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Where 2004's Hellboy suffered from the origin-itis common to comic book movies (I mean no one ever bothered to tell Indiana Jones' origin story in Raiders of the Lost Ark and why would they), HELLBOY II: The Golden Army, freed of the necessity of establishing the characters and the universe, kicks it up a notch with a wildly imaginative, visually compelling episode in the annals of Hellboy and the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defence that combines the best of Hellboy creator Mike Mignola's hard-boiled heroes meet the supernatural stories with director Guillermo Del Toro's eye for the surrealist and fantastic.
In many ways a direct successor to Pan's Labyrinth, The Golden ArmyI pits the BPRD against the sociopathic Elven prince, Nuada, determined to avenge his people and all monsters, goblins, trolls and fantastical creatures on the greedy, encroaching, destructive Human Race. The only ones who can stop Nuada's plans to raise the Golden Army, an unstoppable force of mechanical warriors, are the resident freaks and outcasts of the BPRD, led by its resident demon-spawn, Hellboy.
With The Golden Army, Del Toro makes the Hellboy universe his own, adding not only a quintessentially Del Toro collection of creatures to the story, but a depth of humour, romance and pathos not normally seen in Hollywood comic book movies. The Golden Army is, for example, laugh-out loud and laugh-a-lot funny in several places where Hellboy was merely humourous (and Batman Begins barely cracked a smile) and takes a run at swoony romance as Liz and Hellboy try to make their relationship work (the problem is that Liz is the one doing the most of the work). Meanwhile, the bitter and deadly Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) carries himself with a nobility that gives weight, however misguided, to his desire to save the world from the humanity.
The Golden Army is not perfect, however, at times veering into a steampunk meets The Lord of the Rings pastiche and the tonal shift - from action to romance to drama to comedy - seem dissonant against a four-colour backdrop. Nevertheless, like its predecessor, I expect that The Golden Army will wear well on repeat viewings. I was busy death-looking the idiot across the aisle with the ringing phone so I missed some of the opening sequence and already anticipate a second viewing.
If Wanted represents one extreme of the current tide of comic-book movies swelling out of Hollywood, insubstantial and unmemorable as a piece of popcorn, HELLBOY II: The Golden Army is the other, full of imagination and wonder worth that leaves you giddy and savouring the adventure long after the movie itself has ended.
In many ways a direct successor to Pan's Labyrinth, The Golden ArmyI pits the BPRD against the sociopathic Elven prince, Nuada, determined to avenge his people and all monsters, goblins, trolls and fantastical creatures on the greedy, encroaching, destructive Human Race. The only ones who can stop Nuada's plans to raise the Golden Army, an unstoppable force of mechanical warriors, are the resident freaks and outcasts of the BPRD, led by its resident demon-spawn, Hellboy.
With The Golden Army, Del Toro makes the Hellboy universe his own, adding not only a quintessentially Del Toro collection of creatures to the story, but a depth of humour, romance and pathos not normally seen in Hollywood comic book movies. The Golden Army is, for example, laugh-out loud and laugh-a-lot funny in several places where Hellboy was merely humourous (and Batman Begins barely cracked a smile) and takes a run at swoony romance as Liz and Hellboy try to make their relationship work (the problem is that Liz is the one doing the most of the work). Meanwhile, the bitter and deadly Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) carries himself with a nobility that gives weight, however misguided, to his desire to save the world from the humanity.
The Golden Army is not perfect, however, at times veering into a steampunk meets The Lord of the Rings pastiche and the tonal shift - from action to romance to drama to comedy - seem dissonant against a four-colour backdrop. Nevertheless, like its predecessor, I expect that The Golden Army will wear well on repeat viewings. I was busy death-looking the idiot across the aisle with the ringing phone so I missed some of the opening sequence and already anticipate a second viewing.
If Wanted represents one extreme of the current tide of comic-book movies swelling out of Hollywood, insubstantial and unmemorable as a piece of popcorn, HELLBOY II: The Golden Army is the other, full of imagination and wonder worth that leaves you giddy and savouring the adventure long after the movie itself has ended.
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