Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Give it twenty seconds and some useless critic out there is going to call HELLBOY II "Pan's Labyrinth on steroids" and it will be wrong and lazy of them to do so! No, this is a different plate of nachos indeed but I'm sad to say not different enough. Damn near everything we see in THE GOLDEN ARMY we've seen before and you'll sit there thinking to yourself something like this.......didn't I see that in THE MUMMY, hold on, isn't that from LORD OF THE RINGS, damn, didn't they use that schtick in MEN IN BLACK and hey this really reminds me of STAR WARS and damn does that creature ever look like it's from PAN'S LABYRINTH. All of this being said, del Toro does his very best to put a fresh spin on it and it is certainly a showcase for every special effects trick in the book...problem is the story doesn't match the action. For some this won't be a problem but for those wishing for it to be a step up from the first will be sadly left wanting. A damn fine piece of work, no mistake and there are a few moments in which you will howl with delight....just not enough of them to blow fifty bucks on a night out at the cinema.