Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and his friends find themselves as humanity’s last hope when an Elvin prince returns from exile to declare war upon humanity using an ancient, unstoppable, mechanical army.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army is an improvement upon the original Hellboy, but still suffers from many of the original’s flaws.

Ron Perlman is back as the titular hero and he’s in great form here. Without the bulky origin story, Perlman is free to strut around and toss off one-liners from the get-go, and he’s easily the film’s highlight.

The supporting cast is solid as well. Selma Blair has a lot more to do this time around, as does Doug Jones. Perhaps the best addition is the ghost-in-a-diving-suit character of Johann Krauss, voiced by Seth MacFarlane, who actually manages to upstage Perlman in several scenes.

Director Guillermo del Toro also cranks up the special effects for this installment, including several highly imaginative sequences that have to be seen to be believed, including the aforementioned ghost-in-a-diving-suit, a giant plant-god, and the titular Golden Army.

But the film isn’t without its missteps. Much like the first film, this installment lacks a great antagonist. Luke Goss is passable as a pissed off elf, but Hellboy’s still lacking a Darth Vader to his Luke Skywalker, and thus, the film drags whenever Perlman’s not on the screen, because the plot’s just not that compelling.

Finally, there’s the odd, and jarring inclusion of non-sourced popular music on the soundtrack. As always, this only serves to date the film and adds nothing to atmosphere of the scene. For a director as talented as del Toro to make this kind of a gaff is surprising.

That said, fans of the original should find Hellboy II: The Golden Army an enjoyable ride, which bodes well for the franchise’s next installment.