Date: July 12
Location: AMC Sunset Place

Setting aside Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (possibly my favorite movie ever), there is no film in the past ten years that I find more moving, powerful or perfectly realized than Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth. It is the ultimate blend of high art and extravagant fantasy, and a singular vision that on its own puts Del Toro among the ranks of the finest filmmakers working today.

Now, Hellboy II: The Golden Army is no Pan’s Labyrinth. But it’s clear in every frame of this carnival ride of a film that the same extraordinary imagination is working the levers. Del Toro skips between art house fare such as The Devil’s Backbone and Labyrinth and mainstream action flicks such as Mimic and the Hellboy films, but it’s obvious that he throws himself into both with equal fervor. You can sense his love of cinematic storytelling in every sweeping camera move, not to mention the visual delights filling every frame.

Much has been written about the assortment of beautiful freaks in Hellboy II — from the pint-sized “tooth fairies” that get their name because that’s the part of their victims’ anatomy they like to devour first, to the gigantic plant monster that sprouts in New York City and proves as beautiful as it is dangerous. A scene in a hidden troll market has been compared to the Cantina scene in Star Wars, while the film’s lovely prologue seems like the Lord of the Rings films retold with puppets. And though story-wise Hellboy II isn’t on a level with those films, as a feast for the imagination it is even more impressive.

I won’t delve into the story, mostly because it’s pretty basic comic book stuff. There’s a creepy bad guy intent on destroying humanity looking for an ancient artifact that will help him do the job. In his way stand Hellboy (spawn of the Devil, summoned by Nazis but taken under the wing of a kind man as a baby and now fighting crime for the U.S. government), fish-man Abe Sapien and Hellboy’s girlfriend Liz, a firestarter whose temper runs as hot as her flaming hands. Hellboy, like Iron Man, is a refreshing superhero because he’s so damn funny — chomping on a cigar, throwing quips as often as punches. You could cut all the action and special effects from the film and still enjoy it as pure comedy.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army is really nothing more or less than a fun time at the movies — the definition of a “summer blockbuster.” Its lack of narrative ambition, as well as a few plot issues, knock it down a couple spots on my list, but it certainly reinforces something Pan’s Labyrinth made clear… that I will gladly follow wherever Guillermo Del Toro and his limitless imagination choose to lead.