Guilliermo del Toro unchained.....

Rating: 9/10 (14 July 2008)

Granted, the first film, Hellboy, had the harder task; to lay the foundation. The 2nd one, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army gets to have all the fun! HB2 takes the wonderfully eccentric cadre of misfits (the blue-collar demon slayer Hellboy, his fire-starting 'flame' Liz Sherman, amphibious ally Abe Sapien and the new, gaseous entity Johann Krauss) to the next level. And all the actors (Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones and now Seth McFarlane as Krauss' voice) rise to the challenge! Gone is the 'normal' human and audience-surrogate Agent Myers; and frankly, good rid-dens! Now the inmates run the asylum, and that is as it should be! The pacing is tighter this time around (didn't look at my watch once), unlike the first film which lagged in spots here and there. The 'mission' this time is to stop an underworld Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) from bringing about a revolution that'd topple humans from dominance (using the dormant, titular 'golden army') and bring about a new world order of supernatural beings (and he reasons that by doing so, he may be doing the planet a favor; making his character not entirely unsympathetic). Nuada's empathic twin Princess Nuala feels differently, and allies herself with Hellboy's gang of supernatural-buster misfits for help (and has a tender relationship with Abe in the process). Along the way there are highly imaginative sequences woven throughout the film that are simply stunning to behold. Director del Toro brings more artistic influence from his darkly beautiful "Pan's Labyrinth" into this film. But the sardonic, 'blunt instrument' Hellboy is there to keep it all wonderfully grounded (unlike the lofty, dull, eye-candy fests such as Lord of the Rings and other pompous, self-important epics). Love is a major new ingredient of this movie; the twin's empathy for each other, Hellboy's rocky ongoing relationship with Liz, and Abe's affection for Nuala. One of the greatest scenes in the movie is NOT a special effects laden fight scene, but a drunken duet by Abe and Hellboy of Barry Manilow's "Can't Smile Without You." It is my favorite scene in a film filled with gorgeous set pieces (another highlight is the destruction of a 'forest god' in the middle of an ugly urban setting; seemingly proving Prince Nuada's point). The reason this scene stands out is simple; throughout the gun-toting action and jaw-dropping, unearthly, elegant visual effects the non-human characters maintain a deep, yet simple humanity that is the best effect of all. Guilliermo del Toro and Mike Mignola have turned in a sequel akin to "Bride of Frankenstein" or "The Empire Strikes Back" in that it takes the world of the parent film into stratospheric heights of both spectacle and heart. Putting it simply; I liked the first Hellboy, but I LOVED Hellboy 2! And as Hellboy might say, "That ain't no crap!"