Grade: A
More fun than Wanted, more laughs than Hancock, and more pow than The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy Part Deux is everything you want from a superhero movie. It excels in all the necessities, while reinventing itself from the Spidermans or Batmans of the Hollywood comic world. There is no doubt in my mind that HellBoy rivals IronMan as best pre-Batman superhero movie of 2008.
Here's the quick rundown: Elf world wants world back from humans. HellBoy gets in the way.
Hellboy keeps his punch and might from the original, but elevates his sassiness and his likability. The first film gives us a hint of his character, but Ron Perlman elevates Hellboy, giving us more of the "more than a hulk" role.
The villain is more formidable this time around, which is essential for any good vs evil movie -- an element for why we already know The Dark Knight will be a great movie and why Batman and Robin was a terrible movie (Mr. Freeze was more like a chilled out, funny iceman than a stone-cold villain).
Guillermo Del Toro once again shines in this film, showing off an imagination Peter Jackson wishes he had in LOTR. I couldn't help to think to myself that the director is either a genius or a freak, maybe a tad of both.
And yet, admist all the fun, the ass-kicking, and the jokes, there are incredibly deep messages in this movie. It brings in free will and predestination, acceptance and rejection, heaven and hell...opening questions and ghosts that will be revealed in the heavily-hinted third movie.
My favorite thing about Hellboy? That it doesn't try or even think about trying to be another movie, creating a different personality for a different superhero. There are no hints of Metropolis, or signs of a Robin sidekick. Hellboy deserves his own aura, his own city, and his own enemies in the closet.
And now, he's getting the well-deserved respect as well.
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