Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Starring Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, John Hurt, Luke Goss, Anna Walton, Jeffrey Tambor, and the voice of Seth MacFarlane.
Backstory
Every time I saw the trailers for Hellboy II and they said “from the visionary director of Pan’s Labyrinth,” I’d giggle like a crazy man. It was funny…because it was true! It seemed like only I knew that Guillermo del Toro was a huge fan of the original Hellboy comics, had directed the first film, and was trying desperately to do a second one, but only the critical acclaim of Pan’s Labyrinth gave him the power to do it. The critics were largely positive, but all my friends who are die-hard Hellboy fans found it somewhat disappointing. I walked into the theatre unsure of what to expect.
Plot
Things are going rough for Hellboy, mainly that his girlfriend Liz is very irritable lately. And then, when they’re sent out on a case, Hellboy sees his chance, and decides to blow the cover of the BPRD so he can finally hang out with humans. Because of this digression, a new agent is sent in to oversee Hellboy and his crew: Dr. Johann Krauss, a ghost in a containment suit. As their investigation continues, we learn that Nuada, prince of the elves, is getting ready to unleash the mythical Golden Army so the creatures of myth and folklore can once again roam free. The only thing that can help our heroes is Nuada’s sister, Nuala, who Abe Sapien just happens to fall in love with. Can our heroes stop Nuada and save the world? Will the world come to accept Hellboy for who he is?
What I Liked
In many ways, this is like the great fantasy films of the 1980s that I was raised on. Massive sets, a large assortment of animatronic creatures…very cool. Ron Perlman once again puts in a great performance as Hellboy, and there’s just lots of very nice eye candy.
What I Didn’t Like
One thing that strikes me about superhero films is that, when we hit the third film, there’s this feeling that the filmmakers went, “Screw it! Let’s just thrown in all the cool stuff that we always wanted to do!” This feeling really comes through in Hellboy II, and it makes the plot a little baffling.
Final Assessment
big, goofy fun.