Hellboy

When I was in line to see Hellboy II: The Golden Army, I admit, I was uneasy. I so loved the first movie--gorgeous to look at, spooky and scary, funny, almost a perfect balance--that I didn't see how anything to follow could live up to it. But while Hellboy II wasn't perfect (the dialogue wasn't as nuanced as the first, I missed the voice of David Hyde Pierce, and the character of Tom Manning went over the edge to parody), it was so, soooo good. The visuals were just lovely, otherworldly, alien, and yet recognizable. The fight scenes were satisfying; suped up, but not overly wire-y (a pet peeve of mine). The story line was a bit predictable, but with enough twists and genuine emotion to make you not care about that.

Whew.

I'm not given to summer blockbusters, but this summer has a lot of comic book and historical favorites of mine. And after feeling like such a grinch about Indy, it almost blotted out how much I loved Ironman and am looking forward to the new Batman movie.

Thank you, Guillermo. I may just make it until the premier of True Blood and Battlestar Galactica starts up again.