When
HELLBoY came out, I was familiar with the main character by way of seeing the comics at my local shop. The recommendations of others, powerful images of the previews, and a strong cast got me to the theater, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
In
HELLBoY II, Guillermo del Toro has come back with a sequel that I found even more powerful than the first. The directing, scripting, staging, photography, and acting, have created a powerful story that drives on from opening to ending.
del Toro's imaginative vision, seen in his previous works, is turned loose here. Absolutely fantastic sites and creatures are made easily believeable. I thought even as I watched, that these creations were just what was needed to produce the worlds of Robert E. Howard. Arnie's
Conan films would have truly been epics with such talent and drive.
These creatures and effects would be wasted without a proper story and fine acting. The cast conveys the heroic nature of the struggle, as well as the tragedy that effects all. There are no simple characters here, but deeply constructed individuals. The nature of Good and Bad are debated, and adversaries recognize there are less differences between them than the men whose fate they contend over.
As for the actors, Ron Perlman' HELLBoY is both funny, sad, and at times noble, a powerful anti-hero. I can't imagine anyone else in the role. Of the superhero roles I have seen recently, he far outdistances all others.
Selma Blair's
Liz Sherman gets much better coverage this time. It's a strong character, and she steps up to the role. Big well done to her.
Doug Jones, showed he could make
Abe Sapien more than a "fish man" in the first film, fleshes out the character to accomplish a much larger role in II. Like
HELLBoY, he shows more "humanity" than ordinary men do. Jones also plays two other characters.
The Elven
Prince Nuada is skillfully done by Luke Goss, and he's no simple villain. A hero (or anti-hero) is only as good as their foe, and Prince Nuada is both amazingly deadly, and tragic in the burden of what he does and the losses incurred.
As his twin,
Princess Nuala, Anna Walton is a gentle character with great inner strength. She is pivotal to the story, and carries the role with great subtlety.
John Hurt returns to portray
Professor Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm, HELLBoY's "Father", in a great flashback.
Jeffrey Tambor is back as
Tom Manning, the long-suffering supervisor. he's a talented guy, and they retained his annoying but decent character.
Finally, in the category of
"The Character You love To Hate, But End Up Liking", BIG kudos to Seth MacFarlane as the voice of
Johann Krauss . If you watch much Cartoon Network, you've seen MacFarlane and his waggish work. My hat's off to him for getting
Krauss nailed down.
Sooooo, in other words, I say do yourself a BIG favor, and get out to see HELLBoY II. I don't think you'll want those two hours back, and if you like it as much as I did, you still be buzzin' a couple of days later.
