In any other year, there’s a good chance that Hellboy 2 would have been my favourite movie of the year, and the best comic book adaptation. The fact that this year also blessed us with Dark Knight is desperately unfair to Guillermo Del Toro. Tolkien fans can be in good heart that the Hobbit is in safe hands, and more than Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy 2 is the film that proves it.
This is Guillermo’s Lord Of The Rings. Hellboy 2 carries the same air of melancholy, and of things passing that were so pervasive in Rings, and is such a large part of the appeal. I think it’s fair to say that Guillermo’s grasp of character driven fantasy will help him knock Hobbit out of the park.
The core cast is strong, and the characters in Hellboy 2 really come into their own this time out. Liz is given more to do this time, and it really bolsters the dynamic between her, Abe and Hellboy. The addition of Johann Kraus, voiced brilliantly by Jeremy Irons, also adds a great foil to Hellboy’s loose attitude. There were a couple of characters that didn’t entirely do it for me though. Prince Nuada, played by Luke Goss, reminded me a little too much of Richard the goth from the IT Crowd, which made it harder to take him seriously – more a result of me bringing my own baggage to the film than any deficiency on the actor’s part. I also found Jeffrey Tambor’s character a tad too boorish in this instalment, which is a shame, because I really enjoyed him in the first film.
There is so much to love in this film. The fantasy world of the film is so incredibly imaginative. The characters’ motivations are clear and true to their personalities, not contrived and plot driven. The Golden Army is spectacularly rendered. All in all I highly recommend this film. I wasn’t in the best mood when I saw it, and I still loved it to death, whcih I think is a great acid test for a quality film. I give it nine Snifters out of a possible ten, and can’t wait to see it again. This is one of those films that you just can’t wait to own on DVD so you can enjoy it over and over at your leisure.
No Comments Yet
No comments yet.
