This week the run of summer superheroes continues with Hellboy II: The Golden Army (PG-13). This time around the team (Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, and Doug Jones, all returning from the first movie) must stop an ancient prince who plans to awaken an unstoppable golden army to wage war on the humans. Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) directs.
Ryan: Admittingly I was a little surprised that a Hellboy II was even produced. The first feature was pretty decent but it didn't tear up the box-office (a worldwide gross of only $99 million dollars). But there's no question that after Pan's Labyrinth (one of the best films of 2006), Guillermo del Toro's stock was way up. And if one couples that with the fact that comic book films continue to be hits more often than not then maybe a sequel shouldn't be too surprising. All-in-all I found Hellboy II to be just about what the first one was—a slightly above average superhero flick.
Andy: I remember going into the first Hellboy movie with impossibly low expectations and then being very pleasantly surprised at how well the film held together. For some reason I was once again down on the idea of seeing a Hellboy movie, but still del Torro was able to deliver an interesting and entertaining flick. This should come as no surprise at this point, but I would say there are very few directors that could take the Hellboy character and make a good movie out of it. Clearly Guillermo del Torro is one of those few people.
Ryan: Part of the problem with this Hellboy movie was one that plagued the first one. That's having a suitable villain to be Hellboy's foil. Every superhero has to have interesting super villains to survive—especially in a major motion picture. In the first film Hellboy battled the Nazis. Nazis are definitely bad but they are, at least from a cinematic standpoint, quite generic. The sequel builds up a new threat involving an ancient race of creatures but unfortunately it looks (and sounds) a lot cooler than it really is. If there's going to be another Hellboy movie than Hellboy definitely needs a worthy adversary because it would make (at least theoretically) for a more interesting movie.
Andy: It’s a little misleading to think of this as a superhero movie. There is no question that it starts off as one, with the standard superhero issues (how to balance a personal life with a life of being a superhero, how to interact with the public, etc). But about halfway through the movie when we enter the Troll Market, a secret underground world full of various mythical creatures, it becomes clear that this is trying to be a fantasy-adventure film rather than a straight-up superhero movie. As a fantasy film it works much better, it’s just unfortunate that it could not have the type of focus to commit to being a fantasy instead of spending so much time fighting crime in “reality.”
Ryan: One aspect of the movie that I found superior to the first flick was that the sequel is much more visually stunning. Creating monsters and creatures that actually are frightening and that look real is a lot to ask from most directors. But not del Toro. The man has a gift not only for coming up with creatures that look cool but that also don't look phony. Regrettably del Toro gets a little carried away with his imagination at times. Hellboy runs at only two hours but it's a long two hours. Final grade: C+.
Andy: Hellboy is not without its flaws, but it is visually stunning enough to overcome some awkwardness in the story. Furthermore, the performances of Ron Perlman and Doug Jones are once again pleasant surprises, allowing the movie to remain entertaining even during the times when the action fades. This is not a perfect movie, but it sure is a nice distraction until (Friday!) the Dark Knight comes out. Final grade: B.
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