Hellboy II : The Golden Army
Review
by Sean Lynch
For once, the Americans had it right. Hellboy II : The Golden Army
was brilliantly scheduled for release pre-Dark Knight.
Not surprisingly the flick - with nothing superior to compare it to -
went onto
take the #1 spot at the US Box Office in it's first week out, before
Batman hit the screens.
However, the Aussies have opted to wait so it will be interesting to
see how audiences respond to it now.
The thing is, Hellboy 2
is pretty damn spectacular. It's a vast improvement on the first film
(which, aside from the stunning visuals was pretty hollow) and it is
without doubt the most uniquely original comic-to-movie adaption of the
lot.
Hellboy II: The
Golden Army
continues in very much the same fashion as the first movie, this time
giving the audience a humorous glimpse at Hellboy as a 12-year
old boy
(you know the drill - voice breaking, horns growing in "weird places")
being told a "mythical" bedtime story - which coincidently serves as a
rather entertaining prologue.
Cut several
years down the track and the same childhood tale comes back to haunt
'Big Red' in the form of a ruthless leader who defies his
bloodline in order to awaken an unstoppable army of creatures - The
Golden Army - in an effort to control the world.
Now, it's up to
the swag of mutants and supernatural beings at the Bureau for Paranormal Research (which looks
remarkably similar to HQ of the MIB)
including Hellboy's pyrotechnic squeeze Liz (Selma Blair), aquatic
empath Abe and German protoplasmic
mystic Johann (Family Guy's
Seth McFarlene) to travel between unseen magical worlds and
our own in order to bring calm to the impending chaos.
If The Dark Knight
is as gloomy as a comic-book film can go, Hellboy
heads in the opposite direction. It offers plenty of light-hearted
moments
and visually captivating action sequences on a truly epic scale.
Without Guillermo Del Toro at the helm, the Hellboy
franchise would be no more worth seeing than an old can of beans
rotting in a gutter next to a passed out Andy Dick. Sure, it's fun, but
in terms of story, dialouge and characters - it's nothing we haven't
seen before.
But the sense of magical whimsy served up by Del Toro is fascinating,
and at times, mind blowing.
Every
single frame (CGI or otherwise) looks as though each comic book
character was painstakingly sculpted by the hands of DaVinci. It really
is that impressive.
The cast do what they can with what they
have, with some really cheesy lines spurted throughout but within
the context of the film it works.
Selma Blair continues to go under the
radar in Hollywood (which is a shame, because I still stand by the fact
she oozes sexy - it might be her eyes, I'm still not sure) but delivers
yet again as the future Hell-Mum, while Arrested Development's
Jefferey Tambor (who is normally excellent) spoils things slightly with
his ultra hammy presence.
If your expectations of comic book movies have been unfairly heightened
by Chris Nolan & Co - then avoid Hellboy for at
least a few weeks after you've been devoured by Dark
Knight. But once your head is clear, Hellboy II : The Golden Army
is well worth checking out.
By no means memorable, but a fun distraction.
3 out
of 5
Hellboy 2
: The Golden Army
Australian release: August 28th,
2008
Official
Website: Hellboy II : The Golden Army
Cast:
Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, James Dodd
Director: Guillermo del Toro
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