Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Rated: PG-13
As I found myself already giddy with excitement from watching the opening title from Hellboy II: The Golden Army, I had to stop myself and ask "Am I being objective enough? Am I such a fanboy of Guillermo del Toro that I'm refusing to allow for the possibilities of flaws in this film? I must stay alert!" Unfortunately, Mr. del Toro had to go and be his amazing self and thus I was absolutely drawn into the wonderment and imagination of his masterfully designed world all the way until the final scenes. Those final scenes reassured me that my critical senses were not totally blown as their weaknesses throw into sharp contrast the glory that is the film's previous 100 minutes. Hellboy II is an improvement on the previous film in every way. From the beginning, we know that this will be a massive story as a young, adorable Hellboy gets a bedtime story from his father Professor Broom (John Hurt) about a war between men and the supernatural creatures of the world. Man was almost defeated by the elves use of an indestructible Golden Army. But the Elven King felt guilty for so much bloodshed and offered humanity a truce. This did not sit so well with his son Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) who went to go pout in exile. Thus ends the bedtime story and thus begins Hellboy's move from being the man of a myth to a man living in a world of myths. The world of the first film seems cramped compared to the vast scope of Hellboy II. Most of the film takes place in either Trenton, New Jersey or Manhattan, but there are worlds beneath worlds and they're populated with creatures all sprung from the limitless imagination of Guillermo del Toro. Watching the scenes in the Troll Market, I couldn't help but feel that del Toro's next project, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, will be somewhat limiting as he's forced to live in both Tolkien, and to a lesser extent, Peter Jackson's world rather than having the space to just go wild. Some directors need restraint and boundaries to better craft their art. Del Toro isn't one of them. 
But what makes Hellboy II marvelous is that del Toro never forgets intimacy and humor. He blends the two beautifully in a scene that I will only say involves Hellboy (Ron Perlman), Abe Sapien (Doug Jones), a love song, and a lot of beer. I would call it a standout scene but when there are so many scenes equally as good, it's a matter of picking a favorite scene amongst so much quality. For me, the scene with The Elemental blew me away but your favorite may be different and just as worthwhile. As for the cast, Ron Perlman and Doug Jones (actually getting to voice his lines rather than being dubbed over by a bigger-name star) show once again that if you need a great performance delivered under make-up, you only need their names in your rolodex (people still use those, right?). The only new addition to the B.P.R.D. (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense) is Johann Strauss (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) whose uptight, by-the-book nature makes a great foil for Hellboy but due to his supernatural being (he's ectoplasm), is someone that can actually fight Big Red, as opposed to the easily tossed aside bureaucrat Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor). But what's a summer action film without a little action? It's kind of unfair that not only can del Toro write strong characters, give them engaging dialogue, place them in an enchanting world unlike any other, but the guy is also a whiz at directing fight scenes. Watching Nuada's sword fights are magical. They're fast yet easy to follow; beautiful yet brutal. The only bad thing I can really say about The Golden Army is that the story seems to run out of steam by the end. The final fight lacks the adrenaline of previous action scenes and character motivations are sloppy and unpersuasive. But this can be forgiven, especially when you consider how much Del Toro packs in, from character development, to plot movement, to set pieces, in the previous hour and forty minutes. I watched the original Hellboy the night before I went out to see The Golden Army and in just four years, del Toro has improved by leaps and bounds from a film that was still quite good but isn't the blast I found it to be when it first opened in April 2004. While not as good as Pan's Labyrinth, it still manages to take the designs and character detail from that film and seamlessly transfer it to a big summer blockbuster. This is a summer full of superheroes and while he doesn't have the name recognition of Batman or Iron Man, you'd be doing yourself a disservice if you skipped out on a superhero flick that's like nothing you've seen before. Words by |