Hellboy II: The Golden Army

I had been eagerly awaiting a sequel to Guillermo Del Toro’s 2004 offering of Hellboy, pretty much since I finished watching it four years ago. After much hype and tantalizing trailers, I went to see Hellboy II with Jenny, who is even more of a fan of the franchise than I am. I was expecting great things from this sequel, one in a lineup of summer blockbuster sequels, and I can say happily that I was not disappointed.

Del Toro seems to have been given more artistic license with this film than the first, and the audience is rewarded for it. The tale of the slighted prince of the Elves and the royal power struggle that threatens to destroy humanity is set in a rich fantastical world just behind the grimy veneer of New York City. Throughout the movie the audience is shown a panoply of horrible, amazing, and beautiful creatures inhabiting this hidden world brought to life in the way only a visionary like Del Toro could do. This secreted civilization is made all the more believable by the filthy patina of urban decay in which it is housed.

Del Toro also brings a lot more humanity to the main characters in this film; namely Hellboy, Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman,

and the newly-introduced gaseous German, Johann Krauss, while at the same time adding an air of anonymity to the masses of non-supernatural humanity. Where in the first Hellboy movie we found Hellboy lamenting the loss of a fellow BRPD agent, in the sequel half a dozen of these black-suited men meet their demise in the first scene alone, without so much as a shrug from any of the main characters.

Ron Perlman reprises his role as the reformed demon spawn Hellboy who’s gruff and imperfect humanity makes this title character a pleasure to watch. I could not imagine a more fitting actor to play the role, and, as history shows us, director Del Toro barely makes a movie without the man.

This film explores the relationship between Hellboy and Pyrokinetic Liz Sherman as these two larger-than-life personas attempt to adjust to living in close quarters with each other. Selma Blair reprises her role as Sherman with a good deal more experience under her belt, and it shows as she brings a much needed touch of subtlety and loneliness to the character.

The best improvement over the original Hellboy movie, however, belongs to Abe Sapien; played and, this time around also voiced, by Doug Jones. While Abe remains erudite and civilized, he is allowed much more humanity in this performance; he falls in love, he makes mistakes, he's just a lot easier to identify with in general. My favorite scene of the movie involves Abe and Hellboy drinking cheap Mexican beer and holding inebriated discourse on love songs and the mysteries of women. There’s a palpable sense of camaraderie there that just wasn’t present in the first film.

All in all, I cannot recommend this movie enough. Anybody who is a fan of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy comic books will find themselves right at home in this supernatural world of fantastic creatures, extreme peril, witty dialogue, and heart-wrenching humanity.