Review of Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) by Spangle — 19 Sep 2017

A thrilling and fantastical return to the Bureau of Paranoramal Research and Defense, Hellboy II: The Golden Army is far less gothic than its predecessor and, in focusing more on the fantasy element, is a great improvement on its already strong first entry. Far more in Guillermo del Toro's wheelhouse as more of a fantastical fairy tale with fairies, elves, and children reading those very same fairy tales, Hellboy II: The Golden Army starts off with informing the audience about the war between humans and elves. Born with a hole in their heart that is filled with earthly possessions, humanity sought to wipe out every other being on Earth. The only ones standing in their way were the elves who raised a golden army that was indestructible. Destroying the humans in numbers that disturbed the Elf King, a truce was reached for the elves to stay in the forest with two pieces of the golden crown that controls the Golden Army and the humans to stay in the cities with one piece of the crown. However, when elvish Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) returns and is determined to raise the Golden Army to wipe out humanity, it is on Hellboy and the gang to save the world once again.

Central to this work is the role of Hellboy and his other supernatural friends in this world of humanity. However, it is largely through the guise of exploring those who are different. In his work, Del Toro is known for exploring creativity, fairy tales, those with their heads in the clouds, and those who are different from others for these reasons - namely Pan's Labyrinth and now again in The Shape of Water, as examples - and here, in Hellboy II, he firmly establishes this group as one of outsiders. Hellboy is equated to Frankenstein's monster as the people accuse him of harming a child even though they can plainly see he did not. Abe Sapien is equated to the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Liz (Selma Blair) feels "looked at" and scrutinized due to her fire-based abilities. The trio feel excluded and like outsiders to the world around them, yet they fight for this world all the same. Though they feel rejected and like outcasts, their wish to fit in is one that overwhelms them. Yet, at the core of it all, is their belief that there should be no boundaries. Abe falls in love with the Elf Princess. Hellboy and Liz are in love. There is inter-species romance in the air and this eclectic group of weirdos embrace these differences. Though rejected by the humans, they nonetheless fight for them because they love their differences, respect them, and wish to protect them and their culture when it is under attack.

It is for this same reason that Hellboy struggles to kill a god of the forest and, later, the dangerous elf Prince. Waging war on the humans to maintain their own culture, the elves' cause is one that Hellboy sympathizes with entirely. The prince plays on this sympathy and continuously tries to win him over to his side, warning that the humans will never accept him and his differences. Yet, to Hellboy and the others, the humans are not the ones waging war. Though they may, that is not their concern in the present. Rather, no matter what pull they feel to defend the elves, they must defend those that they are entrusted to protect and those that have remained peaceful to other species in recent times. In the end, for this bad of misfits, the most important thing is acceptance, peace, and understanding. Those who wage war must go as their anti-cultural beliefs are ones that do not gel with them - see the Nazis in the first film - and though they wish to fight for all cultures to remain, there is a line to not cross that the elves have very flippantly disregarded.

In this regard, the film perfectly uses the "end of the world" trope that has often maligned superhero films in recent years. Though the elvish prince does wish to unleash the Golden Army on humanity that would certainly wipe them out, the film has it all make sense. Rather than some nonsensical plot where it becomes clear that the villain has nothing but blood lust, the backstory and development of the elvish prince allows us to understand his plight perfectly. As a result, he is a strong villain as though reject his actions, his reasoning and cause are ones that are rather noble. Viewing his father's actions as ones that have eliminated the elves from the world, he wishes to restore his culture as one to be proud of and one that instills great respect wherever it travels. His violent ways are not the right path, but his cause makes sense and his method of rectifying these wrongs make sense as well. In essence, it often doubles as a symbol of nuclear warfare. With certain destruction of the enemy when using the Golden Army, one must exercise great caution in using the weapon. Yet, as with the Americans and Soviets, the elvish prince is fighting for a way of life and a culture. He is willing to press the red button and unleash the army to do so.