I HATED the original Hellboy, but watched the sequel last night and LOVED IT. I was really surprised but thought it was just awesome start to finish.

Hellboy (particularly the DC) is leagues better than HBII. HBII has WAY too many stupid creatures in it. Also the first one had much more JOhn hurt, better villians, Rupert Evans character, and much more emotion and honesty.

didn't really care for the first film, the second one had better action scenes though (IMO).

I liked the creatures and world of HBII more than I, I liked the story and pacing a bit better in HBI.

Neither lived up to its potential, though.

I liked HB1 a lot. HB2 was okay but only because of the "day in the life" stuff of the characters. I didn't care about the Golden Army or the Prince.

Pretty disappointed in the second film, thought the first was much better.

Second film, easily. The original had a long, laborious second act that put me to sleep. The sequel, however, was nearly perfect from start to finish.

Loved both so it is too hard to pick. I really like the character and didn't know anything about it until the first movie.

Hope to see another one but box office will probably prevent that even though it has made ~ 40 million more in DVD already.

I enjoyed both, but the thing that really dissapointed me with part II was the lack of the over arching "Hellboy is going to murder the world" plot, we had touches (the scene with the angel was great) but I enjoy that arc better.

Also, the villians in part two were far too sympathetic, I was on their side too much so it kind of ruined any dramatic tension the action may have had.

The first film got pretty damned close to bringing the original comic to life. The second was a Guillermo Del Toro product that happened to feature the characters in Hellboy. I still enjoyed the second, but will always prefer the first, especially the director's cut.

The Second film.

The original had a great look and wonderful characters, but the story was very so-so.

The second maintained enough of that character development, while delivering awesome action sequences and humor.

It's not a huge gap in quality, though.

Hellboy - **1/ (out of 4)
Hellboy II - ***

How exactly was it "cute & trendy"? I'd say dark & different describes both movies pretty well. HB2 actually reminded me of something Tim Burton would have made back in his hay day.

The Hellboy in the first film still seems, to me at least, to be a far cry from the Hellboy of the comics when it comes to personality.

Have to see the director's cut, though, I didn't realize it made that much of a difference in the first film.

Loved the first one; very faithful to the source material. The second one, while also somewhat faithful, was TOO "Del Toro"-ized, too many weird monsters, just to show...weird monsters. Let's hope he doesn't fuck up the Hobbit as badly as he fucked up Hellboy 2. I looked at my watch 5 or 6 times during HB 2, while in the theater; for me, that = boring.

I really liked the first one. I thought the second one suffered from a variety of small problems, but the biggest thing wrong with it was I felt Ron Perlman's performance was very dull.

Really? I find that sympathetic villains tend to increase the dramatic tension, because you feel conflicted. When it's a very black and white, someone is clearly wrong situation, I feel nothing.

Loved the first one. Thought it was just a perfect film that keeps getting better with each viewing. And I'd give it a 10/10 rating. I enjoyed the second a great deal as well, but felt it was just too "busy" at times. Still an excellent sequel that I'd give 9/10.

Liked both altho I hated the opening sequence of Hellboy2 with Hellboy as a kid.

Hellboy

My initial thought when I saw the second one was "This is a case of TOO much director's freedom" Sometimes studio involvement can be a good thing.

The first since it was based off the original comic.

II was still great, but I like the darker villains of the comic. Prince Nuada was more of a tragic character.

[QUOTE=Hard Hunted ASF;9117054]I loved the original for maybe the same reasons you HATED it.

With it's heavier comic vibe & cute segments including "Little Hellboy" & the sing along, it's obviously aimed at a more commercial audience but not welcomed by me! To me, weaker in every aspect.
/QUOTE]

Little Hellboy showed up in the comics, and was probably more comical than what was portrayed in the movie ("Mmm, Pamcakes")

yeah...I miss those pamcakes...Hellboy's youth is hilarious...

Thought the first one was dull. Rupert Evans dragged down the movie. Second one was much more exciting and I really enjoyed the universe they created.

I enjoyed the 2nd one more.