Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Review by Loc

From the creative genius that brought you Pan’s Labyrinth. Yup, Hellboy II is directed by Guillermo del Toro, the Academy Award winning director. There might not be a better choice to bring the world of Hellboy to the masses, a universe populated by dark beasties and darker mythology. And who better to revive the Hellboy franchise after the first film met limited success? Better he direct than the original director, Guillermo…del Toro? Wait, he did the first one, too? Wait, he did Blade 2? What? He’s Pan’s Labyrinth, he’s f’ing Pan’s Labyrinth! Stupid marketing tricks. Quick hit: from the mind that brought you Mimic, Hellboy II is still good fun.

Originating from the quirky comic series, this independent series has been around since 1992. Creator Mike Mignola infused his creation with a moody, bulky style that would go on to define the world of Hellboy. Over the years, he’s expanded the mythos, introducing more “freaks” that fought on the side of right. Yet, much like Hellboy, these new characters were far from the standard spandex-clad super-humans. Rather, you were given the aquatic Abe Sapien, the fire-starter Liz Sherman, Roger the Homunculus, the ectoplasmic Johann Kraus, and several others. Many of these characters have made it to the big screen, helping cement the pop culture impact of Mignola’s creations.

In the first film, del Toro presented a decent story and fleshed out the main characters. Yet, the flick moved slow and offered a relatively mundane story even as it featured supernatural threats. More importantly, the film was a mix of action, drama, and humor, but tonally focused on the dark seriousness of the situation. And this was actually a mistake. Thus, you were left with a blah offering and mediocre effects.

But, then came Pan’s Labyrinth, and everything changed! Or, maybe del Toro just has more freedom to actually do what he always could do, and we’re treated to it. Hellboy II embraces the bump-in-the-night nature of this universe, and del Toro embraces the opportunity to deliver more visually engaging characters in the sequel. Beyond the main characters, Hellboy II introduces the world of trolls, delivers a troll market to rival the Star Wars cantina in the breadth of weird looking things, and hands the mechanized Golden Army to ravenous fans on a platter. Yup, the creator of Pan’s Labyrinth definitely has his fingerprints on the visuals here as well.

The story itself is more in line with comic sensibilities. Not caricatures mind you, but comic timing and pacing. You’re introduced to the background of the story through a simple, uniquely animated fairytale. Then you get lots of interplay with the characters, simple and basic plot points, and random funny moments that don’t seem forced or overly concocted. The humor in seeing Hellboy and Abe singing love songs as they’re piss-drunk isn’t in the absurdity of the site of a demon and a fishboy, but rather the acknowledgment of the universal twist-ties that we all struggle to untangle in life’s simpler pleasures. And that’s a key component that makes this flick more enjoyable, more good-natured, and entertainly funny.

The actors are all good. Ron Perlman as Hellboy is excellent again. Perlman seems more comfortable in the character this time out and doesn’t seem to be trying to be the coolest demon-dog, he just is that cool. Selma Blair, Doug Jones, and Jeffrey Tambor reprise their roles as Liz, Abe, and Senior Agent Manning. All are good and the interplay works well with everyone. The troll prince and princess are weird looking tree nymphs, with Luc Goss playing the prince. Interestingly, Goss has a twin sister princess who looks like Ally McBeal, but more pale if that's possible. The interesting part is that they feel each other's pain, so when the boy gets smacked, the chick feels it, too. Sorta like Tomax and Xamot, only, well, no, exactly like Tomax and Xamot from GI Joe.

Overall, Hellboy II: The Golden Army is an entertaining flick. It takes great strides from the first film to deliver more humor, good action, and fun performances. The set-up for sequels is a bit heavy-handed, but it’s still done well enough to avoid groan-inducing moments. Out of 70 times 70 rows of the Golden Army, Hell II faces off with 45 times 45 rows. It’s an entertaining summer flick, from the creative genius that brought you Cronos!