Hells yeah.

When I saw that a sequel to Hellboy was coming out, I figured that I'd finally Netflix the original. I remember seeing the Mike Mignola comic back in the day, and it looked pretty cool though I never read it.

Anywho, I figured that I'd give Hellboy a look, and it was a good movie. Good story, good acting, very visually well done. So, I was eager for the sequel, especially considering it touted it's lineage with Pan's Labyrinth, which was a great story and an absolutely stunning film, visually.

I'm moved to a new office with no known co-workers, and I literally have nothing to do. Monday morning I get an email from the boss - "I forgot to tell everyone, but I'm on vacation until Thursday."

Oh yeah, I'm playing hooky.

A Monday afternoon seemed the perfect time to catch Hellboy 2. No crowds + matinee price = awesomesauce. I can say that it was as good as if not better than the original. It was certainly more daring in terms of how much fantasy they tried to make reality. In a comic of course you are pretty much unencumbered by how fantastic you make the artwork. In movies however, it's much tougher, and wasn't even close to possible until the advent of high grade CGI (which now that I think about it, makes those 80's Superman movies even more impressive.) Anywho, Hellboy 2 does on film as well as any high-art comic book. Imagine if someone could actually port a Moebius comic over to film without losing anything, and you'll get the gist of how beautifully done Hellboy 2 is. Guillermo del Toro is a skilled mofo.

On top of that, the story is likeable and the pace is very good. It's not frantic but it moves along nicely. The characters are also surprisingly beliveable, given that they are demon raised to be good, his pyrokinetic girlfriend, and a clairvoyant fishman. The acting is also surprisingly good (well, so was the previous movie) particularly considering the amount of make-up and foam rubber these actors wear.

Lastly, the villain in this one is awesome. I don't know if it was the actor himself or a stunt double, but his fight scenes were friggin awesome. True, there was wire work (but plausible reason to suspend disbelief), but this cat's Wu Shu (Kung Fu) was impressive.

So I wondered why I didn't feel more sucked in by this film. So far my best guess is that there is just too much to take in. I'll be buying these on DVD. I think once Del Toro gets to do his third film, this series will get the credit it deserves.

One last thing for Wander; Seth MacFarlane is in the movie. Go see it and try to guess who he is.