Guillermo Del Toro brings his awe inspiring monsters to the second installment of Hellboy. While they are amazing, I'd rather spend twice as much time and money watching a featurette on how they were made and skip this lousy movie.
To be honest, I am admittedly not a Hellboy fan. I don't buy into the big red guy and if you can't buy into the premise of a superhero movie, well, the film doesn't stand much of a chance. BUT, I was incredibly intrigued by the previews for this sequel (it looked visually stunning) and I absolutely loved Pan's Labyrinth. And lately, I've been pleasantly surprised by the depth in recent comic book movies. It turns out there was a more cohesive plot in the trailer than the actual film itself.
I am going to put aside my politeness. This movie was pointless and a complete waste of a stunning art department. I don't feel that the writer or director had a grasp on how to create and maintain any sense of seriousness or danger. All of those majestic and fascinating monsters are lost in a film that doesn't seem to know how to use them. The humor is not funny and it is not well placed in the film. This is a jumbled, incoherent story and I never felt like the bad guy was threatening or that the good guy was particularly worth rooting for.
Prince Nuada wants to put back together a crown that will allow him to command the all powerful “Golden Army.” His twin sister holds the final piece but is willing to die to keep him from getting it. He is able to get it though, after kidnapping the princess from the secret FBI headquarters...which was easy to do because Hellboy and Abe were drunk on beer. I mean, who doesn't want to get drunk and sing love songs when a psycho prince is trying to destroy the world? Honestly, if the characters don't even care, why should the audience?
Hellboy challenges Prince Nuada's right for the crown and the two fight. Hellboy wins and both the Prince and Princess die (they were a special kind of twins where if one was injured the other was too – at least that's what I gather since it was never explained). Liz melts the crown with her fiery skills that never seem to be employed until the last second. Oh, and she's pregnant with twins, so expect the third film to be even worse.
