Theatrical Review of Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Good review, but the score makes no sense as to what you wrote...by the way, what did you give the original Hellboy?

Hellboy as a Potato Head!

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[Post edited by ReaggieP on Jul 13, 2008]

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Good review, but the score makes no sense as to what you wrote...by the way, what did you give the original Hellboy?

Ironically, we just watched the Director's Cut on BD this past week in prep for the sequel. I felt the DC was a bit bloated, sagged in just about the same place as HB II but boasted some crazy fun creatures and the like. I liked the fun, the humor, the serious unseriousness, if that makes any sense.

As for the number...it's the one thing I hate the most about reviewing. It's so disingenuous, in my mind. Something like Hulk or Ghost Rider gets an equal score (or better) for completely different reasons. In my mind, HB II isn't perfect. I very rarely give anything above a 7 (maybe twice? United 93 and Catch a Fire...?) because those numbers demonstrate excellence in every single area.

HB II doesn't surprise us with a twist or take us somewhere we can't guess from early on. That's why the 6.5/10. But really, read everything up until the last sentence. That's the important part.

Jason, WriterBoy

Well, even though the number is low, it's still a passable grade -- meaning "Hellboy II" is probably a little better than some "stand by" movie on cable. If the 6.5 was on Rotten Tomatoes it would be considered a "fresh tomatoe", so 6.5 isn't as bad as it may sound. So, I think of it as Jason saying it's a good movie but just isn't something great.

Nevertheless, "Hellboy I" kind of has a mixed bag of feelings around here. Personally, I really enjoyed "Hellboy I" and would probably give is about an 8/10 on the DVDTOWN scale. From the reviews I have read through RT, it does sound like HB2 is a little better than HB1 -- therefore, I shall just have to see for myself.

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HB II doesn't surprise us with a twist or take us somewhere we can't guess from early on.

Agreed...except for the Superman Returns alike thing...you know...

Saw the movie, and I think the first 15 minutes were a bit off, just slow paced...but then the whole movie went into full steam, specially after the Troll Market scene, which, by the way, nobody can get enough off.

Just like Christopher Reeves and Downey Jr. own(ed) their characters, Pearlman was born for Hellboy, no doubt about it (no, I'm not getting into the best Batman argument, lol...)

Also, I would've loved to see more of the team going against some more bad guys, doing more 'bureau' stuff, specially with the Krauss character. Overall, I would give it a 4/5 (since I hate the 'out of ten' scores), the action scenes were great, the troll market scene was great, both Hellboy's and Abe's relationships, oh, and that scenes with the beer, hillarious...really enjoyed the movie, and it looks wonderful, specially when the green thing dies, it's just a beautiful sequence to see the green-just wonderful.

I do think Hellboy 3 has the biggest potential of all. I also believe that Superman and Hellboy have more in common than we think both were sent to Earth with some 'duties' preset by their fathers, and both turned out to become maybe not saviors, but helpers and good-doers in this world.

And just like Superman can turn "evil" [inster Dr. Evil pic below] with red kryptonite, I think something can happen to Hellboy that might turn him to his true nature (whatever that might be), or evil, and might have a Return of the Jedi type of ending...

In the end, this movie was really good, not excellent, but great, hoping with a third movie with the greatest potential. And I'll watch Hellboy's Directors Cut (purchased yesterday on Wal-Mart for $9, as well as both animated Hellboys for $10) to remember why I got in love with this series...

Oh, and I'm not excited about The Hobbit, even with Del Toro directing, is just not something I look forward too...sorry...

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Oh, and I'm not excited about The Hobbit, even with Del Toro directing, is just not something I look forward too...sorry...

To be honest, I was never excited about LOTR before it came out. I thought it looked like a movie for nerds only, but boy was I wrong (even though pocket-protecting nerds love it)! I felt the same way about "Last of the Mohicans" many years ago. I always thought the previews made it look like a sappy love story, but alas it was so much more. I guess what I'm saying is . . . well . . . * place common cliche phrase here *

lol...I felt the same about LOTR, and I did realize how big (in all aspects) the movie is (all three combined), and how it advanced another step the epic movies into today's mainstream.

Also, I'm not into Hobbits or Middle Earth settings I don't like everything being so gray, dark like, IMO, the movies were. I need guns, explosions, chases, and actual people that by singing would make me cry.

Again, excellent movie that got what it deserved.

I almost feel sorry for this movie being released the week before TDK. 10 million it only brought in this weekend.

Did they purposefully set this movie up to fail, jeez.

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I almost feel sorry for this movie being released the week before TDK. 10 million it only brought in this weekend.

Did they purposefully set this movie up to fail, jeez.

This has come up before, but it is normal for any film to drop off after the first week. HB2 hit #1 on its first week, therefore it is not a failure no matter how you look at it. Summer films are always a battle of who can play king of the hill, and considering Handjob . . . I mean, Hancock came out the week before and has also dropped in ranking, it's perfectly normal and in no way a failure in box offcie terms.

To be honest, this has been one of the biggest summers I've seen in terms of expected box office hits. And we're only a little half-way into the summer blockbusters. We went from 2007 being a total crap fest to a summer of the super hero genre picking up good reviews and good box office to boot. It's a very competative year and one that is easy to see quick drop off in box office sale because of it.

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[Post edited by Tim Raynor on Jul 20, 2008]

Tim,

Question: what is really left? The X Files this week, The Mummy 3 next and then Star Wars in August. At least that's all that's on my calendar.

Jason, looking forward to more SW