Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (Universal Pictures)
An Overdose of Visual Images
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army is a visual feast of bizarre characters. It is a first cousin to the Star Wars cantina scene but more overblown and over the top. The strange and stranger creatures pop up all through the movie. Of course the title character isnt your typical hero. He is a red-skinned, tail wagging, horned he-man who is the great red hope for the planet.
Hellboy (Ron Perlman) is part of a secret agency of the government. He and his friends Liz (Selma Blair) and Abe (Doug Jones) have special talents the government needs. Hellboy has massive strength while Liz is a combustible person and Abe is a fish out of water. I mean those last two descriptions literally.
In this adventure Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) comes up from the underground to take over the planet from the humans. He needs a complete crown, which was been broken into pieces years ago, in order to call up a golden army of giants. It is up to Hellboy and company to stop this threat.
Meanwhile things are complicated on the personal front as Liz and Hellboy are facing problems in their relationship. She needs space and at the same time to feel wanted, while he needs her acceptance of some of his quirks.
What makes Hellboy 2 a better than average movie is the fact there is humor interspersed throughout the film. Hellboy has a wry sense of humor and some of the adventures have a comic touch. So you get a break from the action at various points.
Then there is the brilliance of Guillermo del Toro. He served as both writer and director, plus his hand is seen in the visual look of the movie. When del Toro makes a movie it is unique in a million different ways.
The one negative of the movie is the fact that del Toro goes overboard in the creation of strange characters. There are just too many to absorb in one sitting. It is visual overkill.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
The movie is over two hours long and it has to be in order to get the entire plot and all the visuals onscreen. There is so much action involved however that the movie speeds by in a flash.
Perlman is hidden behind the red skin, etc of Hellboy but his personality and acting talent shine through from beginning to end. Blair, Jones and the rest of the cast provide solid support.
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army is a fun film to watch. Perlman and the rest of the cast seem to be enjoying themselves immensely. Because of this the audience has a good time too.
I scored Hellboy 2: The Golden Army a red-skinned 7 out of 10.
