Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Tags: fantasy, murder, violence, flashback, good versus evil, psychedelic, action, sci-fi

Plot synopsis:
On Christmas Eve in 1955, the adolescent Hellboy (Montse Ribé) is preparing for bed and requests a bedtime story from his father, Professor Bruttenholm (John Hurt). The professor tells Hellboy a legend about war between the humans and the people of the mystical realm. King Balor, leader of the magic elfin race, commissioned the creation of a "Golden Army," 70 times 70 magical mechanical soldiers. Balor received a crown that would allow him (or anyone with royal blood) to command the Army. The Golden Army attacked the humans with no mercy, and eventually Balor became consumed by regret. A truce was called between the warring factors; humans were given control of the cities while Balor's elves would keep to the forests. As a peace offering, Balor shattered his crown and gave one piece to the humans (still keeping two for himself). One of the few who did not agree with the truce was Balor's son, Prince Nuada. The Prince went into exile, vowing to return when his people needed him. And the Golden Army became dormant.In the present day, a mysterious albino man (Luke Goss) is practicing swordsmanship. It is Prince Nuada, ready to return from exile. He is joined by the monster known as Mr. Wink (Brian Steele) who follows his commands.A prestigious auction house is selling off several rare artifacts, including the humans' fragment of the Golden crown. Nuada arrives, takes the crown fragment and dispatches several mysterious creatures to dispose of the humans.At the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, Agent Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor) has a meeting with Abe Sapien (Doug Jones). Manning is still mad at Hellboy; the B.P.R.D. is still an undercover organization yet Hellboy continues to let himself be seen in public. Abe explains that Hellboy's relationship with Liz Sherman is "tense" at the moment, which may be causing Hellboy's erratic behavior. At that moment, Hellboy (Ron Perlman) is blasted through the wall of his room; his pyrokinetic girlfriend Liz (Selma Blair) has become extremely angry and used her fire powers to send him flying.Hellboy's team is called to investigate the incident at the auction house. Manning gives Hellboy a pack of Cuban cigars as a bribe in one last attempt to persuade Hellboy to be discreet in his work.At the auction house Hellboy & the others learn that there are no survivors from the 70+ guests reported to be there. Abe searches through texts to find what might have caused such an attack. He finds boxes marked with a Royal Seal and uncovers an example of what the boxes might have contained: small, winged creatures known as "tooth fairies" because they feed on calcium. While using his psychic talents to try and find the creatures, Abe brings his hand close to Liz and senses that she is pregnant.Hellboy and his fellow agents are suddenly swarmed by the ravenous tooth fairies. Liz activates her fire powers to incinerate the creatures. The resulting battle sends Hellboy outside and in full view of news reporters. The BPRD is officially exposed to the world.Meanwhile, Prince Nuada and MR. Wink come to speak with King Balor (Roy Dotrice). Balor is content to let the truce between humans stand, and his daughter Nuala (Nuada's twin sister) (Anna Walton) is in agreement. But Prince Nuada feels that humans are insatiably greedy and will soon force the mystical creatures into extinction.Hellboy watches news reports about himself and the other agents on the evening news. Hellboy is delighted by all of it but Liz (secretly taking a pregnancy test) is furious about Hellboy making them public because she hates people "staring at her." Tom Manning tells Hellboy that Washington is sending down a new BPRD agent as a result of Hellboy's latest actions. Hellboy is less than thrilled.Balor and Nuada continue their argument. Nuada refuses to back down; he will do whatever is necessary to make the magical world safe from humans. Nuada kills his father and takes the second piece of the crown. Nuala flees from her brother with the third and final piece.Everyone at BPRD is awaiting the arrival of their new agent, Johann Krauss (voiced by Seth MacFarlane). Krauss turns out to be a very strange entity; a containment suit proportioned like a man holding pure ectoplasmic energy.Krauss inspects the remains of one tooth fairy. He injects it with a sample of ectoplasmic energy to temporarily return the creature to life so they might learn more. Krauss translates the creature's speak; it remembers troll languages and other commerce sounds. Johann realizes that the creatures came from the legendary Troll Market, a gathering place for magical creatures. Rumors suggest that the Troll Market might be located under the Brooklyn Bridge so Krauss takes the team to search for it.Johann