Big red, and back with a ton, a freaking ton of computer effects

HELLBOY II : THE GOLDEN ARMY (2008)

Lost in the wake of all that was "The Dark Knight", was a rather under hyped sequel, big red back, and bad, Hellboy 2. So, I'm sad to say, I was expecting more from this one. The first venture was a surprising fun little romp, and with all the mad glory Del Toro has been getting, guess I let my self be ready for awesomeness, and I was... Kinda, satisfied.

So plot for this here sequel,

Big bad guy Prince, from this dark society that co-exists with us, full of mist and magic, decides we are bad for his schwayness, so he kills his Dad, and sets out to reawaken this ancient army of computer animated round robots that are unstoppable (expect that Hellboy and his friends spank them for a bit) and crush all of human folk. As far as what these all mighty warriors look like, think evil "Tick Tock" from The return to Oz (ain't watched it? Boony says do:).

While that's going on, Hellboy and his Flame wielding home girl are having relationship troubles, and the fish guy finds himself drawn to bad Prince's do-gooder sister. Now there are real fun moments in this flick, the scene with Abe, and Hellboy getting drunk is particularly enjoyable. Lots of big showdowns, and giant baddies to get blown up, but.... But, that is part of the problem. This is Del Toro's first really big budget for a flick (85 million I do believe), and well, its too much. There is almost little to no time to enjoy the story, because every scene is overcaked with so much eye candy, my optical sensors were dancing through everything. I mean one cool effect, to one cool looking fight, (insert humor comment), cool effect, emotional moment, cool looking fight, eye bling, eye bling, and done.

That's how it felt. Pan's Labyrinth was awesome, but a large part of it's charm was the make up, the great real deal effects, there's little of that here, and what is here is just crushed by the CGI. This is a fun flick, and there are a few moments where the fun of the original is captured, but a i left unimpressed, satisfied, but not rocked, you know? 

movie scale 2.5 out of 5 stars

super hero scale 2.5 out of 5 stars

And hey, you looking for a Hellboy fix, check out the two animated flicks (Sword of Storms, and Blood and Iron) A lot of fun, and the same people involved, voices and Del Toro. Kinda found myself wishing one of them had made it to the big screen.

-Chuck B.