking beast with a retractable metal fist. The compelling thing about this film is not the story or even the creatures, but the sheer imagination and detail that is put into each and every special effect-filled scene. Del Toro has been building a reputation in this arena since he directed Blade 2, since which time he has done Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth. He has stepped into both writer and producer roles as well and is working on both the Hobbit and the Hobbit 2, which should both be amazing if his inventive style continues to evolve.

It is difficult to credit the film with an interesting story, or even great acting, but what is truly original is the characters and the world in which they live. Even things as innocuous as a flashback to when Hellboy was a young boy are brilliantly done, complete with intentionally antiquated claymation technology depicting the story within the story. The pace moves swiftly and there is noticeable meticulous attention paid to every detail within this film. Truly an enjoyable piece, I have to give it high marks for the originality and direction. 8/10.