Krauss outfits the team with special time-dilation glasses that allow them to see through illusions put out by magical entities. They end up spotting a creature called a "fragglewump" who leads them right to the door of the Troll Market. Upon entering, Hellboy is delighted -- he can walk among the Market's creatures and not feel like a freak or outsider.Abe spots a hooded figure walking away and wearing the same sort of Royal Seal he found with the tooth fairies, so he goes to investigate on his own. The figure is Princess Nuala, who arrives at the Market's library to receive a cylinder hidden by her father. Abe follows her in and she confronts him. Nuala is revealed to have the same sort of psychic powers as Abe. They both learn about one another through hand gestures.At that moment, Mr. Wink comes in and attacks Nuala. Abe encourages her to flee while Hellboy fights Wink. After an intense fight, Hellboy proves victorious. They speak with Princess Nuala, who explains that she has the last piece of her fathers' crown and the cylinder from the library which contains a map to the location of the Golden Army. Krauss is worried about bringing the princess back to BPRD because of regulations, but Hellboy argues against him.Prince Nuada arrives soon after, furious at the loss of his companion. He releases a small seed, which Hellboy scoffs at. It suddenly and rapidly grows into a multi-tentacled creature; a forest elemental. Upon seeing the gigantic creature, Hellboy trades in his trademark "Samaritan" pistol for a gigantic six-barreled minigun nicknamed "Big Baby."During the fight with the elemental, Hellboy saves a human infant from certain doom. But when the fight ends, Hellboy is taunted and jeered by the crowd for bringing danger to a child. The humans call "Hellboy" a freak.Later on, Liz patches up Hellboy -- who doesn't understand the humans' reaction. Liz tells Hellboy that she is leaving to "think." Hellboy automatically assumes that he has doomed their relationship and begs her to stay. Liz asks Hellboy to decide what he really wants -- the world's approval or HER approval.Abe has a conversation with Nuala, who explains that she is connected to her brother in a psychic link and now that Abe has shown her the BPRD location, Nuada knows where she is. Nuala hides the 3rd crown fragment in one of Abe's books.In the locker room, Hellboy is confronted by Johann Krauss. Krauss wants Hellboy to start following orders, and warns Hellboy that if the two had to fight then Krauss would probably win. Hellboy, undaunted, asks why. Johann explains that Hellboy's temper is his worst flaw; he allows it to get out of control and get the best of him. Hellboy, proving Johann's point, smashes the helmet of the containment suit. Krauss' ectoplasmic energy takes control of the locker doors, smashing Hellboy several times before wandering off.Hellboy meets with Abe, who is in the middle of listening to a collection of popular love songs. Hellboy realizes that Abe has fallen in love with the princess. The two best friends get drunk and begin contemplating their relationships. Abe is on the verge of revealing to Hellboy why Liz has been acting so different lately when Liz storms in on them, furious.Nuada breaks into the BPRD, steals the map to the Golden Army and abducts Nuala. He also leaves a psychic message to Abe stating that if they bring the 3rd crown piece to the Army's location, he will spare their lives and release Nuala. Nuada finishes by stabbing Hellboy with an enchanted spear.Despite the best medical efforts, the spearhead cannot be removed from Hellboy's chest. (Any attempt to pull it out forces the spearhead to move closer to Hellboy's heart.) Hellboy, in pain, admits to Liz that she is more important than anything else in his life. Meanwhile, Abe finds the 3rd crown piece in his book.Analyzing the remains of King Balor's map tells the BPRD that the Golden Army is located in northern Ireland. Liz wants to take Hellboy there to heal him, but Manning & Krauss are willing to let Hellboy die to keep the Golden Army from awakening. Liz berates Johann for his attitude, storming off.Abe & Liz decide to take Hellboy without approval, desperate to heal their friend. Johann confronts them on their way out and to everyone's surprise he volunteers to help.In Ireland, the group encounters a goblin (John Alexander) who offers to lead them to the Golden Army for "something shiny." The goblin spots the spearhead shining beneath Hellboy's bandages and offers to help remove it if they give him the spearhead as payment.The goblin brings them before a mysterious winged creature. It is the Angel of Death (Doug Jones). The Angel knows Liz and Hellboy (calling him by his true name, Anung Un Rama) and has been waiting for them. The Angel cares not whether Hellboy lives or dies; but Liz begs for Hellboy to live. Despite the Angel's warning that Hellboy's survival will eventually bring about the