Hellboy II was fantasy done right. At least, visually.

It’s unmistakable Guillermo del Toro: the cinematography has lots of dark browns and blues, and is filled with all manner of “the supernatural” and “monsters” and “faerie”. But probably the most striking thing is how the characters have that weirdly varied and vibrant feel that is consistent with his previous works, even when considering that Hellboy and Abe Sapien aren’t his own creations (for the uninitiated, they’re Mike Mignola’s).

Exhibits, please.

Abe Sapien

The Angel of Death

See how similar the design is to another one of his films, Pan’s Labyrinth:

The Pale Man

The Faun

Want a fun fact? All of the above were played by the same actor. Good job, Doug Jones! You’re now assured a spot on the rest of del Toro’s films.

The rest of the movie wasn’t bad, although there wasn’t anything really groundbreaking about it. Just another good addition to the movie series. Plot was alright albeit a bit tired, and dialogue was OK. The villain was bad-ass though. He should get his own comic book.