Hellboy 2 (2008)

Too bad Hell Boy 2 had to be a blockbuster. You see, in blockbusters shit blows up, concrete is torn from the ground and your senses are sent to an overwhelmed plane that only Michael Bay truly understands. The problem here is that director Guillermo Del Toro has crafted such intricate and innovative monsters that the explosions distract from what is actually interesting about the film. The monsters have such life that just watching them walking around and twitch is enthralling, but then, oh wait, what? I guess they have to fight now.

The same problem afflicts the film’s protagonists. Hellboy and his crew of misfits (Jeffery Tambor!) are the first group of superheroes that you would actually want to hang out with. They share a goofy sense humor that’s infectious and when Hellboy and Abe get drunk and sing sappy love songs it’s transcendent. But the movie quickly moves from engaging camaraderie to world-saving, which means less interaction and, ironically, less fun. Also a few things just don’t work; Abe’s love story falls painfully short of awkward-funny and the preening villain only moves via slow motion back flip (at one point he cuts a rain drop in half. Did we learn nothing from the Matrix Revolutions?)

But this movie is better than its predecessor. Ron Peralman is great, the monsters are dazzling and everyone seems like they are having a blast. Let’s just hope that in Del Toro’s next film the hobbits get more time to chill out and banter.