destruction of Earth (and that Liz will suffer most of all because of that), Liz still asks for Hellboy to live. The Angel removes the spearhead and instructs Liz to give Hellboy a "reason to live." Liz kneels down and tells Hellboy that he is to be a father. Hellboy stands up, fully recovered but awestruck upon hearing Liz' news.Their goblin guide leads the group to the central chamber of the Golden Army, where Prince Nuada waits with his hostage. Abe gives Nuada the last crown piece in hope of freeing Nuala, but the Prince betrays them and awakens the Golden Army.Despite a valiant effort by Hellboy and the others, the 4900 Golden soldiers appear unstoppable. Hellboy then comes up with an idea; he challenges Prince Nuada for the right to command the Army. Nuada asserts that Hellboy is not royalty, but Nuala declares that Hellboy is born of royal blood -- he is Anung Un Rama, the son of The Fallen One -- and thus the challenge must be answered.Hellboy fights against the prince across the entire chamber, at one point finally gaining the upper hand. But he refuses to take the Prince's life. As they fight, Nuala feels the wounds that Hellboy inflicts upon her brother. Nuada prepares to stab Hellboy in the back, but suddenly collapses from pain in his chest. Nuala is revealed to have stabbed herself in the heart in a final attempt to stop her brother. Abe goes to Nuala's side and confesses his feelings to her before she dies. Nuada and Nuala turn to stone.With Nuada dead, Hellboy is considered the winner of the challenge by default. He picks up the completed crown and contemplates out loud the power the crown can now give him. Liz takes it from him and melts it before he can make a bad decision -- sending the Golden Army back into hibernation forever.By this point, Manning and the other BPRD agents have caught up to Hellboy. Manning demands an explanation but instead Hellboy, Abe and Liz all hand in their belts, resigning from the BPRD (Hellboy hesitates only a moment to reclaim his "Samaritan" gun). Manning requests help from Krauss, but Johann merely tells him off and goes to join the others.Hellboy suggests that he and Liz get a place of their own to raise the new baby. Liz stops him and says "Babies," holding up two fingers -- a sign that she is carrying twins. Hellboy can only look on in shock and wonder.

Review: "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" is a more confident, assured outing than the first film and while it does not draw from Mignola's comics for its plot it is perhaps better off for it, lacking the usual burden of comparison and expectations.
It's only fair that an astonishingly brilliant comic like "Hellboy" by an astonishingly brilliant artist like Mike Mignola is adapted this well and by someone as talented at what they do as he is.How refreshing it is, a week after the release of "Hancock", which to me epitomizes everything wrong with action film-making today, that we get "The Golden Army" which features hands down some of the finest action scenes we have ever seen in this sort of film.
Hellboy succeeds in being a film with a decent story, good visual work, and great characters with great humor, all to make just an overall FUN movie where Indiana Jones couldn't.
Del Torro constantly wants to remind you that he directed Pan's Labyrinth because visually the creatures look like they were leftovers from that film.
Hellboy and the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense find themselves caught up when an elven prince declares war on the human race and attempts to awaken the invincible Golden Army to aid him.Whereas the first film delved into more occult themes, the sequel is full of fantasy and mythical elements.
When you see some of the amazing creations of Del Toro and his crew, you'll be baffled as to how they managed to do most of it practically (the Angel of Death rocks, BTW).Most of the key cast have returned from the first film...Ron Perlman, Selma Blair (HOT), Doug Jones, and Jeffrey Tambor.
Let me start of by saying that Del Toro had one message to the fans, and it was "I will not disappoint"I have long felt that the first Hellboy installment is one of the most underrated films of the 2000's.
Everything is simply beautiful (not in the typical beautiful sense, but in that you appreciate the art that it is), and it should come as no surprise as the film's director, Guillermo Del Toro, is a long time fan of the comic stories on which the movie is based.
Everything is simply beautiful (not in the typical beautiful sense, but in that you appreciate the art that it is), and it should come as no surprise as the film's director, Guillermo Del Toro, is a long time fan of the comic stories on which the movie is based.
The just-as-passionate-as-Del-Toro Doug Jones leaves a HUGE mark on the viewer here, not just for his performance as Abe Sapien, but for his remarkable range as a couple of other characters in the movie.
