Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 11/11/2008 Rating: Pg13
The feverish Hellboy II: The Golden Army is a very busy sequel that might have looked unhinged in the hands of a less visionary director than Guillermo del Toro. Ron Perlman returns as Hellboy, aka "Red," the Dark Horse Comics demon-hero with roots in the mythical world but personal ties in the human realm. Still working, as he was in Hellboy, for a secret department of the federal government that deals (as in "Men In Black") with forces of the fantastic, Red and his colleagues take on a royal elf (Luke Goss) determined to smash a longtime truce between mankind and the forces of magic. Meanwhile, Red's relationship with girlfriend Liz (Selma Blair), who can burst into flames at will, is going through a rocky stage observed by Red's fishy friend Abe (Doug Jones), himself struck by love in this film. Del Toro brilliantly integrates the ordinary and extraordinary, diving into an extended scene set in a troll market barely hidden behind the façade of typical city streets. He also unleashes a forest monster that devastates an urban neighborhood, but then--interestingly--brings a luminous beauty to the same area as the creature (an "elemental") succumbs to a terrible death. Del Toro's art direction proves masterful, too, in a climactic battle set in a clockworks-like stronghold tucked away in rugged Irish landscape. But it's really the juxtaposition of visual marvels with not-so-unusual relationship issues that gives Hellboy II a certain jaunty appeal hard to find in other superhero movies. --Tom Keogh Stills from Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Click for larger image)
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Princes, Demons and Barry Manilow:
The frenetic and kinetic sequel to Hellboy is a madly imaginative romp that has even more zip than the first. Benicio Del Torro increases the depths to each character, given them emotional play around the story and keeps the ideas running. Del Torro brings his gift for visual flair into the movie ala his Pan's Labyrinth. The other point in "Hellboy 2's" favor is that Hellboy begins to feel the conflict between the world of humans and of his own kind. The conflict with the elvin world presents Liz with... more info
Good Movie for the Hellboy Lover, but not as good as the First:
This movie aims a little too much towards the action crowd and loses some of the character interaction that the first movie took the time to develop. The favorite characters are still here and still loveable. It is just as if the writers were trying for too much in this movie. It is still good and I enjoyed it.
great movie:
The extra $5 was worth the fancy cover that transforms from movie hellboy to comic hellboy.
Hellboy II was not a disappointment:
With sequels there's always something lost... and it's never as good as the first one... this sequel was. I loved hellboy but I also love hellboyII. If you havent seen it... do it...
