Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, John Hurt, Rupert Evans, Doug Jones, James Dodd
Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure
2008

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Hellboy (Ron Perlman), Liz (Selma Blair) and Abe (Doug Jones) have to battle a new evil intent on raising the invincible Golden Army to destroy the world.

Review:

Tim: I was only slightly excited about seeing this movie. I was very lukewarm on the original. It was interesting, and Guillermo del Toro does good work, but I was never really big on Hellboy and the story never really wowed me. I could say the exact same thing for this movie. Like the original, it has a decent story, same characters, same strong direction from del Toro, and same flaws. This movie doesn't improve on the original, but thankfully, it doesn't get any worse.

Ron Perlman again gets kudos for his blue-collar superhero. Hellboy is somewhat fun to watch. He has a few good lines, and I can think of worse ways to spend two hours. Selma Blair is good as Liz. I actually liked Doug Jones as Abe even more in this film than the original. These three actors help the movie greatly. The supporting cast are decent, but none stand out.

Perhaps the best aspect of this movie is that through del Toro's visionary mind, we are transported to a strange and fantastical world. Hellboy and Abe both look very realistic, as do the collection of oddball monsters, villains, and assorted other creatures. The film gives us some fairly decent action sequences. The first battle with the Golden Army is impressive, and I really liked the Forest Monster scene. That is one of the film's best.

Similar flaws apply to this movie as did the original. While Hellboy might be fun to watch for a few, the movie doesn't give us the emotional impact of a Spider-Man or an Iron Man. In my mind, Hellboy will always be a second or third tier superhero. The movie does give us a few tense moments, and is generally enjoyable.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army does achieve the rare feat of being equally as good as the original. While this doesn't happen too often, the bar wasn't set extremely high. I would have liked this film to improve on the first one, but I will take maintaining the status quo. While this movie doesn't rank up there with the best superhero movies, there are far worse movies out there, too.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Hellboy, Batman, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Superman, The Hulk, Daredevil, The Punisher, Blade, Blade II