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Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Time Out rating

Average user rating

25 reviews

Synopsis

Ron Perlman's wiseass devilspawn is back, this time fighting a subterranean-dwelling prince eager to lead the titular army in a war against humans.

Movie review

From Time Out London

Guillermo del Toro’s Fabergé egg of a fairytale is not so much a sequel as a fusion of the fabulist imagination of ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ with the witty, irreverent comic-book action of his own ‘Hellboy’. The teeming Troll Market in the film exemplifies his approach, an eye-ravishing spectacle that invests each ‘monster’ with its own personality. Witness the cute infant who, when soppily cooed over, angrily retorts: ‘I’m not a baby, I’m a tumour.’ Virtually a stand-alone film, it pitches the red-skinned, devil-horned Hellboy headlong into a mythical clash between his adopted human world and an ancient underworld of elves, faeries and trolls.

The plot, in brief, concerns the plans of usurped King Balor’s son, Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), to awaken the dormant Golden Army, pitiless clockwork uber-warriors commissioned and later mothballed by his horrified father. To prevent this, the prince’s twin sister, Princess Nuala (Anna Walton) – to whom he is telepathically linked – elicits the help of Hellboy, his pyrokinetic girlfriend Liz (Selma Blair), aquatic empath Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) and a newcomer to the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, Johann Kraus, an ectoplasmic mystic housed in a metal diving suit. Together, they battle against the rebellious Prince, seething swarms of ‘Tooth Fairies’, towering troll henchman Wink and the terrifyingly beautiful Angel of Death.

Perfectly cast, Ron Perlman (below) plays Hellboy as an anti-superhero, a blue-collar guy who is happier chugging beers and eating pizza than fighting evil. The fanboy indulgence of the spectacular action scenes sometimes arrests the plot’s forward momentum, but what del Toro calls ‘the bloodline of moral choice’ runs through the richly imagined story like a scarlet thread. Crucially, no distinction is made between the humans, the tame ‘monsters’ of the BPRD and the glamorous ‘freaks’ they are charged with policing. All are capable of the whole gamut of ‘human’ emotions. A thinking person’s ‘creature feature’ graced with two contrasting love stories – Abe Sapien falls for the pale and interesting princess; Hellboy’s hesitant girlfriend Liz is unable to tell him she is pregnant with his child – ‘Hellboy II’ is also a heartfelt plea for bio- and cultural diversity.

Author: Nigel Floyd 2008-08-19 10:13:58

Time Out London Issue 1983, 21-27th August 2008

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User reviews of this film

Alex said...

Posted on Sep 12 2008 22:51 I was expecting great things after the first instalment, but this was... pants.

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usman khawaja said...

Posted on Sep 08 2008 16:52 did the TROLLS TWIST TORO'S ARM ?
I am astounded that a man of del toro's calibre would resound to making a trashy fairy tale after the artistic and commercial success of pan's labyrinth ,
there must be a few reasons for this golden disaster,
1.he saw transformers and thought it was awesome .
2.he does not like auctions or big house's like christie's .
3.he discovered the troll market under the east exit of brooklyn bridge and wanted to share that experience with the rest of humanity.
4.he wanted hellboy to become a man after years of self-pity and candy eating as he now drinks coke cans in showers .
5.he was in love with the calcium starved tooth fairies .
6.he was inspired by the sacrifice of the forest god to turn manhattan green as the concrete jungle turns into a fairy grove .
7. or was it only to pay the bills ,
if the latter then i am ready to excuse this funny mess made robotically with robots or there is no explanation for this arabian tales diversion in the sewers of new york .

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Garrie said...

Posted on Sep 07 2008 10:51 The film looks very nice but there is very little story. The action scenes are overblown and seem to be there to fill-out the thin plot.
My favourite scene is the sing-a-long to Barry Manilow, but otherwise the film was a disappointment.

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Baza said...

Posted on Sep 06 2008 08:17 This sequel was so overblown - to much about the visuals and not enough about the characters. The first one was a nice surprise as it has a balance of character and something different in the "anti hero" story line. This one bottles it a bit - Selma Blair is always easy to watch...

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phil mk said...

Posted on Aug 31 2008 19:46 Great characters, especially the monsters. Great laughs, lots of fun.

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this dude loves films said...

Posted on Aug 31 2008 15:53 amzing acting by hell boy

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Cookie said...

Posted on Aug 30 2008 20:23 Really enjoyed this film, i saw the origional Hellboy and wasnt tht impressed bt this one was in a whole new league. in my opinion a must see.

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Khang said...

Posted on Aug 30 2008 15:33 it's not as good as the first one but it's not at that bad! u guys want any better???

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Aishah said...

Posted on Aug 30 2008 15:06 that my fav movie hellboy 2!! and good heco

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Rob said...

Posted on Aug 29 2008 20:54 If you havn't noticed it's mainly girls who think it's rubbish...... It is such a great film, yeah the one one was better but still..

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Rob said...

Posted on Aug 29 2008 20:54 If you havn't noticed it's mainly girls who think it's rubbish...... It is such a great film, yeah the one one was better but still..

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Madison said...

Posted on Aug 29 2008 17:18 Impressive action scenes and imaginative monsters..luke goss is a both sinister and beautiful baddy. Hard to criticise this film, it delivers. Whereas The dark knight relies mostly on its overbearing brooding soundtrack to create tension, this film hooks you by its edge of seat effects. Go see

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Danii said...

Posted on Aug 28 2008 16:34 BORIN, BORIN, BORIN.
Da first one was way better than the second one.
Lets just ho[pe that the 3rd one wont be as bad

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olivia said...

Posted on Aug 27 2008 19:32 wots wrong wiv u gilly? it waz so stupid!

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gilly said...

Posted on Aug 27 2008 19:08 fll of action on abso;lutey amazing

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