Review of Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) by Michael V — 05 Dec 2011

Big Red is back and in a hell of a way. A grand and spectacular sequel that surpasses the first. Director Del Toro returns after his triumph with Pan's Labyrinth and you really see what he has learned with since then.

Almost everybody returns along with a new addition of Seth MacFarlane doing his best Die Hard 3 Jeremy Irons impersonation. The story is quite good including the acting and nicely timed sense of humor that including a great moment where Hellboy and Abe duet to Barry Mannilow drunk.

The brutality fits in nicely with the comedy I have to say and the chain fist was a plus most definitely. Prince Nuada's character is one of del Toro's best villains, with spectacular motive and an emotional appeal that in the end makes us pity the fallen warrior.

Abe and Nuala's love story is great and the climax is a tragic moment. The special effects are very impressive with a mix of make-up effects, CGI and puppetry even the imaginative creatures used in this movie which shows that true fantasy film making is not dead.

The elemental's death is almost tear inducing. And the creature design for the Angel of Death is horribly beautiful. The end battle with the Golden Army and then the duel on the gears between Hellboy and Prince Nuada truely left me in awe.

And do I highly suggest checking out the behind the scenes feature about the making of the troll market. High impressive and detailed work went into that.