Hellboy 2

Disclaimer: Before I begin, a note on my film reviews. As a filmmaker who has made movies in the long and short form, I have the utmost respect for the process of filmmaking, and those who have the huevos to follow it through. So I try and look for things I like in every movie, and my criticisms are merely my own aesthetic opinions about artistic decisions made, not a reflection on the merits of the filmmaker in the main.

Hellboy 2 is a pretty great looking movie, and Guillermo del Toro is clearly a visionary of the first order, but the story is absolutely preposterous. It's a comic book movie, so there is certainly a lot of latitude for such things, but the characters are terribly unmotivated, and the humor falls pretty flat. There is a nice scene where the merman and Hellboy drink a bunch of beer and listen to Barry Manilow, but the rest doesn't really catch the imagination.
But the visuals, my goodness. Utterly fabulous. If only they were in the service of a much more interesting story.
Selma Blair is quite good, however. She has grown up into quite a good presence. And Ron Perlman is one of my favorite actors.
I know this review is quite a bit late, but having two young kids doesn't allow me to see things in the theaters.
And what are blogs for, if not to be able to express the opinions one has on things like movies and politics, but that no one wants to hear about in person?