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Movie Review: Hellboy II: The Golden Army
'Hellboy' sequel surpasses original
By Brett Troxler
btroxler@wbrz.com
Web Producer
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PLAY OFFICIAL TRAILER
out of 4 stars.
Found by the Americans during World War II, he's half man, half demon. He enjoys long walks in the park (just because it would be against the rules) and has a strong affection for things like TV, candy bars, kitty cats, cigars and beer.
Lots of beer.
He's big, he's crass, he's ready to kick some...well, you get the picture.
Hellboy (Ron Perlman) was originally summoned by the Nazis and foretold to bring about the world's end, but instead our big red hero has chosen a life where he leads a secret team of misfit super agents that work behind-the-scenes, most of the time anyway, to keep the human race safe from the things that go bump in the night. Joining him are fire-wielding girlfriend Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), aquatic know-it-all Abe Sapien (Doug Jones), and the transparent by-the-books Johann Krauss—a new addition.
This time around, Hellboy and his hand cannon come face-to-face with an old bedtime story. He must prevent the rise of the Golden Army under the control of the power-seeking Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), who bears a striking resemblance to Tom Cruise as Lestat in “Interview with the Vampire.”
Did I mention the Golden Army was forged by goblins and is practically invincible and relentless?
The world of Hellboy is a bizarre one by its very nature, but it’s even more so in the franchise's second coming. If you just walk in blindly off the street looking to get your movie-going fix, what you find on screen might be a hard pill to swallow.
Hellboy's Earth is even more surreal than the worlds of your average super hero, but that being said, you must realize that everything experienced by H.B. and Co. seems very normal to them. For this reason, the “Hellboy” films can sometimes take on a sitcom-like quality.
Visionary writer/directer Guillermo del Toro (“Pan's Labyrinth”) brings this unusual comic book world to life once again, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a better combination of makeup, set design, CGI and costumes than what's on display here. In addition to the impressive visuals of the heroes of “The Golden Army,” you'll also see an underworld troll market, a freakish angel of death, an ancient war—one of the film's best sequences for its stylistic simplicity—and a giant elemental foe that takes Manhattan by storm. The film also features hyper-choreographed action sequences, several laugh-inducing one-liners and a fantastic final duel.
And then there's the title character himself. Perlman once again puts on quite the show as Hellboy using a dry, sarcastic delivery to become one of the more likable superheroes of the 21st century. The movie would be nothing without him. Jones is also brilliant as sidekick Abe. Together these two make up one of the movie's more memorable moments, where beer-swilling and classic love ballads collide in a eccentric instance of male bonding.
Even if it is an acquired taste, “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” is visually appealing, packed to the brim with action, funny, and extremely entertaining. It's not often we can say a sequel lives up to the original, and even less likely that one surpasses its predecessor, but this is one of those times. However, comparatively speaking, “Hellboy II” isn't exactly the golden sunset of comic book films this year—“Iron Man,” “The Incredible Hulk” and “Wanted” are better movies overall—but it's a decent one, and a nice prelude to the coming of “The Dark Knight.”
