Movie Reviews

Hellboy / Hellboy II : The Golden Army
submitted by
Thomas
 on
Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - 19:53
8.0
Directed by: 

Guillermo Del Toro is something of a comic book fanatic so if there was one director who would do a good job of turning Mike Mignola’s Hellboy into a movie, it would be him. And that’s exactly what he did. Twice. “Hellboy” and its sequel “The Golden Army” are two rare movies that are not only based on a comic book, but also feel like one.

You can pick up on Del Toro’s enthusiasm right from the get-go when “Hellboy” opens with a scene where a bunch of evil Nazis plot an evil scheme with the help of Rasputin late in WWII in a desperate attempt to turn the odds that are stacked against them. They want to open a portal to the dark side to summon the Seven Gods of Chaos and would’ve succeeded if not for some brave US soldiers and Prof. Bruttenholm (John Hurt). The only thing that comes through the portal is a small red devil, complete with horns and a tail. Rasputin on the other hand gets sucked in the portal and is never heard from again.

We then flash-forward to the present where Bruttenholm is at the head of a secret FBI division that fights against all kinds of evil entities with the help of Hellboy (played by Ron Perlman who is obviously enjoying himself) and Abe Sapien (a very eloquent creature who’s more of a lover than a fighter and who looks kinda like Jar-Jar Binks and is played by Doug Jones). Rounding out the team are FBI rookie John Myers (Corey Johnson) and the love of Hellboy’s life, Liz (Selma Blair). Together they have to fight against two of the evil schemers (a nazi named Ilsa and a dude called Kroenen who is addicted to body modifications) who are plotting to bring Rasputin back to life.

“The Golden Army” is the exception on the rule that sequels are never as good as the first chapter. We learn about an ancient war between humans and trolls, goblins and every other kind of ugly motherfuckers. There was a truce once upon a time but because that would make for a boring movie, it of course gets broken fairly quickly and as a result we run the risk of getting our asses kicked by the Golden Army, 70 times 70 mechanical warriors.

Even though everything about “The Golden Army” is bigger and louder than the first “Hellboy” and the movie is inhabited by all kinds of fantastic creatures, Del Toro never loses sight of the story and the sense of humor that can be found all over the comics, is prevalent in the movie as well. It all just kinda works and you’re happy to let Del Toro drag you deep into Hellboy’s universe.