A refreshing vision of super-heroes and fantasy

Rating: 9/10 (12 March 2018)

Hellboy 2 : The Golden Army is a movie by Guillermo Del Toro. It's a sequel of the first « Hellboy ». Even if it is a comic book adaptation (Hellboy is a character created by Mike Mignola ) the movie follow its own path .
I was searching for a creative movie that takes the super-hero concept and treats it with another point of view . And with Hellboy I wasn't disappointed at all. The movie takes its time to create a universe where everything seems consistent .All characters have some developement and their relations are natural. The casts performance is pretty good and serves the plot. Ron Perlman made everything to make hellboy alive in our eyes. Selma Blair lends her features to Liz Sherman, and gives to « Hellboy » a realistic love story with ups and downs. Lost, searching for help and trying her best to find a place, The evolution of the character can be seen in the performance of Mrs Blair. Luke Goss and Anna Walton Made a surprisingly good duo and the opposition between the two characters works well. But the most impressive performance comes from Doug Jones, playing not one but three characters : Abe Sapien the only real friend and side-kick of Hellboy, The chamberlain and the Angel of death. Doug Jones is really good in making us feel emotions with his movements more than his face, and that's why he is perfect to play thoses characters born from Del Toro's mind.
An important thing about this movie production is that Del Toro actually doesn't want to use CGI to create most of the creatures that came out of is head. So a lot of the monsters and other things that can be seen in the movie are real. They are suits and models. The work on the creation of these characters gives the movie a particular feeling, just like the original comic books did. Guillermo Del Toro's creatures are unique and really give an amazing look to the universe he creates. But one problem that came from this decision is that a lot of the visual effect seems outdated. But it really is worth-it to pass over this.
The story is great as well. It's not a simple war between good and evil as in most super-hero movies. Both sides are wrong, it's two points of view confronting, and Hellboy is at the border of both but can't turn the scales. The story talks about a prince, who knows that his world, the world of the creatures, is going to die because of humans. He want to take control of the most powerful army ever to conquer the human world, and save his kingdom. The B.P.R.D won't let this happen but its best agent, Hellboy, is more part of the other world. So which side will be given the right to live ? And who should decide that ?
I simply loved this movie because of its universe and the lot of conflictual points of view that are part of it. So I recommend this film to every fan of comic books that are disppointed by the way the actual super-hero movies go. And for everyone who wants a movie where everything is not black and white, but grey.