Film Review: Hellboy II - The Golden Army

By: DThompson | in: Movies |

Hellboy II

Don’t ignore this film in favor of The Dark Knight. While the new Hellboy film lacks the dark, dangerous quality of creator Mike Mignola’s graphic novels (as did the first), Hellboy II: The Golden Army is big and fun and definitely worth seeing in the theater. Guillermo del Torro’s latest effort is a great monster film and a great action film and a not half bad romance as well.

Hellboy actor Ron Perlman once said in an interview that he was seen as an object of romantic affections near the start of his career. The actor concluded that this was primarily because in those early roles he was slathered with so much makeup no one knew what his true appearance was. Now he’s a big star, but still coated in a ton or two of prosthetics. Still, there’s little chance that as Hellboy, he’s anybody’s romantic interest. Well, save for those who like the sarcastic and fire-engine-red types. There’s no accounting for taste, is there?

Hellboy II

And that really is the point of Hellboy II, itself buried under a ton of wildly imaginative creature effects and graphically exciting action sequences, but at its heart, a double romance between four outsiders. A better film than the first, which wasn’t half bad itself, Hellboy II goes a long way towards humanizing its non-human characters.

Of course, it’s also an action film. Do I really need to fill you in on the particulars? Hellboy and his fellow defenders of humanity fight assorted monsters, some small, most big, at least one, really huge. Hellboy cracks wise, smokes Cuban cigars and pummels everything in sight. His girlfriend Liz explodes into flame at a moment’s notice and gill man Abe Sapien… is just really fun to look at. This film also features a villain who has real reasons for the horrible things he does and isn’t just some mechanical wind-up bad guy.

Hellboy II

It’s taken as a given these days that a big-budget action-fantasy-sort-of-horror extravaganza like this film is going to have great effects. Even a dud like Speed Racer looked great. But, Speed Racer proved that effects don’t make a movie, even an effects-driven movie. Thankfully, Perlman has created a loveable outsider in Hellboy and director Del Toro knows how to tell a good story with a unique visual style. After an opening too reminiscent of Men in Black II, the new Hellboy moves on quickly to more original fare.

Despite doing his monster hunting in New York, where you’d think a giant devil with sawed off horns wouldn’t catch a second glance, Hellboy is quickly labelled a freak by the very citizens he risks his life trying to save. Only in the underworld dedicated to humanity’s destruction does the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense team fit in.

Love and loving relationships populate this movie from one side to the other and though all the couples have their difficulties it’s refreshing to watch a summer blockbuster where not a single character’s lower lip quivers even once. Of course, gill man Abe Sapien doesn’t really count in that regard because he confesses that he’s not sure he even has tear ducts. Even so, the moping about is held to a minimum thanks to the timely intervention of those universal panaceas, lite beer and the song “I Can’t Smile Without You”.

VERDICT: The best time you’ll have this summer watching a devil, a gill man and a girl on fire fight the forces of darkness.

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Posted on July 13, 2008

Comments

5 Responses to “Film Review: Hellboy II - The Golden Army”

Charbarred on July 13th, 2008 10:40 am

Kinda makes me wanna go back and see the first one. I recall having it on DVD and falling asleep in the middle. Not because it was a bad film, simply because I was tired. I never got around to watching the rest of it though.

DThompson on July 13th, 2008 10:47 am

It’s not necessary to see the first film (or read the graphic novels) in order to enjoy Hellboy II, but they are both worth seeing. I would rate this new Hellboy as a better film. It’s also better than The Incredible Hulk which had equally impressive effects but a pretty one-dimensional villain. Also, there’s something truly other-worldly about del Torro’s other-worldly creature design, if you’ve seen Pan’s Labyrinth you know what I mean.

Rusty on July 14th, 2008 11:59 pm

oooh I’m going to the cinema to watch this, thx D!

DThompson on July 15th, 2008 10:42 pm

You’ll love it Rusty!

patrick on July 24th, 2008 3:02 am

Hellboy is dependably fun; for sure that director has an amazing imagination, reminded me a lot of his work in Pan’s Labyrinth