Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Hellboy II: The Golden Army – When an ancient, forgotten enemy to humans decides to break the centuries old truce to reanimate an army of unstoppable automatons, Hellboy is the world’s only hope of defeating them. However, Hellboy has issues of his own and feels frustrated that he has been forbidden from showing himself to the outside world. With humanity once again on the verge of destruction, Hellboy and his team must stop the automaton army from being reanimated before it’s too late…

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) – Director: Guillermo del Toro

Rating: 12

Running Length: 120 mins

Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones

Genre: Fantasy, Action

REVIEW: ‘HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY’

As 2004’s ‘Hellboy’ was crying out for a sequel, 2 years later, ‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’ came crashing into theatres to give the red hero a non-origin story movie. Benefitting from having the same director, Guillermo del Toro, a man who always seems to have a vision, ‘The Golden Army’ ramps up the number of paranormal creatures, all of which have del Toro’s signature style. Ron Perlman once again effortlessly plays Hellboy, the cigar smoking, wise-cracking cat loving ‘red’ hero who, this time around, is having relationship problems with now-girlfriend, Liz (who has a secret she’s reluctant to share with him), and is increasingly frustrated about being hidden from the world he has saved so many times.

Having the space to create a stand-alone story rather than being constrained to Hellboy’s origins, ‘The Golden Army’ goes all out in the ‘paranormal’ elements, allowing del Toro to gleefully create numerous trolls, monsters and mystical beings in his own recognisable style which, to be honest, does become a little too self-indulgent at times. The movie’s villain, Prince Nuada (the twin brother of the ‘good’ Princess Nuala), played by the underrated Luke Goss, has enough elements to his character to make him three-dimensional and while Nuada is never actually sympathetic, his frustration and desire for dominance is understandable.

‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’ is arguably better than its predecessor but does suffer somewhat from too many monsters syndrome. The protagonists are as likeable as ever so its easy to root for them despite it being impossible not to enjoy Nuada’s no-remorse baddie. Unfortunately this movie may not be to everyone’s tastes but for those who like a fun, exciting and completely overblown comic book story, ‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’ is an absolute joy!

CONTENT: IS ‘HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

A story is told of an ancient battle between magical creatures and humans and an animated sequence accompanies the dialogue. Huge battle are shown although nothing especially gory is shown apart from when a survivor crawls along the ground and is stabbed through the back and lifted high into the air. There is no blood and all the characters in the animation have minimal facial expressions so any suffering is not graphic.

There is an attack at an auction, a man is approached by the movie’s antagonist, Nuada, who holds a small, slimy creature. This creature leaps onto the man’s and it’s tentacles latch onto him, covering his face entirely. The man turns around and the creature’s eye blinks from the middle of the man’s face. After a couple of seconds, the man collapses out of shot, presumably dead. Later in the movie, other characters go to this building and it is remarked upon that there are no remains and that this is because all parts of the bodies have been eaten.

When the Hellboy and the others investigate the site of the auction killings, it is darkly lit and very suspenseful. Scratching noises are heard in the walls and eventually, a small-winged creature is discovered. It initially looks cute, however it reveals its large mouth and sharp teeth, showing that it is aggressive. Hundreds more of the creatures swarm and attack the group. This does not become too frightening although one character is dragged away and killed.

An old woman is discovered to be a troll in disguise. This troll likes to eat cats and is about to eat one, its face distending grotesquely, however a character steps in to stop them and the cats are not harmed.

Hellboy attacks two trolls in order to get information from them, one is punched so hard it is thrown down a street and into a vat of what looks like boiling water, it struggles to get out but as the camera cuts away quickly its suffering is minimal and shouldn’t be upsetting. The other is repeatedly punched in the face.

Another troll attacks Hellboy and after a fight, ends up getting pulled into a meat grinder. Nothing graphic is shown but chunks of its body fly out. Another character becomes upset and angry when he finds out this troll has been killed as it was his friend.

Hellboy is receives unfair vitriol from bystanders. Some call him ‘ugly’ and a ‘freak’ which clearly upsets him. After saving the life of a baby, he is asked what he has done to it as they are expecting him to have harmed it. Something is thrown at his face and cuts him.

Hellboy punches a ‘good’, non-human character in anger, breaking a seemingly vital part of his body. What seems to be his life essence leaks out of his body and for around 30 seconds it appears as though this character has been killed and Hellboy isn’t particularly upset or remorseful about this.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY’ FOR KIDS?

It may be light-hearted but it still packs a punch, ‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’ is a feast for the eyes but may not be everyone’s cup of tea. We feel this movie should be appropriate for kids aged 9 and over.

• Violence: 2/5 (lots of exciting fight scenes, some blood but it is never gory)
• Emotional Distress: 1/5 (a character sacrifices themselves in order to save others and a character who cares for them is upset)
• Fear Factor: 2/5 (a few suspenseful moments)
• Sexual Content: 1/5 (a character discovers that she is pregnant. At an auction, one of the lots is a tribal fertility goddess it is a huge stone statue that has large breasts, however the statue’s head has no features and it has no nipples so it is not sexual)
• Bad Language: 1/5 (infrequent mild blasphemy and cursing)
• Dialogue: 1/5
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of being forced to hide from the world, creatures hiding in plain sight, helping those who don’t appreciate you, the prospect of parenthood and not taking life too seriously.

Words by Laura Record