Month of Superhero Film Reviews: Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Howdy ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Day #13 of my Month of Superhero Film Reviews! During this month I’ll be reviewing of some of the best and worst comic book adapted films. Now we’re gonna continue the adventures of Hellboy with the 2008 sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

So after the success of Hellboy, there had to be sequel made. I thought the first film created an interesting world  with a likable hero and at the end of the film there’s was room for these characters to grow and this crazy supernatural world to expand. So then Hellboy 2 comes out in 2008 and to be honest I was hyped and was hoping for something better than the last film, unfortunately at the time I was left disappointed and haven’t watched it since that time in the cinema. So now having seen again has my opinion changed? Read on and find out.

In terms of the plot here’s a small summary:

“In this continuation to the adventure of the demon superhero, an evil elf breaks an ancient pact between humans and creatures, as he declares war against humanity. He is on a mission to release The Golden Army, a deadly group of fighting machines that can destroy the human race. As Hell on Earth is ready to erupt, Hellboy and his crew set out to defeat the evil prince before The Golden Army can destroy humanity’s existence.”

I thought the story in this film was pretty good, while it missed the more serious nature and isn’t as heavy as the previous film, the story here is different, swifter in pace and still good enough to hold your interest throughout. There’s a lot more humour to be found in this film and in some areas it works really well and in others it is a bit weird to watch. I liked seeing more of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, it really has a Men In Black feel to it in terms of having this secret organization that handles creatures that us humans need protecting from, except it’s a little more fantasy/supernatural than it is sci-fi. I liked the continuation of the characters from the last film though I am gutted to see that John Myers is gone completely and dismissed after his character was given a lot of purpose in the last film from  Trevor Bruttenholm.

Now let’s talk about the cast because they were pretty cool for the most part. Ron Perlman still continues to kick ass as Hellboy, you honestly can’t imagine anyone else in the role and Perlman is still as perfect as ever. I love how he doesn’t give a monkeys about anyone but himself and how funny he is even in the face of danger and his constant use of the word “crap” is hilarious. Selma Blair continues to be good as Liz Sherman, while I wasn’t crazy about her and Hellboy’s relationship issues, I like how much hotter she was with her new haircut and work uniform. Doug Jones is wonderful as Abe Sapien, he has a bigger role in this film and I liked seeing more him in his typical logical/funny mannerisms. Also Jeffrey Tambor as Tom Manning is still a bit of an asshole but its in that way where he’s still funny and the subject of Hellboy’s jokes, Manning I feel is slightly funnier in this film and I welcomed that.

And then there’s Luke Goss as Prince Nuada who I liked a lot. I’m always more of a fan of villains who can fight and take on his enemies with strength and style and Nuada had that. Goss was great, as a villain he had lovely screen presence and was a constant threat. And lastly there’s Anna Walton as Princess Nuala is very pretty, had nice relevance to the plot and I liked how she spoke too (I’m not sure why haha).

Now let’s talk about the presentation. Visually the film is great, the CGI is pretty nice, there’s some wonderfully choreographed fight scenes with Luke Goss and the creature designs, make-up and amount of violence in the film was very much appreciated. As for the soundtrack, I didn’t know it was handled by Danny Elfman, no wonder it sounded better than the last film. It didn’t have that typical Elfman sound that I can easily recognize but it didn’t have an emotional sound to it which was nice.

And lastly how does it compare to the comics? Well as I said before I’m not familiar with the comics so I can’t talk about that it again (I’m become pretty useless in this department haven’t I?)

So to conclude Hellboy II: The Golden Army is good follow-up to the last film. While not as serious as its predecessor, it has a lot of new story and character elements that make it work in a different way. It’s still not an amazing film but its a lot better than I remembered and I think I like it slightly better than the last film. I really hope that there’s a Hellboy 3 eventually, this serious needs to have at least one more instalment!

Rating: 7.5/10 (Just as good as the last film if not a little better)

So there’s my review people, only 17 more to go. So have you seen Hellboy II: The Golden Army and if so what are your thoughts on it? Drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts yo! Come back tomorrow and I’ll have a new film review online, until then peace out!