Theatrical Poster
After a very brief intro to Hellboy (Ron Perlman) the movie switches to his childhood, where his father (John Hurt) tells him a story about a war between Humans, Elves and Goblins. After the Humans lay the royal smackdown on the more fantastical beings the Goblins make an offer to the Elven king; they will make him a Golden Army with which to fight back. This army does the trick, however the king is overtaken with regret and agrees to a truce, with his crown, of which control of the army lays, being broken into three pieces so that the army cannot rise again.
Now, the king’s son, Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) is royally irked at this truce and promptly goes walkabout, only to turn up in present day with the intention of piecing back together the crown so that he can summon forth the army once again to finish the job that was started many years ago. This is the cue for Hellboy, his girlfriend and human torch Liz, the empathic Abe Sapien and the B.P.R.D to try and stop Nuada before the shit really does hit the fan.
As you might expect from a big-budget Hollywood sequel this is a full-on action packed and special effect laden monster of a movie. However, with Guillermo Del Toro at the helm what you get is a truly unique visual experience. There are out of this world creatures galore, cracking fight scenes and some stunning visuals throughout. Rather than just being a big-bang-for-your-buck type of movie though Del Toro also focuses on the growing relationship between Hellboy and Liz; this being a prevalent theme throughout without bogging the story down too much.
Visually flawless, Hellboy 2 is backed up by a truly solid cast with Perlman showing that he really was born to play this character; bad to the bone with a wise-ass quip for every situation. Not to be totally outdone though by the main character, Luke Goss gives a superb performance playing Prince Nuada, this guy really has the moves when it comes to the fight scenes, and also shows that he is quite the underrated actor especially when playing the bad guy, as you will have also have seen in Del Toro’s Blade 2.
Despite a reasonably predictable climax, for those that pay attention, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army is bigger, badder and better than the original movie, with Del Toro showing once again that he is a director with an eye for the fantastic. A more personal movie this time around, and due to this you will find the pace lags in places, not to worry though as the action and wisecracks soon kick back in to whisk you away to a weird and wonderful world, not a million miles away from our own. This is a franchise that definitely has plenty of more life left in it should the producers decide to continue with it.
