"Hellboy II: The Golden Army" is a surge of serious fun, with some truly human drama!

Rating: 9/10 (12 July 2008)

"Hellboy II: The Golden Army" is the fast-paced, no-holds-barred sequel to Guillermo Del Toro's 2004 comic-book film "Hellboy", and in every way this follow-up is equal (and even sometimes superior) to the original!
The film opens with a charming scene set on Christmas Eve in 1955. As a young Hellboy waits for Santa Claus to bring him presents, Trevor Broom (played by a returning John Hurt in this delightful cameo), tells him an ancient story. Thousands of years ago, the Elven King Balor commissioned the creation of an indestructible magical army (70 times 70 soldiers) to wage war on the human race. After the war, he was filled with regret over his dreadful actions, and he made a pact with the humans- they would have the cities, while the Elves would keep the forests. His crown, which controlled the army, was split into three pieces, two to be held by the Elves, and one to be held by the humans.
Now, we flash forward to modern times. Prince Nuada (a very creepy Luke Goss), the exiled son of Balor, has grown a deep hatred against humanity. Opposed to their greed ("They have destroyed the planet to create parking lots and shopping malls!"), he plots to reunite the three pieces of the crown, and call forth the magical Golden Army to destroy the humans, and reclaim the Earth.
At the same time, Manning (Jeffrey Tambor at his hilarious best) is trying to keep everything together at the BPRD (Beauro for Paranormal Research and Defense). Things are a little chaotic, and the fact that Hellboy (Ron Perlman playing the role with perfection) and his pyrokinetic girlfriend Liz (the sexy Selma Blair, who does a good job developing her character) are not getting along doesn't help matters much. But before long, HB, Liz and aquatic colleague Abe Sapien (Doug Jones, this time also lending his voice to the character... trust me, it fits in fine) are called on a new mission- to investigate an auction house that was mysteriously attacked, every inside killed.
This is basically the match that starts the fuse... It is in this cool action scene (which involves thousands of miniature "Tooth Fairy" creatures that eat calcium in teeth and flesh), that we learn what direction the film will take. First, and most importantly, we learn that Liz has been moody because (much to the un-surprise of the audience) she is pregnant with Hellboy's child. We also get to witness Hellboy and the BPRDs not-so-triumphant reveal to the world for the first time. Quite amusing is Hellboy watching and reacting to himself on the news, including a brief glimpse of a segment on Jimmy Kimmel's show.
From there on in, the film flies like a roller-coaster, as Nuada claims two of the three pieces of the crown, and must track down his twin sister, Nuala, to find the final piece, while Hellboy and the gang search for her at the same time, racing to stop Nuada's devious plot. The film plays with a furious pace, though director Del Toro is able to keep the scenes grounded enough to understand and enjoy. Take for instance, a hectic scene where the gang (along with the ghostly new leader Johann Kraus, voiced by Seth McFarlane) must search through a "Troll Market", a massive congregation of mystical creatures under the Brooklyn Bridge. With what seems like dozens of different creatures on screen at once, and ultimately ending in a cool battle between Hellboy, Abe and a giant creature named "Mr. Wink", this scene could have fallen to pieces. But del Toro, whose magic has crafted masterpieces such as "Pan's Labyrinth" and "The Devil's Backbone", is able to make it flow rather nicely, and keep a level of coherence that might evade other directors.
Also, I would like to say that I enjoyed the role of the characters and their development in this film, when compared to the first film. Not to say I don't love the first film (it is actually one of my favorite movies, period), I just found that the seriousness of the script and the characters sometimes slowed it down. Not enough to annoy me, but just enough to notice. Here, Perlman, Blair, Jones, Tambor and all of the actors keep the film moving along, with massive amounts of zany humor injected by del Toro. At least this film knows enough to not treat itself like an attempt at Oscar gold.
I also admire the villain Nuada in this film much more than I did Rasputin in the original. This time the script (which I should mention was based on a story treatment by del Toro and "Hellboy" creator Mike Mignola) actually fleshes out our baddie rather nicely. Not to speak down on Rasputin, but we never really learned much about him aside from his ultimate goal. With Nuada, we learn his back-story, his noble motivations, and his relationships with those around him. It is pretty touching to see such a merciless character still show his love for his family and his race.
And I'm sorry, but you can't help but laugh and grin at the sheer spectacle and humanity of the story. When Hellboy and Abe drunkenly belt out Barry Manilow's rendition of "I Can't Smile Without You", you just wish you were there with them to sing along, because you can completely understand where they are coming from at that moment.
All in all, I found "Hellboy II" to be an excellent summer-sequel that takes the characters and story to new levels, while keeping it all grounded in its own version of reality. I give it a very good 9 out of 10 for sheer fun! Bring on "Hellboy III", Mr. del Toro!