Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Jul 19th, 2008 | By Rick | Category: Reviews
Ok. Here’s the setup of Hellboy II: The Golden Army. The Elven King Balin — oops, I mean Balor — is getting overrun by the children of men, and so rather than go to the Grey Havens, he takes a goblin’s advice (something one should never do) and lets him make a humongous army of orcs, I mean invincible clockwork killing machines. To control them, the wily old goblin makes the king a Golden crown with three parts: one on each side and a center one to rule them all.
The Universal Studios publicity machine has anointed director Guillermo del Toro “visionary” and they’re right. Only problem is, the vision is J.R.R. Tolkien’s. For someone who claims not to have read all of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (but I’ll bet he has now), he’s absorbed a lot of Tolkien’s zeitgeist. On the other hand, he stamps the familiar oeuvre of elves, goblins and trolls with his own cheeky sensibility — the goblin, now in his old age, wheels around on an amputee cart (seems he lost his legs working on the Golden Army). The first otherworldly beasties our heroes encounter are called “tooth fairies” not, as one would suppose, because they leave quarters in place of children’s molars, or even because of their mouthful of chompers, but because when they devour their victims they go for the teeth.
Then there are our heroes: Hellboy Mark II (Ron Perlman) is much the same as in 2004’s version — a smart-aleck demon caught between his love for humanity and humanity’s loathing for him. Abe the humanoid fish (Doug Jones) is a slightly more human C-3PO that seems on the verge at any moment of describing the number of languages in which he is proficient. Finally, there’s Liz (Selma Blair), who is beautiful but with a fiery disposition. They all work for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD), a shadowy government organization that springs into action when the Golden Army threatens to be born anew.
Hellboy II is a fun popcorn ride, with some imaginative set pieces along the way. My favorite is the giant beanstalk creature — an Elemental Forest God, or so the film’s Wikipedia page tells me — which, when dispatched by Hellboy, produces new life in the form of fluffy seeds that float like snow from the sky. With this touch, del Toro shows that he is in tune with the myth — fundamental to many human societies — of the dying God that gives life to its earthly subjects.
And it’s these small touches that elevate del Toro’s work above the run of the mill X-Men rip-off it appears to be. Within the confines of a comic-book adaptation — plucky band of superheroes, misunderstood by an hostile public, yadda, yadda, yadda — he finds small seams of originality. For a fuller exposition of his peculiar genius, you can see 2006’s dark, masterful Pan’s Labyrinth. But if you’re in the mood for a fine, lightweight time at the movies, with amusingly drawn characters and kick-ass action, Hellboy II might just be the ticket.
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Totally agree here Rick. I do think Del Toro elevated this movie from the basic summer fare we are usually fed.
With this movie and IRON MAN and DARK KNIGHT, I’d say we’ve been pretty lucky in ‘08 as far as summer movies are concerned.
Also agree with you assessment of PAN’S. What a wonderful picture that is.
Yeah, I like del Toro a lot. I think he is much better than his Hollywood movies (Mimic, Blade II, Hellboy and now this one). Seems that when he’s working outside of Hollywood (and in his own language?), his films — Pan’s Labyrinth, The Devil’s Backbone and the del-Toro-produced The Orphanage — have much more depth. Wouldn’t be the first time … see Renoir, Buñuel, etc., etc..
I never really liked this comic book. It seems a little too ridiculous for even me. The demon from hell with his horns cut off thing is interesting, but I had his little cliche “attitude problem” he has going on. An “why do I always have to deal with this shit” casual saunter. Just doesn’t do it for me. I would much rather watch X-men 23 directed by Uwe Boll than any version of Hellboy.
I’ve never read Hellboy; my comic-reading days, alas, are over. However, it does seem to me to be kind of an X-Men rip off …
Great observations Rick…
You know, the more I think about Hellboy II, the more I wish they would have explored the relationship between Hellboy and Liz.
Now, I know the fans probably would be bored with that, but the fact that Liz was pregnant and was nervous about HB finding out coulda made for an interesting plotline. It coulda made Hellboy II feel a little more human too.
Interesting ideas, Fox, but I think you said it: the fans — the kind you need to make a summer blockbuster work, the kind who come back multiple times — probably wouldn’t stand for it.
Hellboy is dependably fun; for sure that director has an amazing imagination, reminded me a lot of his work in Pan’s Labyrinth
Yep. I liked this movie, turns out it was as much fun as “The Dark Knight,” only without all the baggage.
I have to wait a while to see this, but I cannot wait.
I think you’ll like it, Nick … as pure a comic-book movie as there is, I think. Enjoyable as all getout.