Hellboy II: The Golden Army

this was the worst freakin movie i have ever seen.. all of yall are idiots.. this movie is called hellboy 2 the golden army and you didn't even freakin see anything about the damn army until the end.. plz go crawl in a hole and have someone burry you alive becasue your wouldn't know a good movie if it bit you in the ass. hell boy hell no!!

I was not that impressed with the first Hellboy but this one was much better!

The story was more interesting than the first one and you find out more about Hellboys' past.

The creatures were amazing. Some of them I wonder even how someone came up with because they are so fantastical. When I heard that the people that worked on Pan's Labyrinth would be doing this movie that got me very excited because just like in that movie Hellboy had some amazing and visually stimulating creatures that can frighten and amaze you.

diffidently see this in the theater!

But this was a pretty excellent movie. We get to see an extended appearance by young Hellboy, and there's all kinds of angsty stuff, and character development and such.

And of course, creatures. Awesome, crazy looking creatures. And incredible fight scenes. Really, this movie was pretty epic.

Anyway, it's worth seeing in a theater. I don't think it'd be quite the same on a TV.

Far to often Hollywood views as a sequel as simply a quick way to cash in on the surprising success of a previous years film. And in most cases the rush to grab some extra cash leads to a steady decline in quality as more and more iterations of the film are pushed out the door. Look at what happened to the old Batman series of movies Batman and Robin anyone?) or compare the first Spiderman to the somewhat clumsy third Spiderman.

As luck would have it every now and then a sequel comes along that is in some ways better then the original, or at the very least adds something meaningful to the story and characters that the original movie introduced us to. This is the category that Hellboy II: The Golden Army falls into. Under the guidance of famed director Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) we are once again taken on a whirlwind tour of the world through a fantastic set of lenses. This movie replaces Nazi's, Rasputin, and Lovecraftian horrors with a world of trolls and goblins and elves. Forget Lord of the Rings though, instead think of the older darker legends that inspired middle earth. Elves are not paragons of virtue and faeries will most likely inspire more terror than they do joy.

The true triumph of this film is the fact that every single one of the main characters grows and evolves in a sensible manner from their depiction in the first movie. They experience longing and fear and love and these emotional sledgehammers leave their dents on each of the protagonists, leaving us with something a little more complex as the movie closes.

Still though, the movie does fall into the trap of trilogitis, in which the second movie in the series serves mainly as a springboard for the grand finale. That said there is very little bad to say about this movie. The pacing was excellent, the use of costumed actors instead of a plethora of CGI creations was appreciated, which made the times when computers where employed have that much more of an impact on the audience.

So if you are looking for an action movie with good actors, amazing sets, and exotic costumes then you can't go wrong with Hellboy.

I am a huge fan of the first Hellboy movie. I knew very little about the comic it was based on and even less about the director, Guillermo del Toro, but the film made me a huge fan of both. I like the first movies mix of reality with comic book style; it was just believable and silly enough to remain entertaining. That's what I think makes a good "comic book" movie -- it can't take itself to seriously, but it can't be too cartoony. If it's gonna be a cartoon, why bother with live action, just make the whole film animated. Plus, I find Nazis very scary and evil, and the clockwork Nazi, Kroenen, was one of the creepiest bad guys I've seen in a movie in a long time.

Anyway, Hellboy II.

I knew this was gonna be good. Guillermo del Toro is at the top of his game and really has developed a sense of style. When you see goblins and other creatures in this films, their look matches the aesthetics del Toro created for other films like Pan's Labyrinth and The Devil's Backbone. It's like hearing different Nine Inch Nails songs; there are certain tones and sound effects Trent Reznor always uses, and you can identify a NIN song from that signature sound. Same for del Toro's creatures. He's got a think for monsters with featureless faces and eyeballs attached to other parts of their bodies. "The Angel of Death" in Hellboy II bears a resemblance the creepy "Pale Man" in Pan's Labyrinth. I like this style, and instead of seeing old or repetitive, it seems more cozy and familiar.

Ron Perlman is perfect as Hellboy. He's got the attitude and the cosume down perfectly. Abe Sapien is also excellent. They didn't use the voice-over talent of David Hyde Pierce this time for Abe. I though I was going to miss the voice of Nyles Crane, but hearing the actual actor inside the latex fish mask deliver the lines made me realize in HBI, I was distracted by the dubbing. So, even though I love David Hyde Pierce, him not providing the voice of Abe turned out to be a good thing.

