Hellboy II: The Golden Army

When the I watched the first Hellboy (after panicking for 10 minutes when I can’t find “Hellboy” on the list, not knowing it was changed to Super Sapiens thanks to an MP who needs to read more dictionary before opening his mouth), the first thing I thought when the Big Red appeared was:

“That was the most human (superhero) character I’ve seen!”

And from there, I fell in love with the movie, and even went to buy an original copy (DVD 5 version, since I was still a student back then), instead of a bootleg one. Watched again and again, just to hear him talk.

So when Hellboy II: The Golden Army (H2) came out, I made a point to myself to watch it within the first week, knowing it would be better than the first, judging from the screenshots of the new characters, and to think that this is the baby of an exceptional director, and an exceptional writer.

H2 starts off sometime after the first movie, with most of the cast intact except for some like Myers (Rupert Evans) who was transferred to Antartica. Hellboy (or known as Red, played to perfection by Ron Perlman) and Liz (Selma Blair) are in love as usual (inclusive of the “hot” fights and a surprise for Red), and even Abe (Doug Jones) have time to find his sweetheart in the form of an Elven Princess Nuala.

Nuala‘s twin brother, Prince Nuada, plans to kill all humans, for all that they have done to the earth, and the greed that fueled it. He plans to gather all of the 3 pieces of the crown that controls the legendary Golden Army, and summons the mechanical power and regain elven place in this world.

So, as usual, Red must brave all obstacles and stop Nuada, to save the human race, who seems to hate him ever since he revealed himself to the public. The humans have since been quite mean to him, and even his colleagues (some even poked fun at Abe commenting on his fashion taste)!

It is getting very hard for me to exit the cinema feeling satisfied, let alone very satisfied. But after watching H2, I was smiling all the way. I really can’t find fault with this one. It took its time in telling the story, although straightforward and pretty much predictable, but I believe none would care.

The dynamics of the storyline, with actions peaking up several times as Red brushes shoulders, tails and tentacles with a variety of creatures, and some love scenes between Red and Liz, and Abe and Nuala, not to mention Abe and Red‘s classic karaoke session. Visual storytelling at its best.

The plethora of creatures were brought to life with mostly prosthetics and animatronics, with minimal CGI effects. But when it did use CGI effects, it was flawless. Even Star War’s effects don’t come close to this one’s believability. Maybe Transformers would compare, but since it lacks in story, so Hellboy still rules.

I mean, we know it is CGI, and some, mere prosthetics, but none would care, because it really seems like it could exists, from the gigantic troll called Wink, to the cute talking tumor.

As I mentioned before, what made me fall in love in the first movie, is still the main ingredient in the second. It is still about humanity, but in a different form. While the main obvious plot is about humanity’s greed and lack of respect to the precious nature, we can easily relate to Red, Abe, Liz, and maybe even the Ectoplasmic (yes, if you have been watching Ghostbuster, ecto means ghost) Johann Krauss. Kind of similar to Mr and Mrs Smith, perhaps?

Maybe its Del Toro having to create a grander movie in such a limited budget (Hollywood rates), that everything seems to feel down to earth, but while some characters play several others (Doug Jones (Abe Sapien / The Chamberlain / The Angel of Death) and Brian Steele (Wink / Cronie / Spice Shop Troll / Cathedral Head / Fragglewump)) he doesn’t skimp on quality.

Verdict: Go watch! I’ll be watching it again. Who’s with me? Nell? 5/5