My wife and I saw the first Hellboy on a whim, not really knowing what to expect, not knowing who Guillermo Del Toro was (I’m sure I just lost some of you), not even knowing it was based on a comic book, and after we walked out, we actually both liked it. Being both artists, I think the visuals really appealed to us and the story wasn’t too overly dramatic and “intentionally-too-serious,” it actually made us laugh out loud a few times. As we shared our enjoyment of the film with others, we noticed a trend: no one knew what we were talking about. People left and right were looking at us with very puzzled faces, apparently they EVEN MORE hadn’t heard of Hellboy or the world that it is.

Armed with that experience, I walked into Hellboy II, sans my wife as she later told me that she didn’t like it THAT much to see a sequel, with open eyes and expecting to enjoy myself and behold another visual explosion from the now-famous Del Toro. I went on opening night with a couple of buds and we were the first in line. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a “waiting-in-line” movie, but after about 10 minutes of waiting, the line quickly built and I was glad that we arrived early. It was evident that I was not the only one that enjoyed the first movie or Del Toro, and after a few awkward social “what-do-I-do” situations involving overly-excited-older-Hellboy-fans, we made our way to the perfect seat.

Just like the first movie, Hellboy II was a visual masterpiece of effects, creatures, colors, and artistry that we’ve all come to love from Del Toro. I love the different worlds he creates within his movies, worlds that were probably realized out of some crazy dream. Seriously, the world of Hellboy is like nothing else I’ve seen visually in a long time. Sure, it has cities and cityscapes like every other set, but it’s when Hellboy walks into the troll market and exposes the real world behind the curtain, that we get to really digest all of what Del Toro wants to feed us visually. I don’t want to try and overstate how beautiful his films are, but even if the story, for me, fades a little, I am still have been blown away by what he brings to the table. I want to be a fly on the wall when he’s brainstorming!

One of the surprising aspects of the Hellboy franchise is the humor. I think a lot of comic book movies miss the mark when it comes to humor. Sure, most of the comic book movies blow me away with their imagination, story, character, effects, just shear immensity, but there are times when I think they can take themselves too seriously and try to shove a soap-opera-esque drama down our throats, when all I really would like to have is a bit of humor. I laughed quite a few times out loud. I like Ron Perlman’s take on Hellboy, the cigar-smoking, “crap” saying, fight first ask questions later superhero who says what he thinks when he thinks it. I think Guillermo does a great job of not taking himself too seriously and worrying himself with creating a comic book movie that is supposed to based somehow in reality. Especially in this installment, I really felt that he allowed the characters to develop more and he gave us more insight into who they are as opposed to just leaving us with an “action-figure” knowledge of them. He showed more of their personalities, their fears, their passion, their sacrifice, their convictions, and ultimately, their humanity. (I know they aren’t exactly human, but you understand what I mean)

I didn’t think the movie was as good as the first one, in story and in the overall feel, but to me, it’s always hard to compare the “first” of any series of anything to the rest. One of the highlights to me from the first movie was Abe Sapien’s character. Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Dan, he’s in this movie as well, he’s the same guy” and I would agree, but the one difference between the first movie and this one is that in the first Hellboy, Doug Jones portrays Abe Sapien as the actor, the literal body for Abe, but David Hyde Pierce actually voiced him. This go around, Del Toro opted for Doug Jones to complete the character by letting him not only be the body of Sapien but he also voiced him. To me, that was a mistake. David Hyde Pierce added a cynical but sweet humor to Sapien’s character the first go around and I don’t think Doug Jones totally pulled it off. To me, not having his wit and sarcasm weakened Sapien’s character and his whole persona. It wasn’t enough to ruin the movie for me, but it’s definitely a noticeable difference in the two movies.

Del Toro is quickly moving up the movie ladder and with the recent news of him helming the next two Hobbit movies, his stock is surely to rise sky high. There wasn’t much left unanswered to garnish a third movie, but who knows. In this day in age, they can make a trilogy out of anything, heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw Norbit 2 and Norbit 3. Either way, if you knew nothing about Hellboy and walked into the movie, you don’t have to worry, they do a decent job of providing some basic background story to lay the foundation. It’s a great summer movie to sit back and enjoy with some popcorn and candy and be glad that you don’t fight goblins, trolls, or evil mystic princes who need haircuts.

Content Warning: Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and some language. There are some big fights and action, but hardly any blood, and the language is pretty sparse. The creatures may be too much for the little kids though.

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