Hellboy II: The Golden Army

It may contain substantially more elements than its prequel, the whole of Hellboy II is less than the sum of its parts.

One of the best things to come out of this year’s New York Comic Con was the news that Guillermo del Toro will be directing the Hobbit films. It’s true; I am relieved that Peter Jackson will not be helming the Hobbit films. I loved the first entry in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but grew increasingly disappointed with the subsequent sequels. As the trilogy progressed, the beautifully wrought narrative began to be crowded out by more—and more—epic battle set pieces and CG wizardry, such that by the end of the trilogy I no longer gave a damn about any of the characters or who happens to the ring; I just wanted it to end.

But what does any of this have to do with Hellboy II? If you’ve seen Hellboy and liked it, you should go into this one prepared: it’s got more CG effects, more creatures, more action, and more Hellboy smackdowns; in short; it’s a different creature altogether.

The film’s opening takes us back to when Hellboy was just, well, a boy, and he begs his adopted father, Professor Trevor Broom, for a bedtime story. Broom obliges, and regales Hellboy—and us—with the tale of an ancient conflict between humans and the the world of myth and fantasy, which culminates in the creation of the Golden Army: 4,900 clockwork soldiers, seemingly forged from gold. Indestructible, they know “know no pity, mercy, or loyalty”: instead, a golden crown controls their will. Anyone of royal blood can don the crown and control the army … unless rightfully challenged. The Golden Army successfully overcomes the humans, but Balor, the King of Elves, is filled with remorse after witnessing the aftermath. To prevent any future need for the use of the Golden Army, a truce is struck: humans shall keep to their world, and mythical creatures to theirs. This truce is threatened when Prince Nuada, the son of Balor, decides to invade the human realm and resurrect the Golden Army. The reasons for Nuada’s incursion can be surmised, but they are never really made clear. And, of course, it’s up to Hellboy and his fellow freaks at the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense to save the day.

Clearly, del Toro is under a lot of pressure from Universal Studios to ensure that this movie rakes it in at the summer box office. Sony had put up the Hellboy franchise (a trilogy is planned) for sale after the demise of Revolution Studios, deeming it an unprofitable project. Universal’s decision to finance and distribute Hellboy II (and presumably the subsequent final installment of the trilogy) must have come at a price: del Toro must prove they bet on the right horse.

And so he does. While the first film focused almost solely on character and plot development (action took a backseat), in Hellboy II del Toro pushes everything two gears up, chucking out almost all character development; and working with a plot that’s barely there, del Toro hurls one action set piece after another at the audience, accompanied by a healthy dose of CG special effects, elaborately designed creatures, and tongue-in-cheek humor. (Watch out for the Hellboy/Abe duet; yes, they sing.) Compressing everything in a ruuning time of 120 minutes and limiting the budget increase at $6 million (the estimated budget for Hellboy is $66 million), if this doesn’t make money, I don’t know what will.

All this usually spells disaster for any movie, but del Toro’s sensibilities as a director and his profound love for Hellboy balance the imperative to prove the film’s profitability. del Toro’s script features snappier, sharper dialogue that provide a lot more laughs (albeit sacrificing depth and gravity), and action choreography is nothing short of virtuosic. As a result, Hellboy II is more like Blade II in character, even while it thematically and visually comes across as a close cousin of Pan’s Labyrinth. Watching Hellboy II is almost like running into an old friend who’s too busy to stop and talk for now; let’s hope he finds the time later to sit down tell us the whole story.

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