Before we even get into the analysis of the movie, let me give you the general plot. After an ancient truce existing between humankind and the invisible realm of the fantastic is broken, hell on Earth is ready to erupt. It’s up to the planet’s toughest superhero to battle the merciless dictator that broke the truce and to restore peace and order. He may be red. He may be horned. He may be the occasional sloppy drunk. But when you need the job done right, it’s time to call in Hellboy (Ron Perlman). Along with his team at the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, his pyrokinetic girlfriend Liz (Selma Blair), the aquatic empath Abe Sapien(Doug Jones), and a new member, the protoplasmic mystic Johann Kraus (voiced by Seth MacFarlane), the BPRD (located in Trenton, NJ, represent, yo!) will travel between the surface strata and the unseen magical one, where creatures of fantasy become corporeal.Now for the more fun (and much longer) part. The review! We begin by looking at the cast. A sad fact of life is that you usually remember the acting in a movie only when it is bad, and rarely ever when it is good. I am happy to say, though, that everyone involved with this project did a great job so I will give the devils their due here (Pun very much intended). Ron Perlman was brilliant as Hellboy reprising the role that feeds hisrabid fanboy fanbase. Selma Blair also did a fantastic job as the only pyrokinetic that can light Hellboy’s fires. Doug Jones is an extremely underrated actor and a real superhero for sucking it up and putting on that fish suit before every day of filming. Seth MacFarlane did a solid job playing the voice of Johann Kraus. MacFarlane was a nice surprise, and he will probably fill a few seats just by drawing in some simpletons looking for a Family Guy reference.
If you are a fan of Hellboy, then you will be thrilled at what visual-effects guru and fellow geek Guillermo Del Toro did differently from the first movie. First off, he did not constantly beat you over the head with the comic’s two main themes, like in the first Hellboy. These themes are, of course, that Hellboy is the son of the devil who must choose between surrendering to the tempting forces of darkness or assisting those in the human domain; and that the love he shares with Liz is always difficult due to their radically different backgrounds, like a demonic Romeo and Juliet. This would not be Hellboy if those themes were not present, but they are much more cleverly and carefully woven into the story this time so you won't tire of them when they creep into view.
Because of the better use of themes, Del Toro was able to concentrate more on what Hellboy does best: explore the things that go bump in the night. The things that go bump were amazing and the fact that Del Toro worked so many different ones into this story makes this Hellboy truly worthy of the big screen.
This was one of the most visually stunning movies I had seen in a long time. You cannot tell where the costumes stop and the CGI begin. Even when Hellboy is fighting a 50 ft. earth elemental, it moves so fluidly that you cannot tell if it is being CGI’d or if Del Toro actually built a 50 ft. animatronic creature (even if it was most likely CGI’d). These jaw dropping graphics help the movie immerse you more in the story.
Not that it needed much help pulling you in since the story grabs hold of you from the very first scene and doesn’t let you go until the credits start to roll. With different plotlines playing out at a breakneck pace, fight scenes that you wish would never end, and light comedic moments to connect it all together, the story does not drag at all throughout the entire 1 hour and 50 minutes of the movie. Even if not a Hellboy fan, you cannot help but enjoy the fantastic story and dynamic characters that Del Toro develops and weaves into the movie like some amazing cinema seamstress.
The final thing that I can say that I enjoyed was that Del Toro showed more of the relationship between Abe Sapien and Hellboy. They are supposedly great friends, yet they seemed very distant in the first movie. In Hellboy II, you see them bond and talk about deep things with each other, something that I think you were missing from the first movie and it really took away from the Abe Sapien character. Adding that depth to Abe was key to my enjoying this movie.
The best thing though about the Hellboy series is that no matter how big or little a fan you are, you can walk into any story arc with little to no knowledge of what came before it and still enjoy it. Hellboy II: The Golden Army continues this great tradition with another stand-alone tale of how Earth’s most misunderstood group of heroes save our butts with us none the wiser. With how Guillermo Del Toro was able to stay so true to the comics and still produce such a high quality product that Hellboy newbies could enjoy, I have to give Hellboy II: The Golden Army - 5 hellfire fists out of 5.
-Ray Carsillo
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