Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

Whether you wind up liking the film or not, there's no denying its creativity. At first blush the story is only so-so, telling the tale of a vengeful elf prince out to destroy all humanity, and the FBI-employed demon sent to stop him. The pacing is erratic at best, throwing out a few dud moments among a few good-to-great scenes. And somehow the characters, both old and new, don't have the same lively spark of the first. But then you find yourself staring at the screen, and you realize what you're looking at. For everything wrong with the movie, the sheer quantity of memorable, iconic character and creature designs in this film are staggering and awe-inspiring. There are more fantastic, genuinely fascinating critters in this fantasy than in an entire year's worth of cinema. One scene in particular rivals the cantina scene in Star Wars for simply bombarding you with bizarre and quirky sights. Ultimately, while much of the actual movie portion of the movie just barely eaks out a win, the utterly wild imagination of the designers makes this time well spent.

7 out of 10.