The just-as-passionate-as-Del-Toro Doug Jones leaves a HUGE mark on the viewer here, not just for his performance as Abe Sapien, but for his remarkable range as a couple of other characters in the movie.
HELLBOY II threatens to be nothing more than your latest CGI-laden braindead Hollywood action movie, and yet it's not, thanks to the presence of director Guillermo del Toro.
Del Toro's imagination comes to the fore in the myriad creatures he creates for this movie, bringing to life monster upon monster with no end to the creativity in sight.Even better, the producers have the budget to match the vivid creations coming out of the minds of this film's makers, and the special effects do not disappoint.
You can tell when you are watching a Del Toro movie because there is a lot of normal special effects like animatronics and such.
Johann Krauss is an excellent character voice by Seth MacFarlane which I thought was cool in itself.Overall Hellboy II: the golden army is a bigger, more action packed, and better movie than the first.
His latest outings, the critically-acclaimed Pan's Labyrinth and the crowd pleaser Hellboy both serve as reminders as to what movie magic is truly all about as vivid, enchanting worlds, larger-than-life characters, first-rate action, and spellbinding story lines dazzle audiences for two hours of cinema delight.
With the first Hellboy, there was a feeling that for all the good things in it (Ron Perlman especially) Guillermo del Toro wasn't allowed to do all he wanted.
Now, with the success of Pan's Labyrinth, not to mention Universal instead of Sony, he has been granted complete freedom, and the result is Hellboy II: The Golden Army, the second best sequel of 2008 after The Dark Knight (Indiana Jones is a) a number four; b) a different genre, and therefore doesn't count).Beginning in true del Toro fashion, Hellboy II starts with a flashback where Professor Broom (John Hurt, still good), the protagonist's adoptive father, fills the same function as in the first movie and introduces us to the story, only this time he does it recounting an old legend, according to which the king of an ancient non-human race made a truce with mankind so that everyone would live in peace.
Wrong: the king's son, Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), having witnessed the "horrors" of modern society, intends to declare war on all humanity and resurrect the dreaded Golden Army, mechanical soldiers who feel no hunger, no need to sleep and most of all no mercy.Another job for the BPRD, then, only there are a few problems: Hellboy (Perlman), is going through a rough patch with his girlfriend, the "fiery" Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), and keeps getting noticed by the public during missions, which drives his boss (Jeffrey Tambor) crazy.
Then the new threat materializes, and before there's time for Hellboy to say "Oh, crap!", the world as we know it is once again facing complete annihilation.The story of the Golden Army isn't to be found in any of Mike Mignola's comic books.
In fact, he and del Toro came up with it specifically for the film, knowing that kind of premise would allow the director to go crazy with his imagination, be it weird creatures or new, fantastic worlds.
From a merely visual point of view, Hellboy II is one of the most beautiful genre films of recent years, a clear indication of why Peter Jackson chose del Toro to direct The Hobbit.
Sure, his depiction of the Troll Market is no Middle Earth, but a brief scene featuring a Hell- like dimension (and Jones playing the Angel of Death, a direct descendant of the Pale Man from Pan's Labyrinth) is a striking reminder of Mordor.That's where the LOTR comparisons end, though: Nuada is no Sauron, and Hellboy sure as hell (pun not intended) is no Frodo, which is exactly why we love him.
Del Toro even allows the story to get more personal, with careful focus on the bizarre love story between Red and Liz, which results in Blair getting more screen-time and giving a proper glimpse of her talent (plus, Rupert Evans is gone - good).
Goss is a rather good villain, though slightly less menacing than Kroenen and blatantly overshadowed by two things: the sidekicks (the always reliable Jones and Tambor, with additional help from McFarlane) and most importantly the actual Golden Army - when it appears, it's one of the most amazing set-ups ever in a fantasy/superhero picture.In short: virtually everything you could expect from a good sequel: laughs ( check out Hellboy and Abe getting drunk), emotion, action, suspense and much, much more.
In an effort to introduce more obvious humour the character doesn't have the same touch to it, it's all very disappointing.I was really looking forward to this film but unfortunately the opportunity to capitalise on the original movie's feel and atmosphere has been totally missed.It feels like a cynical attempt to make a few more $$$ at the expense of a great premise and some great theatrical characters.Please understand I'm in no way a comic book purist as in fact I've never even read the comic book version, but I am just someone who really enjoyed the first Hellboy film..
