Directed by: Guillermo del Toro

Reviewed by: Fergus McShane

Price: £12.99

[ratings]

As the title suggest, Hellboy II: The Golden Army follows on from Guillermo del Toro’s first attempt at comic book adaptation in 2004. Hellboy was an underrated success; a faithful transition from the comics pulp paper to silver screen, funny everyman characters (who just happen to be demons), fantastic visuals, and packing one hell of a punch.

However between del Toro’s first foray into the Hellboy series, his stunning 2006 film Pan’s Labyrinth underlines the restricted potential a comic book series affords. Losing none of the visual flair of the first or labyrinth, Hellboy II is a spectacular attempt of a follow-up. The CGI and costume work is fantastic (especially in the stunning Troll market section), but unfortunately this doesn’t make up for the wandering, seemingly thrown-together plot that fails to captivate like the first of the series.

Perhaps Hellboy II is open to overly harsh criticism because it has had to try too hard to be bigger and better than del Toro’s last few years of film-making. The series is one of the better comic adaptation franchises, but hopefully his future films allow del Toro to carry on with his true filmmaking skill, mixing reality and fantasy in a much less cartoonish manner. Maybe in the upcoming adaptation of The Hobbit he will find a way.

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