Director Guillermo del Toro’s previous film HELLBOY wasn’t the greatest comic book to film adaptation but it had charm and whit and showed what del Toro could really do if given the opportunity to direct a full on comic book film (he previously directed the comic book film BLADE 2). Having achieved such great acclaim with the recent hit PAN’S LABYRINTH del Toro was given free reign when developing the sequel to his moderate hit and thus was born HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY.
With the help of Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, del Toro has crafted a story not based on any of the previous Hellboy graphic novels yet still retains the look and feel of the Hellboy character and world. Given a slightly bigger budget than the original film del Toro and Mignola have crafted a story that takes Hellboy into the magical fairy world and beyond.
In the new film elf Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) is set upon raising the mythical Golden Army in order to take back the real world from the humans, which he believes have neglected the Earth and taken it for granted. The B.P.R.D. (or Bureau for Paranormal Research and Development) which includes Hellboy (Ron Pearlman), Abe Sapien (Doug Jones), Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), and new addition Johann Krauss (John Alexander) must journey to the troll market in order to discover who is using deadly “tooth fairies” (carnivorous little critters that feed on teeth and bone) in our world. What they discover is the plot of Prince Nuada to raise the Golden Army but he cannot do that without the help of his sister Princess Nuala (Anna Walton) who holds the location of the army and the key to raising it. When the B.P.R.D. take Nuala under their protection it doesn’t take long for her brother to find the secret government facility and bring Hellboy more problems then he needed.
Del Toro fills this film with lots of action and subtext as Hellboy and his relationship with Liz go to a new level as both must find a place within each others lives (following the events in the first film) and Abe is given a romantic interest in the form of Princess Nuala. Hellboy is faced with the choice of trying to discover his own place in a world that fears him even when he is only trying to help and Liz must face the fact that it is foretold that Hellboy will destroy the world (remnants of the first film). This new film is a grand opera of comic book fantasy in the way only del Toro can do.
Del Toro did not take the easy way out as Prince Nuada is not presented as an evil character but rather someone who has become fed up with the humans destroying the real world at the cost of everything else simply because of their arrogance. Hellboy is faced with the tough decision of which side he truly belongs on, that of the humans who despise and fear him or the creatures who would call him “friend” and are more a family to him then the humans that he protects. Hellboy’s decision will forever change his life and his association with the B.P.R.D. (and hopefully the planned third film in the series). Like del Toro’s best films this film is ambiguous.
This film also has some of the best SPFX of any del Toro film sporting some of the most elaborate characters ever committed to film since the days of Jim Henson’s THE DARK CRYSTAL or LABYRINTH. These effects have been elaborated and fine tuned from the previous film, which were clunky at times, making for one of the most dynamic films of del Toro’s career. We are also subjected to some of the best performances in a comic book film as Pearlman and Blair have really owned their characters and Jones is given more to work in this film. THE GOLDEN ARMY is a welcomed addition to del Toro’s canon of films and the comic book genre in general.
With the help of Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, del Toro has crafted a story not based on any of the previous Hellboy graphic novels yet still retains the look and feel of the Hellboy character and world. Given a slightly bigger budget than the original film del Toro and Mignola have crafted a story that takes Hellboy into the magical fairy world and beyond.
In the new film elf Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) is set upon raising the mythical Golden Army in order to take back the real world from the humans, which he believes have neglected the Earth and taken it for granted. The B.P.R.D. (or Bureau for Paranormal Research and Development) which includes Hellboy (Ron Pearlman), Abe Sapien (Doug Jones), Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), and new addition Johann Krauss (John Alexander) must journey to the troll market in order to discover who is using deadly “tooth fairies” (carnivorous little critters that feed on teeth and bone) in our world. What they discover is the plot of Prince Nuada to raise the Golden Army but he cannot do that without the help of his sister Princess Nuala (Anna Walton) who holds the location of the army and the key to raising it. When the B.P.R.D. take Nuala under their protection it doesn’t take long for her brother to find the secret government facility and bring Hellboy more problems then he needed.
Del Toro fills this film with lots of action and subtext as Hellboy and his relationship with Liz go to a new level as both must find a place within each others lives (following the events in the first film) and Abe is given a romantic interest in the form of Princess Nuala. Hellboy is faced with the choice of trying to discover his own place in a world that fears him even when he is only trying to help and Liz must face the fact that it is foretold that Hellboy will destroy the world (remnants of the first film). This new film is a grand opera of comic book fantasy in the way only del Toro can do.
Del Toro did not take the easy way out as Prince Nuada is not presented as an evil character but rather someone who has become fed up with the humans destroying the real world at the cost of everything else simply because of their arrogance. Hellboy is faced with the tough decision of which side he truly belongs on, that of the humans who despise and fear him or the creatures who would call him “friend” and are more a family to him then the humans that he protects. Hellboy’s decision will forever change his life and his association with the B.P.R.D. (and hopefully the planned third film in the series). Like del Toro’s best films this film is ambiguous.
This film also has some of the best SPFX of any del Toro film sporting some of the most elaborate characters ever committed to film since the days of Jim Henson’s THE DARK CRYSTAL or LABYRINTH. These effects have been elaborated and fine tuned from the previous film, which were clunky at times, making for one of the most dynamic films of del Toro’s career. We are also subjected to some of the best performances in a comic book film as Pearlman and Blair have really owned their characters and Jones is given more to work in this film. THE GOLDEN ARMY is a welcomed addition to del Toro’s canon of films and the comic book genre in general.
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