We both love Guillermo del Toro's movies in general and really thought we would love this...We both saw the first Hellboy movie again before watching this (which I would strongly advise you all to do, as that way you will appreciate just how bad this movie is compared).Firstly, the story is absolutely terrible and was not worth making a sequel for - this just seems like a total cash in and nothing else.
It really left us feeling empty when we left the cinema and I definitely would not want to see Hellboy 3 anymore should that ever come out.Also - a lot of the del Toro designs in the movie look like they've just been lifted from his other movies and feel very lazy - I would have liked to have seen much more original concepts in his work and am a bit disappointed with that too.Overall - a very disappointed Hellboy fan..
I thought the Golden Army's design could've been to made to look more different and original(and menacing), but Del Toro has a good eye for detail for fantastical creatures.
The use of Can't Smile Without You was a bit cheesy to be honest, and could've been replaced with a simple but effective score.Overall: Not as funny as it thinks it's is, with a lot of one-liners not eliciting laughs from my audience nor getting a real emotional connection when main characters' lives were in danger, it just felt like it could've been so much more.
The group moves to Brooklyn Bridge wearing special glasses to find the troll market and get information about the tooth fairies; however they meet Princess Nuala and discover the evil intentions of her ambitious twin brother."Hellboy II: The Golden Army" is a great adventure, with an excellent story of power, love and self-sacrifice; magnificent screenplay, with witty lines and situations; and awesome special effects.
Mainly for the great visual effects and a quite awesome action.If 'Hellboy : The Golden Army' was a standalone movie, or if I didn't see the first one, I'd say that something lacks in this movie.
Poor writing lead to bad dialogue and some very uninteresting scenes including the action sequences.The special effects were good but many of creatures seem to just take on the look and feel of those ones from Pan's Labyrinth.The elves in this movie do not even come close to what an Elf (we are talking Tolkien here) is about philosophically and or even as a race.
Kudos to the actor that stuck out with this role and did a great job despite bad dialogue and ill-conceived storyline moments that left me wondering where the movie was actually headed..besides the obvious fight scene at the end.Sorry, but this movies takes a wrong turn at the very beginning with a confusing opening show Hellboy as young and ..dare I say..dopey looking kid with no clue.
Hellboy 2 : The Golden Army is a movie by Guillermo Del Toro.
but he sure as hell writes/directs all the "human" scenes like a robot.After watching all Guillermo Del Toro's opus, I am now pretty sure he simply can't manage the flow of his work.
I liked Guillermo del Toro's cinematic incarnation of the character so much that I had forked out good money to purchase the 3-disc Director's Cut edition of his 2004 Hellboy.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army, starts off with a teenage Hellboy being told the legend of the said army, in a prologue that looked very much like something ripped from Lord of the Rings, perhaps Del Toro's wink at the audience that he's a worthy successor to Peter Jackson in taking on franchise with The Hobbit, dealing with elves, dwarfs and one crown to rule them all, split into 3 pieces in a truce between a mythical world and the humans, to maintain the peace between them, and to keep the Golden Army deactivated and at bay.
Hellboy II tended to slant toward the latter, but does so by providing us some excellent characterization between the players, never mind if the villain Prince Nuada seem so one-dimensional.What proved to be a riot here, is Ron Perlman's Hellboy, like watching an old friend come back again, one whose gruff exterior and sarcastic wisecracks betray the soft nature of his, especially toward his main squeeze Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) who returns with a chic hairdo and in better control of her powers, though somewhat still being underused.
Here, their friendship got a little challenged by the introduction of a new superior from Germany, Dr Johann Kraus (John Alexander / James Dodd, voiced by Seth MacFarlane), a gaseous being kept inside a containment unit whose sticking by the book conflicts with Hellboy's settle-with-the-fist and laissez-faire attitude.Following his Pan's Labyrinth, Del Toro again showcases his highly imaginative creature creations small and large, and I thought it was rather interesting that the creatures are always more than meets the eye, with threat levels you never could tell from their presentation.
