Even though I enjoy his movies, Guillermo Del Toro, the director of Hellboy 2, is overrated. Del Toro gets a pass from critics and fans alike because of his much beloved spanish movies: The Devil’s Backbone (my favorite Del Toro Flick), Chronos and the overhyped Pan’s Labyrinth (seemed too cartoony to be taken seriously).

Hellboy 2 actually starts in a good note with a flashback scene and a unique explanation of the Golden Army, an army of machines built to serve a king. The king sees so much destruction from his Golden Army that he makes a pact with his enemies, the humans. But his son, Prince Nuada doesn’t trust the humans. He tries to take over the world and that’s where Hellboy and his team, step in.

Hellboy 2 was a disappointment because it seemed like Del Toro didn’t know where to take the franchise. In the first half of the movie, it’s very cartoony . While in the second half, it has a serious feel, like the original. There were also too many creatures for a two hour movie. Even twenty minutes before the finale, more are still coming in.

Even though the first movie had flaws, it had emotion. The relationship between Hellboy and his “father” was great. In this sequel, Del Toro tries a love story that does not work. Liz Sherman played by Selma Blair is Hellboy’s (Ron Perlman) love interest. Her “bad ass” acting just isn’t believable. Instead of being cool, she just comes off as pathetic.

Also what’s up with the make up and costumes? It didn’t look as good as the original movie. Instead of seeing Abe Sapien as a creature, I now see him as an actor wearing a costume. Makes me wonder why they decided to change the look of the main characters.

If there’s one reason to watch this movie, it’s for the bad ass villain, Prince Nuada (who also played the villain in Blade 2, Nomak). I just wished he had more minions instead of being a loner.

With a summer of fun and entertaining comic book movies (Wanted, Iron Man, Hulk), Hellboy 2 is the first to disappoint. Maybe I was expecting too much from it because I enjoyed Del Toro’s other comic book movies, the original Hellboy and Blade 2. But this one was just too inconsistent and I didn’t find the new style appealing.

Grade: C+

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