Hellboy II: The Golden Army

• Directed by Guillermo del Toro
• July 11, 2008
• Based on Hellboy created by Mike Mignola

Hellboy battles a prince planning to reclaim the world for all magical creatures by using an unstoppable army.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army works largely because it is not a standard monster movie. They are complex creatures with emotions and thoughts and goals. It is all wrapped in superhero story with tinges of horror but not necessarily horror. In execution these are more like scary or even odd-looking people than creatures in the night.

It also leans much more into comedy than the last one. In doing so it puts a greater focus on the character relationships and makes the movie closer to a workplace comedy/dramady than a standard comic book movie. The humor relies on the quirks of the characters personalities without mocking them. Not that it does everything perfect.

In Hellboy Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor) and Hellboy (Ron Perlman) had come to a bit of an understanding. This resets things to the beginning rather than keep that change. Manning is perhaps more annoying than before. He became too much of a jerk here to the point he was obnoxious and kind of hurt the scenes he was in. He’s being difficult or clashing just to do so. He was good, but he’s too often the obnoxious office jerk. He was a jerk to be a jerk.

Though it resets Manning/Hellboy, itdoes build upon the rekindled relationship of Liz (Selma Blair) and Hellboy. Despite their unusual nature’s it is very normal. If anything Hellboy needs to grow up a bit. They are going through growing pains with one looking for rapid adjustment while the other sees no need.

Clearly there is more of a focus on relationships in this film than in Hellboy and that goes beyond the aforementioned Liz/Hellboy. Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) finds love with elf Princess Nuala (Anna Walton) whom the BPRD must protect from her brother Prince Nuada Silverlance (Luke Goss) who seeks the final piece of a magic crown that will allow him control of the titular army.

There are themes of environmentalism as well as the past giving way to the future. Many of the creatures here have a nature tinge to them. Hellboy is about to become a father having gotten Liz pregnant. And there’s also the theme of finding your way. Hellboy after all has to decide whether he wants to stay in the BPRD or make his own path in the world.

Nuada presents humanity as bad with him as the wronged despite wanting to engage in genocide. He ain’t looking to conquer. He makes some good points with Hellboy becoming doubtful of the work he is doing. Nuada is not taking his actions to be evil but for his people even if his actions are misguided. In other words, Hellboy II: The Golden Army is more than a destroy the bad guy movie.

There’s a dark beauty to many of the creatures. You cannot look away from them. With a reliance on practical effects as often as possible, this is an amazing to watch movie. This movie maintains a quirky feel throughout. It is unlike any other comic book movie I have ever seen-at least outside of the first Hellboy. Consciously or not it understands what makes a comic book a comic book and extends that to the movie. When you read something with Spider-Man or Wolverine it should feel unique. You should instantly within the first few words or panels know you have something different from the other even if the cover is missing. They may be owned by the same company but do not tell similar stories. That’s what you get here. Something not often understood on any level by comic book filmmakers.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army is everything you could want in a movie. Exciting, fun, and leaves you wanting more.