I did like the first Hellboy, which probably explains my reaction. The two films aren't even based in the same fictional universe, so it would make sense that people would prefer one to the other.

Mike

del Toro is someone whom I almost always agree with when he's talking about films, but I only really like one of his own (PAN'S LABYRINTH). Guy Maddin's another example.

I didn't really care for PAN'S LABYRINTH, but that was mostly personal taste and not because there was much objectively wrong with the film. I'd defintely rather watch it than HELLBOY II.

Mike

Hmm; I found Pan's Labyrinth to be an admirable, well-made film. Hellboy I barely recall. It was so boring and silly that nothing from it even bothered to cohere in my memory. Haven't seen Hellboy II, although the trailer made it look like more fun than the 1st. So I dunno *what* to think of Del Toro overall, really.

K

You could probably get a good film school assignment out of comparing HELLBOY I and II. The first is an action flick with a little more melodrama than comedy. The second is an outright comedy with a lot of action in it, where any dramatic bits are picked up and dropped more quickly than a thumbless juggler.

Mike

Watch the making of featurette. It's so sad how much care went into the visuals of that movie, and how little into the script.

What We Do Is Secret -- A, if you're a middle aged ex-punk rocker. C for everybody else.

Mike

CHE -- A- if you're a middle aged revolutionary. B for everybody else.

Surrogates — A for what it was (90-minute action flick), B- for what it could have been.