“Hellboy 2: The Golden Army” is a lavish, but tipsy balancing act for writer-director Guillermo Del Toro strung between his mutual goals of telling a story, and showing off the wild fruits of his imagination. His “Pan’s Labyrinth” is a great example of accomplishing both at once, but “Hellboy 2” (albeit a completely different kind of story than “Pan”) often meanders between these borders – and the result on screen suffers because of it.
Yes, I found “Hellboy 2” an improvement over the first film—which I also enjoyed—and though I had no trouble following Del Toro’s main plot (involving a “real life” fairy tale), he often upstages it with optical free-for-alls crammed with dozens of creatures (plant, animal, and something in-between) which are beautiful, but also distracting.
There’s a lot to enjoy in “Hellboy 2,” but as we’re finally a week away from the most anticipated movie of the summer—if not several years—it is more a tasty appetizer for the bigger feast to come.
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