Review of Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) by Harry W — 28 Apr 2014

Although not as impressed with Hellboy as most other people did, it did have enough entertainment value to encourage me to watch the sequel, so Hellboy II: The Golden Army was a film definitely worth a viewing.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army takes pretty much no time before it reveals itself as triumphing its predecessor.

One of the flaws in the first Hellboy was that despite its large universe and the potential of what it could do with a list of diverse characters, it put all its focus solely on Hellboy without even remembering to implement in a sufficient quantity of action scenes or other compelling characters. Hellboy II: The Golden Army instead manages to ensure that there is a sufficient story behind Hellboy himself while also exploring the various other characters in the story through implementing some prominent roles for them so that the film is more diverse as well as ensuring that the quantity of action and humour is increased. Although the story may feel slightly reminiscent of X-Men and have visual elements reminiscent of Blade and Alien, it is still a very entertaining film which increases the good name of the series and very easily entertains.

The story in Hellboy II: The Golden Army is a lot more interesting because it branches out and delves deep into the mythology of the universe that Mike Mignola wrote it into when he penned the original comic book series, and it introduces new concepts and more interesting characters while also keeping its story revolving around the titular Hellboy and boasting an entertaining script. The script gives a lot of strong dialogue to the film with a comedic edge superior even to the original Hellboy as there is many moments which encouraged me to laugh. So from a comedic standpoint, Hellboy II: The Golden Army also surpasses its predecessor in terms of the quality of comic relief as well as the quantity of it.

And from a visual perspective, Hellboy II: The Golden Army is unforgettable.

As well as using a lot of appealing scenery which maintains a dark palette to enhance the grim atmosphere without wasting it all on poor lighting, the cinematography in Hellboy II: The Golden Army also moves really well through everything and takes a step back so that the scale of the story feels bigger and so that a lot more is captured within the visual plane. There is a lot of technical elements in Hellboy II: The Golden Army that have improved since its predecessor and so it is important the cinematography is of good enough quality to capture it all which proves to be the case.

The visual effects are also very superior. In Hellboy, the visual effects were strong although sometimes it felt like the footage had come out of a video game. In the four years since then, Hellboy II: The Golden Army has gained superior visual effects which make everything look a lot more organic. If you look closely at the character Hellboy's movements in scenes which Ron Perlman clearly didn't film, the movements of the character and the various other creatures and such feel a lot more natural. It increases the credibility of Hellboy II: The Golden Army and makes it a more colourful and powerful experience than it already was. And all of this contributes to some awesome action sequences which are vastly entertaining for many reasons as well as implementing in good moments of humour, so as a superhero film Hellboy II: The Golden Army manages to nail success in many areas.

The makeup has also improved since the first Hellboy because the strange creatures in Hellboy II: The Golden Army look a lot more convincing and there is a versatile bunch of them to boast. It goes deep into the strange universe that Hellboy II: The Golden Army has been written into and makes the visual experience of things even better, managing to score the film an Academy Award nomination for Best Makeup.

So frankly, Guillermo Del Toro's skilful role as director on Hellboy II: The Golden Army ensures that it is well written and directed very stylishly enough, and on top of that is the strength of a dedicated cast.].

Ron Perlman proves once again what makes him perfect for the role of the titular Hellboy. Delivering a performance which still looks seriously badass and delves deeper into the heroic role, Ron Perlman gives a performance which is more compelling and hilarious than in the previous Hellboy. As the story is not solely focused on him, the expectations of his performance to hold the screen aren't as demanding, yet he gives an entertaining and thought provoking performance which breathes depth into the comic book character and has audiences cheering for him and laughing with him all together at the same time. Ron Perlman is a seriously awesome lead in Hellboy, and he re-establishes just what makes the character such a legendary figure.

Selma Blair's return to the role of Liz Sherman is extremely superior to in the first Hellboy. In Hellboy, the character Liz Sherman was not all that necessary and her relationship with Hellboy was not that compelling so the character felt blank, but in Hellboy II: The Golden Army Selma Blair truly gives it her all and makes the character a lot more compelling and thoughtful. Her chemistry with Ron Perlman is a lot better and her character seems to have developed a lot better, as has Selma Blair whose line delivery is fairly effective and her expression of emotions is a lot stronger. Selma Blair steps it up in Hellboy II: The Golden Army very well.

Doug Jones' return to the role of Abe Sapien is great because he is a lot more in tune with what he is saying and physically doing this time as he voiced the character as well as playing it, and his physical acting was great in establishing the nature of his character. His appearance as the Angel of Death was great as well.

The character Johann Krauss is a strange one, and the importance comes more from the voice acting than the physical acting. But I thought at first that I would not be able to really believe it with Seth MacFarlane in the voice role as I am too familiar with all the characters he voices on Family Guy and American Dad. But after a while of adjusting to it, I was able to enjoy what he did because it was fairly convincing and certainly funny after a few hit and miss jokes at the start. So Seth MacFarlane does a good job of voicing Johann Krauss.

Luke Goss also put up a hell of an awesome fight as antagonist Prince Nuada with a look similar to the look of a mix of Legolas from Lord of the Rings and Lucius Malfoy though packing the same kind of punch as Blade in the previous Guillermo Del Toro film Blade II. Anna Walton and John Hurt also gave good supporting performances.

So despite feeling a little bit familiar in certain parts, Hellboy II: The Golden Army is a large step up from its predecessor thanks to Guillermo Del Toro's improved direction, a better story and some unforgettable visual qualities.