With foolish performances, silly voices and sound effects, dumb stunt sequences (the baby-tossing scene seen in previews), and a cutesy dime-store soundtrack, "Hellboy II" never lets the audience believe that there's any real menace presented in the story.Particularly if you liked the original graphic novel or the first "Hellboy" movie, you're going to be annoyed by this watered-down, Disney-esque sequel.
My Take: An elaborate set of imaginative creature effects and the always interesting lead character make the show worth watching.I have a confession to make: I haven't seen the original HELLBOY yet.
Seeing the original would certainly add to the experience, but taken in its own rights, HELLBOY II does what a sequel should do: Not just live up to the expectations left by its predecessor, but also shine as a stand-alone effort.And yet I have another confession: I have not seen Guillermo Del Toro's crown jewel PAN'S LABYRINTH yet.
Like what Tim Burton did with BATMAN, Del Toro has modeled Hellboy (Ron Perlman) as his own creation on-screen, and he's a very interesting character.
Perlman proves himself worthy, not just an ideal action hero (under tons of make-up), but as yet another actor who successfully embodies the role of a comic-book character.As in PAN'S LABYRINTH, Del Toro populates the world of HELLBOY II with some truly fascinating and intriguing creatures.
From the opening scene, where "Broom" Bruttenholm (John Hurt) tells the legend of the "Golden Army" to a young Hellboy, Del Toro exhibits is true talents at telling a good story.
Hellboy 2 defiantly has the action, the special effects and the visuals which makes the movie well worth watching.
all beautiful...The movie was horrible, the plot line was campy, the blue guy pointing at the MAIN villain like a little kid "HE LIED TO US!" were all just horrible, then the drunk SINGING scene,,, and to end the movie with that same song.My GF LOVED Hellboy 1, I thought it was pretty cool and expected this one to be amazing...
It was kind of cheesy and had room for improvement, but I still found it to be a very fun film with good special effects and action.Well, Hellboy II: The Golden Army is certainly a notch or two above the first one.
I wasn't surprised to see Danny Elfman's name in the end credits, and the music did add to the movie, and made it a small step better than it would have been.Anyone who says this is director Guillermo del Toro's greatest accomplishment in film making, probably hasn't seen Pan's Labyrinth.
The prince tries to get it back, finally does and then there is a short sequence of what the golden army can do and then finally the final fight scene between him and Hellboy.Most of the movie is just mindless action, like with the giant plant, the huge monster at the troll market, etc...
On the movie screen last night I saw reflections of the Star Wars bar scene, reflections of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the reliving of several bad love stories.What happened to the Hellboy we were introduced to in the first film?
Speaking of which, both Hulk movies would have been better if they had the kind of special effects quality control on the Hulk that Del Toro demonstrates on every single one of his numerous creatures in this movie.The cast of characters in Hellboy 2 is a wonder to behold.
I cannot say this loudly enough - this is a better movie than the first (and I really liked the first) and they took spectacular risks with it.The Prince and Princess are top-drawer performances and draw the, already good cast, into greatness as they're given the means to show what they were always able to do.The special effects might be a bit over done and,in one scene, actually distracting but it keeps the viewer imbalanced enough that you are never dully aware of what the next moment "should" be.LOTS of character development and they didn't gloss over the more meaningful evolutions of our characters.Its just wonderful.
The only think that really still makes the movie great and original to watch are its characters and imaginative visuals from Guillermo del Toro, which has really become his trademark- and distinctive style.
His twin sister Nuala (Anna Walton) has the final piece of the crown and must protect it away from Nauda, the Bearau of Paranormal Research and Defense lead by Agent Manning (Jeffery Tambor) with a new ectoplasmic spirit creature named Dr. Johann Krauss (Voiced by Seth Mcfarland and played by John Alexander) all join forces to investigate New York and the underworld before the Golden Army is unleashed.A grand and spectacular sequel that surpasses the surprisingly great 2004 Guillermo Del Toro made horror-fantasy-action-comedy movie.
There's sword/fist fights that are fast paced, deadly and are fun to watch.Plus with this being a Guillermo del Toro fantasy film, the special effects and creature designs look great.
Classic!I was unimpressed with Pan's Labyrinth, but it was a step-up in the visual worlds that Guillermo del Toro was creating after the original Hellboy film, and the first Hellboy sequel is in turn a step up from that.