It is well know that Mexican director Guillermo del Toro will make an independent arthouse film, such as The Devil’s Backbone or Chronos, followed by a major Hollywood studio financed picture, Blade II or Mimic. The foreign language independent movies are always the best and reached their zenith in Oscar winning Pan’s Labyrinth.
With the Hellboy franchise del Toro seems to have merged these two creative aspects of his film making. In Hellboy II: The Golden Army he has produced a summer blockbuster with the sensibilities, visionary splendour, character and heart of a more independent film.
Hellboy II is a wonderful piece of work and is by far the best film of the year so far. It is better than The Dark Knight, which was far too long and contained a moral dilemma too many. Hellboy is breezy, funny, bouncy, spectacular, visually stunning, character driven and exciting; leaving you with a genuine sense of wonder.
Prince Nuada, the Elf Prince of the Underworld, played by Luke ‘Bros’ Goss, decides to break an ancient truce and claim back the planet for his people. He is determined to put back together the crown that allows the wearer to control the Golden Army, an indestructible clockwork army of unimaginable power. Only Hellboy stands in his way.
This is a monster movie extraordinaire, populated by bizarre freaks. Universal, the studio responsible for the film, should know a thing or two about monsters – they are the makers of Frankenstein and The Wolf Man. The extensive use of animatronics over CGI really adds a sense of the surreal with the freakshow of the Troll Market surpassing Star Wars’ Mos Eisley.
Even with amazing set pieces and battles the film is about growing up and accepting adult responsibility. Hellboy’s bright red, blue collar, cigar chomping, wise cracking, kitten loving, giant elemental and vast clockwork army battling hero realises he needs to take more responsibility, both in his private life with love interest and pyrokinetic Liz Sherman and as the world’s greatest paranormal investigator. He craves the public gratitude he deserves but discovers that humanity will never accept him. Ron Perlman is perfectly cast, he has the look and the attitude, he is Hellboy. (In the first film del Toro had to battle against the studio casting The Rock).
There were only four other people in the cinema with me which leads me to believe this film may be a flop. This would be a real shame. If you want your fantasy cinema to be a cross between Lord of the Rings and Terry Gilliam, with a bit of hard-boiled Laurel and Hardy, then this is for you. I can’t wait to see what the so called ‘new Orson Wells’ will do with The Hobbit.
“I would give my life for her - but she also wants me to do the dishes.”