My only complaint about this film is Selma Blair's Pyrotechnic Liz Sherman character. She's the "Marylin Munster" of the heros, she's the most normal of the bunch, but is somehow the one with the most problems fitting in. She was a bit under developed in the first film. But that was okay, she spent most of Hellboy I in a Mental Hospital with Big Red trying to convince her to leave. I was hoping to see a much more confident and charismatic Liz Sherman in this film, but she was just dull. Just the chick in the group who can make fireballs. I hope in a sequel she gets fleshed out a little more.

Hellboy II is fantastic, at least for it's visuals. Del Toro is the real deal. I'm actually much happier he's doing "THe Hobbit" as opposed to Peter Jackson. It seems Del Toro really has an eye for catching child-like awe on film. I highly recommend Hellboy II. If you haven't seen HBI, don't worry, Netflix it later, but see HBII.

Not as bad as The Golden Compass as far as the "Blue Ball" factor goes, that movie literally just stops in the middle of nowhere. But Hellboy II spent a great deal of time laying on the allusions and inuendo. I find this to be a real annoyance in any movie personally.

The movie itself was really well thought out for the most part, the characters really took on an interesting and believable sense of bigotry and racism that yoiu don't get even in the most left wing cinema. The main antagonist is so filled with hate, he's reverting back to a blind child like rage that seemingly retarded his intelectual growth. Whoever played the role did an amazing job, It was really hard to hate him mainly because the sorrow and pain the character felt and the way the actor genuinely portrayed those feelings.

I do have to say this, while I agree that the McDonaldization of society is man's greatest weakness, and that we build shopping malls and worship the almighty dollar, sometimes it's a little TOO cliché, even for a 'comic book movie'. I don't mind that the antagonist hates humans to the core of his being, but not for building shopping malls... Had the Diatribe he delivered been along the lines of "They kill each other over material things, rape one another, cheat and lie on thier loved ones, toss thier offspring aside when they don't meet thier expectations, give up at the smallest sign of difficulty!" I would have been more 'into it'. However, it does kinda leand to the 'childish rage' concept, and a sense that he's more misinformed and petty. Had he hated humans for more meaningful reasons, it might have been harder to accept him as the villian.

Complaints aside: Awesome sequel! It had just enough comic book cheese to keep your believability in check. There were not Star Wars versus Star Trek like arguements about what was realistic. And luckily Guiermo didn't try to turn this into Pan's Labrynth, while welcome, I think it would detract from THAT movie and pigeion hole him into those kinds of films (Think the fate of M. Night Shamalan). It's really cool he could make an Oscar Level film like Pan's Labrynth and come back and do something fun too. The characters were better developed this time around, but I didn't have any complaints last time really. I fear this series could go the way of Tim Burton's Batman if it fell into the wrong hands...

Death. I dont' know, but the design and manorisms of Death in this film were probably the most accurate depiction of Death I have ever seen to my own nightmares, dreams, or otherwise. It was creepy to see something so close to what I'm "familiar with". Really made me happy.

Indeed, it's better than the original. The surreal visual is the most impressive part of the movie. Nice allusion/reenactment of Princess Mononoke's forest's god, whose death is one of the most magical experiences I've ever encountered.

Highly recommended.

After watching the previews for Hellboy 2, I was immediately captivated by the remarkable and fantastical creatures (similar in appearance to those seen in the movie Pans Labyrinth). That's why I was anxious to see it on opening night (plus, it was my husband's turn to pick a movie...and just so you know, the ladies will also enjoy it)!

Hellboy 2 has a strong story-line with interesting character development; witty dialogue, humor... and more romance than you'd expect to find in a comic book adaptation -- and it doesn't come off as THAT cheesy or forced.

The movie is a visual smorgasbord with cutting-edge special effects, action sequences, and artfully choreographed fight scenes.

It's not often that a sequel is better than the original, but this is definitely an exception!

Go check it out if you're interested in a fun, action-packed fantasy adventure!

I have to admit, I was only lukewarm about the first Hellboy movie. I watched it again this week to see if it had grown on me. It hadn't.

Hellboy 2 is a terrific movie. Guillermo del Toro was given a serious budget and he put every penny of it on screen. Aside from a few moments where the dialogue lagged or seemed a bit flat, this film was enthralling. I expected lots of action. I didn't expect to be in awe of some of the most spectacular creature effects I have ever seen. I didn't expect there to be moments of pure beauty. I didn't expect to be genuinely moved.

It's a comic book movie, and it has a very simple story, don't get me wrong, but there are moments when it transcends itself and becomes a work of true genius. This is one of the most entertaining fantasy movies I have ever seen.

And it bodes well for "The Hobbit", Mr. del Toro's next big project.