I think the only reason I wanted to see this film was because Guillermo did it. There were things I did, and did not, like about it; hard to say which one won out.
Bad news first. The underworld is way too open to the "real" world. Not that I mind such a flimsy barrier in my sci-fi stories, but the first Hellboy established a thicker wall, I think. Granted, I have not seen/read any of the other additional materials (comic books, animated series), so I have no idea if this is keeping in line with Guillermo's direction or not. The romance between Liz Sherman (pyro lady) and Hellboy are cute, but hardly believable, especially what they produce together. I also do not understand how Hellboy can go head-to-head with Prince Nuada; all Hellboy does is eat candy bars and watch TV. The whole concept of "area 51" (see that big 51 emblazoned in one of the rooms?) and keeping this paranormal research under the covers was overblown, especially the gimmicky way Tom Manning (played by Jeffrey Tambor) deals with the whole thing. Dr. Johann Krauss (the ectoplasmic guy) reminds me of a different comic antagonist, but now I cannot remember who. Anyway, just having him head up the paranormal research was rather dumb. Interesting character, though. A bit heavy on the gears motif.
Good news: I loved the scenes with the elves; beautiful artistic touches, nice design themes, great sense of dying power. It was not until I read a little bit more that I realized that Doug Jones not only plays Abe, but also the Chamberlain and the Angel of Death, as well as the Faun from Pan's Labyrinth and the Pale Man. The way he moves his hands is very similar in each one. I wonder if he ever tires of all the makeup. =) I liked Wink, and the Tooth Fairies were an unexpected twist. I really enjoyed Prince Nuada's swordmanship; made me wonder how we would stack up another trained sword-weilding Hollywood villian like Darth Maul (Ray Park). The questions that Prince Nuada plagued Hellboy with were intriguing and thought provoking; would he really want to kill off the last beings of a species? Not sure if this was mentioned in the first movie, but Hellboy is supposedly the son of the "Fallen One". Could have fooled me. *grin*
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