Guillermo Del Toro has become the recent master of murky fantasy — first with the quirky clockpunk “Hellboy,” then with the Oscar-winning “Pan’s Labyrinth.” Not to mention forthcoming travels to Middle-Earth.
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So you know he has the skills to pit Mike Mignola’s scarlet anti-hero against an army of fairies and elves, and not earn it comic. Instead, it’s a spectacular dusky fantasy burly of humor, action, quirky appeal, romance, and some truly fantastic special effects. But what really shoves this movie over the top is Del Toro’s smart direction, and the glorious performance by Ron Perlman.
Decades ago, Professor Broom (William Pain) told a puny Hellboy a yuletide bedtime memoir about the Elf King Balor and his unstoppable Golden Army, and how the crown that controls the Army was split into thirds and divided among fairies and humans.
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Well, you can’t really examine that kind of power to never be revived.
Cut to fresh day. Hellboy (Perlman), Liz (Selma Blair) and Abe (Doug Jones) investigate a outlandish supernatural attack on an auction house, where the archeological curiosity known as the Crown of Bethmoora was being sold — only to be attacked by savage tooth fairies. Turns out the crown was stolen by Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), a resentful young elf who is distinct to retract the world relieve from humanity — using, of course, the Golden Army.
And while Hellboy chafes against strict novel commander Johann Krauss (a suit filled with ectoplasm), Abe encounters Nuada’s sister, Princess Nuala — who also happens to have the last third of the crown. But Nuada will not allow anyone to oppose him as he searches for the Golden Army’s area, and Hellboy and his friends must venture into a exclusive, worn kingdom to discontinuance him from destroying all of humanity.
The worst you can say about “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” is that it sticks to the formula of the demonic outsider with a dim destiny, and his continuing romantic woes. There’s some retreading as Hellboy realizes anew that he’ll never fit into the world of humans, because he’s spacious and red and has horns and a tail. Okay, we got it. Next mammoth psychological express!
Fortunately those flaws are relatively minor ones. Del Toro is calm able to slump a dismal, curved memoir with some truly bizarre creatures (the utterly alien, eye-winged Angel of Death), clockpunk robots, trippy underground goblin markets and a recent BPRD agent who is basically ectoplasm in a suit. And for the action scenes, Del Toro does not pull punches when it comes to the smashing action scenes — giant thrashing vines and a one-on-one duel with Nuada are among the highlights.
With all this going on, it would be easy to neglect the characters. But Del Toro packs the script with solid lickety-split dialogue and some poignantly romantic moments — including some handsome startling actions from dear ol’ Abe. And he also adds limited moments to this yarn sage that remind us that these are supposed to be people — such as Hellboy’s bickering with Krauss, or Abe and Hellboy getting drunk and having a puny Manilow singalong together. It’s honest so cute.
But what really sets this movie apart is the “children of the Earth.” No flitting Victorian sprites — these are creatures that are odd, grotesque, unsafe and immensely considerable, from outrageous dinky tooth fairies up to stout rock monsters and plant gods. There’s an alien, bizarre radiant to these creatures that feels wholly loyal, as if Neil Gaiman casually dropped a few sketches onto the drawing board.
But as extraordinary as the visuals are, Del Toro never neglects the characters. Perlman is perfect for the role of “titanic Red” — he’s gruff, sarcastic, morose, but also endearing and self-deprecatingly likable. There are more hints of his potentially dusky future, and he faces some delicately-handed temptations. But Tremendous Red’s fine heart is collected very worthy in the forefront, no matter how distinguished human beings fright him.
Blair gives a more piquant performance here as a spunkier Liz, who also has some surprising developments in store. Jones is pitch-perfect as the fish-man, who experiences the first pangs of young care for for Nuala, while Goss gives a chilling, whispery performance as a rebel prince who is willing to do whatever it takes — even extinguish family — if it helps him restore the fey kingdom. Magnificent beneficial villain, since he clearly isn’t trying to be terrible.
There’s also loads of extras in this particular edition of the movie — feature commentary with director Guillermo Del Toro, Jeffrey Tambor, Selma Blair and Luke Goss, as well as some deleted scenes also with commentary with Del Toro, a prologue to the movie, a digital script, image gallery, a “Puppet Theatre” for the opening sequences of the film, view art, interviews, and other such stuff. Also making-of documentaries — seven mini-documentaries that visit the state, the “Troll Market Tour” in the movie’s most memorable “faerie” setting, and the two-hour “Hellboy: In Service Of The Demon.” Basically, it turns the film inside-out and lets you ask its guts.
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army” is a wild, darkly ornate spin through the world of half-forgotten gods and fey. While it has a few flaws, those are far outweighed by the knowing of Del Toro’s vision.
You know you’re not watching a formulaic humorous book film when one of the highlights is a drunken rendition of “Can’t Smile Without You” by Hellboy and Abe Sapien. “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” is a more confident, assured outing than the first film and while it does not design from Mignola’s comics for its station it is perhaps better off for it, lacking the usual burden of comparison and expectations. “The Golden Army” is more fantastical than the first film and is less sci-fi oriented but this is the sort of thing Del Toro does exceptionally well as a writer. He never lets the fantasy become the focus of the film, instead concentrating on characters and delivering action scenes that can only be described as, forgive the crass immaturity, kickass.
As inspiring as many amusing book-to-film adaptations are it is a rare event when one can call one of these films a good artistic achievement. I am convinced without a shadow of a doubt that Guillermo Del Toro’s entire career has been leading up to this film, particularly regarding his work as screenwriter here. The comedy feels less forced and is worked incredibly well into the script here, so powerful so that it doesn’t feel remotely unnatural when the scene of humorous drunken singing leads directly without a crash into one of the film’s most intensely dramatic sequences. Del Toro’s handling of character has never been better, not even with “The Devil’s Backbone”, which is peaceful my common of his films, and his sheer skill and ability when it comes to telling a fairytale-esquire fantasy is fantastic, as proved in the prologue to this film. In short this is Del Toro at the top of his game and providing artistry the likes of which we rarely if ever scrutinize in summer blockbusters. It’s only delicate that an astonishingly shiny funny like “Hellboy” by an astonishingly sparkling artist like Mike Mignola is adapted this well and by someone as talented at what they do as he is.
How refreshing it is, a week after the release of “Hancock”, which to me epitomizes everything contaminated with action film-making today, that we procure “The Golden Army” which features hands down some of the finest action scenes we have ever seen in this sort of film. Fair stunningly shapely, well-shot, well-crafted, the sort of thing that leaves one wondering how noteworthy time and grief went into it and endlessly thankful that some really talented people went to the effort of making the film.
The film is generally impartial fine on a technical level. Why am I even saying this? Of course it is. Danny Elfman composing, Guillermo Navarro serving as cinematographer, worthy editors, amazing special effects wizards. It’s a world-class crew that made this film. I shouldn’t be surprised at its quality but “The Golden Army” really unprejudiced floored and astonished me with how honorable it is. The cast is also profitable, proving once again that you don’t need ‘big names’ to carry a movie. Impartial about everyone here is friendly, particularly Perlman with another genuine turn as Hellboy and the underrated Selma Blair as Liz Sherman.
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army” provides essentially everything a Del Toro or Mignola fan would want. I imagine it will entertain and charm many outside those circles as well with its extraordinary action sequences, bright characters, and incredible sense of humor. I would personally go as far as calling “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” one of the top five or so funny book movies ever made.
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