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Hellboy 2: The Golden Army Movie Review
Reviewed by: Nemesis
So Guys, Gals, Goons and Gimps here we are again with another Nemesis review! Let’s get on with it! Spoiler free of course!
Guillermo del Toro what a craftsman?! He brings another creature feature gem to the audience with this film. Was it better than ‘The Labyrinth of the Faun‘ aka ‘Pan’s Labyrinth‘? Yes and No. The Labyrinth story was much better yet the creature effects in Hellboy II were so much grander!!! I mean as you went through the film it seemed to out do it self over and over again! One viewer even stated… “…the special effects started getting too much…” but he was old! I was like IT IS A CREATURE FILM! YOU WANT MAAAY-JAH (major) SPECIAL EFFECTS!
Seriously this film out does itself when it comes down to Guillermo’s idea of what the “hidden” world’s inhabitatants could look like. Even the… hmm… well that would be a spoiler but their is an… nah, I won’t say. When you see this multi-eyed, winged, ‘creature’, seen from the trailers, you’ll know who ‘they’ represent. Very cool and original concept of that widly used idea. The “Golden Army” in the trailer looked a little stupid, to me anyway. It looked like those robotic bears from the ThunderCats to be honest. However, when you actually see them in the film they are bad ass. Oh and the reason they are famed to be “unstoppable” or “indestructable” is cool, but nothing you haven’t seen before. With Guillermo’s direction he always adds that sorrowful beauty in the midst of passing death so well, to the point you can feel what he was attempting to say with the angled shots taken. He does this twice in the film. Expect to be wow’d.
The characters are gritter, stonger, more bad ass than the original. Yes this one installment out smashes, out guns and out cools the first Hellboy. The editing of the film was well done, keeping the flow of the film with out too many ‘burps’ if you will. There is 2 that are very noticable, where the scene changes do not blend well, but you’ll be in the valley from just coming off the mountain top action and may not notice. The humor and one liners lead ins were written in very well. Applause for the director and the script writer. The length of the film goes unnoticed because you are on a constant thrill ride! You’ll be at a full throttle go-go-go then slow to catch your breath before you are on the edge of your seat in excitement again! A high point in this film is they did not try to fix what wasn’t broken or re-invent the wheel. They added to a good product which will help it in the box office.
Ron Pearlman definitely does his ‘thang’ as the ‘Son of the Fallen One, destined to bring about the end of man-kind’. Luke Goss reprises a role as a victim who’s worth must be redeemed by killing many many people to have his point of view noticed by his father… just like his role of ‘Nomak’ from Blade II. Speaking of which, we have Guillermo del Toro, Ron Pearlman and Luke Goss back together (along with other behind the scene crew members) from the Blade II film. Selma Blair’s character Liz Sherman was given more power, because it turns out she IS HALF FALLEN ANGEL OF FIRE, nah just kidding… she is going through something in the film though. Abe is still Abe… the reptillian… artsy… metro-sexual… feeler type guy. Although he does show off some slick Capoeria moves. Oh and the ‘new’ guy is pretty cool. OH almost forgot. Luke Goss’ character has one of the COOLEST, MO-FO, LO-DOWN, BAD ASS, MICKEE FICKEE weapons I have seen in a long time. It’s original and just kicks ass. I’d compare it too the first time seeing the double bladed lightsaber aka lightsaber staff wield by Darth Maul (Ray Park). HellBoy’s “Big Baby” is nice too.
As said above with the Worst question, the entire film seemed like a teaser to the 3rd HellBoy film. New questions asked, hidden plot lines posed and possibilities that lead to Awesome charted. You could get wrapped up in just wondering about what they will do next that you wish they shot this film with the next one at the same time so you wouldn’t have to wait so long. This also leads to a problem that I had with the film itself. However, when you see how they are setting up the next installment you can over look the rushed stitching in this fantastic fabric. Plus in films you can’t explain and go too deep into detail of every sub plot when you want to stay focused on the main idea of the film. Especially since that sub plot is there to put a red flag or omen in the back of the audience mind, to come back too later. For instance, this film aside from the title is really not about ‘The Golden Army’. Those goggles you see from the previews (showing that old lady as a creature) show the “True Nature” of whomever it views *hint-hint*. The Golden Army importance is minor and just for this chapter in a fantastic story.
All in all. It’s a good time. It is better than the original. There isn’t any cussing. There is however the detailed creatures & monsters, the cigar smoking and alcoholic boozing which you may or may not want little children to be exposed too. The sexual inuendo is non-existant and aside from a brief shower scene and the end of a locker scene there isn’t any human or human-noid nudity. That’s my review!