| Hellboy II: The Golden Army
If, like me, you have no clue about comics and weren't particularly keen on the last movie, I could understand why you might not fancy seeing this. But that would be a massive mistake. Let me tell you why.
The first Hellboy was a total letdown because, for all it had a few cool monsters in it, that was it. It was had a continuous feeling of menace and the baddies got a bit boring after a while. Must try harder. Well, they have, and boy is it worth seeing.
It has the stamp of Guillermo Del Toro all over it. It’s not just cinema, it's a work of art. The monsters are in turn horrific and beautiful. It’s much more akin stylistically to Pan's Labyrinth, which can only be a good thing. In particular, the troll market is gorgeous. There's a lot of the clockwork which Del Toro is a fan of using, and it's just visually about 100 times better than the last, and possibly the prettiest thing I've ever seen in the cinema. The tooth fairies we see right at the start are amazing little creatures: cute and scary almost at the same time. The Angel of Death in particular is truly terrifying.
So what about the story? Well, we return to Hellboy who is now with Liz, and they're having minor, tiny, fiery wall smashing arguments. The bad guys aren't straightforward baddies either. The Golden Army was a massive Clockwork army - indestructible in every way, created for the Elf King in order to defeat the humans in battle. However, upon seeing the brutality and utter lack or remorse of the army, the Elf King dismantled them, and formed a truce with the humans. An agreement that the humans would stick to the cities, and the elves to the woods. Fast forward to now, and the world is greedy, ever expanding upon its cities and treating the earth like, well, dirt. His son Prince Nuada (Played by Luke Goss, who is made for roles such as this one) has had just about enough of the humans shenanigans, and decides that it's time to call upon the army again. His twin, Princess Nuala, thinks otherwise, and runs into Hellboy's team, (Well, mainly Abe) at the Troll Market and seeks their help in order to stop her brother. The action follows from here. Secrets are revealed, love stories develop and plenty of fighting ensues. I don’t want to say too much, because I'm fed up of reviews and trailers which tell me the whole story of a film.
Also, we're introduced to new character in Hellboy's team - Krauss. He's an odd looking thing in a sort of space suit get up. He exists in ectoplasmic form (he looks a bit like cigarette smoke, in all honesty), and can manipulate the other objects and things, such as, for example, a dead tooth fairy. He's brought in because Hellboy keeps revealing himself in public and is ordered to keep an eye on our hero demon. Unlike Hellboy, he believes in doing things by the book. He provides a few much needed light-hearted moments, and he’s great fun to watch in battle, more so even than Hellboy.
There are plenty of moral dilemmas for Hellboy, and this gives the film a bit more depth. We're never really answered why he fights on our side, but that's ok. You’ve got to be left with something to figure out for yourself. There are some genuinely really funny moments, and you'll be left singing 'Can't Smile without You' for a few days. It makes it easier to watch - again, too much doom and gloom in the last film was has been hugely improved in this.
There are a few niggles I did have, however. How did Hellboy get together with Liz? That was a major point of contention in the last film, glossed over with the explanation of Hellboy sending her old boyfriend away to some far off country and very little else. The romance between Nuala and Abe should have been better developed - it made later storylines harder to believe. Young Hellboy looks pretty plastic, like a kid's attempt at Halloween without the help of his mother. Selma Blair is awful, absolutely awful. She's like a plank of wood. Just as well she gets fired up when she's angry, would have been hard to tell otherwise. Also, the 'We hate you Hellboy, you're such a freak!' angle is well over played and feels really fake, even the people hurling insults at him sound unconvinced.
All in all however, this film is definitely worth seeing, for everyone. The story might not be the best, but it's fun and astonishingly beautiful. There's a lot more to think about, and much more to see. Roll on Hellboy III!!
Hellboy II: The Golden Army is in cinemas now. |
