Smell the Movies
Smell the TV
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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| Year: | 2008 |
| Country of origin: | USA / Germany |
| Director: | Guillermo del Toro |
| Genre: | Disappointing sequel |
| Starring: | Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Luke Goss |
| Rating: | 2/5 |
| IMDB link: | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0411477/ |
| Tagline: | Believe it or not - he's the good guy |
| Favourite line: | None worth mentioning |
Sequel to the surprise hit, retaining most of the cast and, crucially, the director.
The plot:
In pre-history, mankind waged a war with the magical kingdoms, a war they were destined to lose. When King Balor of the Elves orders the construction of The Golden Army, the next time the humans attack, they are decimated.
Brokering a truce, Balor agrees to allow the surviving humans to live, though at a price: remain in the cities, human scum, and leave the forests for the magical folk.
Son of the king, Prince Nuada, is furious, but has no choice but to comply.
Prince Balor, to ensure peace holds, and that the Golden Army can never be used again, forges a crown, split into three pieces. One piece is given to the humans, the other two are kept by the forest folk.
In present day, Prince Nuada has plans to reignite the flames of war, and manages to steal one of the pieces of the crown.
Now, if he can just lay his hands on the other two, havoc can ensue.
But Hellboy, and the other genetic freaks and creeps from the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, intend to stand well and truly in his way.
The first film, though big in budget and heavy on action, also had a darkness at its heart that was quite satisfying. Unfortunately, that seems to have been watered down, despite the fact that director del Toro is also handling writing duties, as with the first movie.
Sure, there’s the odd dark fantastical concept, such as The Tooth Fairies - which del Toro would go on to explore more fully in Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark – small, winged creatures, with almost perfectly round heads, weaponised with razor sharp teeth, named Tooth Fairies as, when they attack an enemy in a swarm, the first thing they do is extract the teeth.
Decent enough concept, and pretty well realised, but that element aside, this is more about the relationships and the characters. Whilst that would normally not be a bad thing, and something to be encouraged, here it just felt like it was an excuse to pad the bloody thing out to a two hour runtime and, when the time finally did come, by Christ it was a relief.
Bigger than the original, and more ballsy in terms of action, the movie gradually descends into a CGI fest, all of the elements rendered by computer power, rather than anything real or physical and, frankly, it just got tiresome.
And when we get a five minute musical interlude about halfway through, we know we’re in a spot of bother.
Not great, this one.
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