REVIEW: Hellboy II: The Golden Army

STARRING: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair View Trailer RELEASE DATE: 07/11/2008 DATE SCREENED: 07/08/2008 The Verdict GOOD - See it in the theater

The original Hellboy was only a minor success, and a mediocre film, raking in $99 million world wide on a $60 million budget. A sequel was not a certainty. Thanks to brisk DVD sales and the subsequent success of director Guillermo Del Toro’s Pans Labyrinth, the green light was given to Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Armed with an $82 million budget, he set out to correct the mistakes of the first film. The summer of 2008 will be known as the summer of the comic book movie, so the timing of the release is perfect. But can Hellboy II continue the streak of exciting comic book film adaptations?

Hellboy II opens with a scene of a young Hellboy being told the story of the mythical robotic Golden Army. The Golden Army was controlled by a race of mythical creatures for a war against humanity in ancient times. Eventually, a treaty was signed that gave the humans rights to the cities, with the creatures the rights to the forests. When Hellboy innocently asks his “father” if the story is real, he’s told that one day he will find out. We jump to the present day, where Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) is preparing to break the treaty by gaining the necessary pieces to the crown which controls the army. Humans have angered him with their utter disregard of life and the environment, and he’s had enough. He’s ready to start the war all over again. He kills his own father to claim a piece of the crown, but his twin sister Nuala flees with the final piece. Meanwhile, Hellboy (Ron Perlman) is having problems in his relationship with his girlfriend Liz (Selma Blair). He’s a slob, and she’s getting tired of it. Hellboy’s superiors are growing tired of him, as the members of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD) are supposed to live in secret, but he’s going around posing for pictures that the government has to suppress. The humans have one piece of the crown, and the Prince interrupts an auction to claim it. This gets Hellboy and his team involved, fighting creatures at the auction house. In the process the entire team (Hellboy, amphibious mind reader Abe Sapien, and fire controlling Liz) ends up on the evening news, much to Hellboy’s delight. A new team leader is brought in named Johann Krause, who is some type of powerful spirit creature. The four of them end up finding the princess and bringing her back to their secret compound, where she hides the final piece of the crown. Abe quickly finds himself falling in love with the Nuada, but it’s not long before the Prince shows up to snatch her away. The BPRD must deliver the final piece of the crown to Prince Nuada in the secret underground chamber of the Golden Army. But Hellboy is not about to give that piece up without a fight.

I’ve never read a Hellboy comic, so I don’t know how well the story and characters match with the comic. What I do know is this is a much better film than the first one. This time the film is focused on Hellboy and his relationships with the other members of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Hellboy becomes a character that we really care about and get behind in this film. He argues with his girlfriend Liz, fights with his bosses, and is the first in line when it comes time to face off with an enemy. He’s a guy in love, who also wants to be loved by the public. When it comes time to kick butt, he does so with an attitude and a sense of humor. I know that character development is not what most people go to a summer action movie to see. People want to see BIG action sequences. Hellboy has plenty of action as well. The team fights a variety of creatures, including a giant plant creature at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge. The team must face off with the Golden Army, and Hellboy has not one, but two, fights with Prince Nuada.

Visually, the film looks like it cost much more than $82 million. You are taken into these underground worlds with creatures of all types, and none of it looks fake. Hellboy pulls you in with a good story, with humorous dialogue sprinkled throughout, and there is not too much talking before the next action sequence. The big mistake of the first film was in centering the story around the human character John Myers. He’s nowhere to be found this time. See this one in the theater. Although not at the level of Iron Man or Incredible Hulk, Hellboy has kept the streak of exciting comic book movies going. Let’s hope it continues with The Dark Knight.