Hellboy II: The Shiny Cartoon

Since his triumphant hit Pan's Labyrinth, Guillermo Del Toro seems to have been taken off the chain that held him back from leaping at making the fantastical commonplace in our world. Though you can argue with a list like Mimic, Hellboy and Blade II, all big monster movies with shiny effects and growling visceral creatures clearly on-screen, that this chain was released long ago, they pale in comparison to the visual feast that was Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

Grim faeries with jagged teeth pop from corners, greasy and old goblins lurch along the background and the whole time you feel like you're seeing the world through Del Toro's gleeful fantastico-world vision. The details, the colors, the vibrating life, most done without straight computer effects and only aided here and there by them, this rubber monster world is a waking dream that makes bathroom trips a problem because you're worried you'll miss something really cool looking. Contrarily, that detail and visual heft does not extend to the plot of the film.

Having seen that a simple plot with clever characterization can push his films along just as well as the darkly intricate ones as shown in Pan, Del Toro doesn't load the story too heavy like the previous Hellboy, which was practically bursting with all the activity. Here, it's streamlined and fast. Very fast, in fact; almost cartoonishly so.

In fact, next to the dominating visual aesthetic Del Toro commands, I couldn't help but notice this film was practically screaming along in comparison to his previous works. It was bouncy and light and well... Fun.

Wow. There's something I'd never think to say about Hellboy or a Del Toro movie- just fun.

Whereas the first Hellboy was a labor of love, courting the fans and demonstrating how much Del Toro cares for his rubber monster world, this one is an understanding that we all know what's going on so let's enjoy it this time, eh? And this pays off quite well, letting a warm, red and amber light filter through what was once a red and black set.

You get chuckling romance out of the geeky Abe Sapien, you get sitcom-esque relationship difficulties with Hellboy and fire fatale Liz Sherman, you get lots of monster fighting and explosions, then Seth MacFarlane, famous for the voices of Family Guy, shows up as Johann Krauss to let Hellboy fire off some good ol' boy anti-German cracks. Then there's the drunken bonding of Abe and Hellboy, which is a series of scenes worthy of their own sitcom. Couple such goofiness with a balance of dark and twisted creatures, well-timed moments of touching emotion and a sweeping dreamlike vision and you've got a film that's a steady fun ride.

Normally, I pick around for the one scene that sold me or the actor that made it all worthwhile, but Hellboy II: The Golden Army won me over in broad strokes for just being a live-action PG-13 cartoon. It was good fun, some clever one-liners and just a jazzy feel over all. You never get quite hefted down into its doom and gloom and never kept light enough in interest that it becomes boring.

It was like a prophet was whispering into Del Toro's ear and told him how huge this summer was going to be and so he opted not to blow us away, provoke us or leave a mark of DIRECTOR, but to keep us happy. With most of the blockbusters these past few months prompting huge reactions and sweeping gestures, Hellboy's sequel is the good-enough burger and beer we all may not remember, but always come back to: watching, re-watching and re-watching comfortably and enjoying it all the while.