DVD Review of Hellboy II: The Golden Army

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DVD: Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Rating: PG-13
Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Luke Goss, Doug Jones, Jeffrey Tambor
Written By: Guillermo del Toro, Mike Mignola
Directed By: Guillermo del Toro
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Original Year of Release: 2008
Extras: Making of Documentary, Two Commentary tracks, Director’s Notebook, Deleted Scenes, galleries, more.
Series: Hellboy II

DVD Review of Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Dazzling look rescues threadbare plot

By Tim Janson November 10, 2008

Hellboy and the BPRD(2008).
© Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Hellboy II begins with a prologue set during the 1950’s as a young Hellboy is eagerly awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus. To get him to sleep, professor Bruttenholm (John Hurt) tells his adopted son a bedtime story about an ancient war between humans and a mythical fantasy realm. A goblin blacksmith creates an army of mechanical soldiers to defeat the humans but King Balor knows the army’s power is so terrible that they should never be used. The crown that can command the army is broken into three pieces and hidden. Balor comes to a truce with the humans, which upsets his son, Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) who disappears into exile.

To the present day, Nuada has tracked down two of the missing pieces of the crown and now is looking for the last piece in order to wage war on the entire human race. Hellboy and the rest of the BPRD find themselves caught in the middle of the battle. On one hand, Nuada poses a threat to the world and yet, Hellboy and his cohorts are not exactly embraced by man. In fact, when Hellboy’s existence is finally revealed to the world he is met with derision and fair by those he has helped protect.

The quest for the final part of the crown leads Hellboy, Abe, and Liz deep into a long-forgotten underworld filled with creatures both amazing and horrific. It is here where they will battle with Nuada and try to prevent the Golden Army from being brought to life.

While the first Hellboy film was tinged with horror elements, the sequel is wrought with Tolkien-like fantasy elements. Nuada and his people resemble elves with their lithe, graceful movements and their slender and pale appearances. We also have goblins, trolls, giant forest Gods, and other assorted beasties.

It’s the special effects, makeup, and costuming people who are front and center in Hellboy II. They have created creatures unlike any seen previously. We have Mr. Wink, the giant troll and servant to Prince Nuada. Most amazingly, Wink is not CGI but rather a man in an elaborate suit that is partially controlled like a giant puppet. Better yet was the chilling Angel of Death who confronts Liz Sherman in the Underworld. Again, the look combines make-up, a suit, and remote controlled movements. The technical achievements of the film are stunning!

The film also introduces us to the new head of the BPRD, Johann Krauss, a spirit inhabiting a containment suit that allows him to move about and interact with the rest of the team. Some of the best scenes in the film involve Hellboy’s blatant insubordination in dealing with Krauss.

It’s a plus that there is so much to look at because the story itself is thin. About halfway through the film turns into an episode of party of Five or Dawson’s Creek as Hellboy and Abe get drunk, lament over their troubled love lives, and sing Barry Manilow songs. Talk about terrifying!

Del Toro really excels in presenting these type of visual feasts. We saw it in Pan’s Labyrinth, we’ve seen it in both Hellboy films, and it’s a skill that should serve him well as the director of The Hobbit. Hellboy II isn’t very deep but you’ll overlook that with so many incredible things to watch on screen.

Extras

The three disc special edition is loaded with hours of outstanding special features. Del Toro seems to share Peter Jackson’s philosophy when it comes to making DVDs for the fans.

The set comes with two audio commentaries. One features del Toro and the other features stars Jeffrey Tambor, Selma Blair, and Luke Goss. Del Toro’s track delves into the technical side of the film while the actor’s track is more spirited and anecdotal with lots of interesting stories about the filming.

Troll Market Tour (12:00) in this featurette, del Toro takes viewers on a tour of the troll market (think Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter films but darker). You get a real sense of how meticulous del Toro is as he describes the massive set creation.

Hellboy: In service of the Demon is a massive 19-part documentary running over two and a half hours. This is one of the best documentaries I’ve seen since Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films. It covers every aspect of the filming and the different locations, scenes, and characters including the creation of Wink and the Angel of Death. Here’s a hint. If you play them all at once, you actually get about seven minutes of extra material than if you watch the chapters separately.

The Director’s Notebook takes you inside del Toros notepad for an interactive look at original sketches, notes, and other trinkets.

In addition there are a few deleted scenes with commentary although they are very minor and add nothing of importance to the story. There are also galleries, an Easter egg gag reel, and the third disc contains a digital copy of the film.

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