Hellboy II: The Golden Army [Blu-ray]

BOTTOM LINE: This sequel is so engrossing, enchanting, outrageous and out and out fun that even if you've never heard of the character or seen the first HB movie you'll still enjoy it. It's stuffed with amazing creatures who are so alien and yet instantly identifiable as wholly human by their actions & emotions. This is just a grand time at the movies. In fact, the only downside of this film is that we'll never see the final installment of GDT's Hellboy trilogy to find out how everything wrapped up, now that they're rebooting the franchise. :-(THOUGHTS: I rather enjoyed the first Hellboy movie back in 2004. I knew nothing of the comic on which it was based but was familiar with Ron Perlman’s genre work and was already a fan of Guillermo Del Toro, so it was a no-brainer to rent it when it hit the video store shelves. The first HB is off-kilter and chock full of so much eye candy in the form of crazy creatures that it was as much fun to stare at the individual elements of the film as it was to enjoy it as a whole. Thankfully, this 2008 sequel is everything the first film is and MORE, in the best possible way. Even better, you don’t have to have seen the first movie nor be familiar with the Mike Mignola comicbook series to enjoy it. (It helps, of course, but you won't be completely lost if you view HB II:TGA 'cold').The acting across the board in this movie is simply outstanding. Ron Perlman nails the character of Hellboy and brings additional emotional depth this time around, fully fleshing out the complex demon anti-hero and making him so human that you feel he could be someone you know. (Like Mr. Spock, Hellboy and his eclectic friends / co-workers often come across in these films feeling more 'human' than most of the actual humans around them.) Selma Blair as HB’s hot love interest Liz Sherman doesn't get as much screen time as I would've liked, but she makes the most of what she does get. Doug Jones (for heaven's sake, someone give this man an Academy Award already! Sheesh!!) is absolutely wonderful as the literal fish out of water, Abe Sapien. His nuanced performance is a joy to watch; he can say more with twitchy physical mannerisms & head tilts than many other actors could with five pages of dialog. New BPRD/government liaison, Johann Krauss (voice acted by Seth McFarlane) is a visual wonder, (his intricately-detailed diving suit-inspired outfit is just fantastic!), and his wickedly funny interaction with HB and the others makes him a wary yet welcome addition to the rowdy BPRD crew. Jeffery Tambor as Tom Manning, the forever-frustrated divison head of the Bureau of Paranorma Research & Defense, is hilarious as always; the man's comic timing has been so finely honed over the years that he can probably do this kind of role in his sleep. :-)The villains & sidebar characters are equally interesting, engaging and startling. Luke Goss as exiled Prince Nuada is a manic adversary, yet he has enough anguish and conflict bubbling just under the surface that you really feel for him. He is a frighteningly fierce fighter, and though he is thin & wiry almost to the point of malnutrition, his ferocity in combat makes him a very scary and lethal threat to our beefy red lughead hero. The action scenes, it must be said, are some of the most energetic and excellently-choreographed I've seen on film in ages. Magnificent work by both the actors & their stunt doubles. The Prince's behemoth henchman 'Wink' is a real treat, too; wonderfully realized through elaborate practical make-ups & suitmation work. No CGI hocus pocus here; just a very real, very tired and very sweaty stuntman giving his all in some brutal fight sequences... and managing to turn in a surprisingly deft acting performance underneath all that foam rubber as well.At the other end of the spectrum, the Prince's wide-eyed, gossamer-like sister Nuala (Anne Walton), makes an enchanting first love for flustered fishman, Abe. His genuine awkwardness in his scenes with her feels so... real. And I dare anyone not to be fully in love with this terrific film by the time the amazingly touching "Can't Smile without You" scene is over. That may be my favorite seen from ANY comicbook movie, and probably in the top 10 of my favorite scenes from ANY movie - ever. It is just magnificent. Disarming, real, relatable and heartbreakingly funny. If you've ever been in love or had a painful crush on someone who didn't return that love, then you will completely feel right there in the moment for both Abe and Hellboy in this marvelous little side scene. Pure GDT genius at work here... and throughout the entire film in fact; all the way to that wondrous, sidesplitting final freeze frame.THE BLU-RAY: A solid hi-def release from Universal Home Video, the video & audio for HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY are first rate, as they should be for a modern blockbuster movie of this caliber. There is no artifacting, edge enhancement, pixelation, crush or other video irritants to spoil the viewing experience. The dialog in the otherwise excellent soundmix was a little on the soft side, but not so much so as to ruin things. (And that's what subtitles are for, anyhow.) This Blu-ray comes stuffed to the gills (sorry, Abe!) with an exhaustive amount of bonus content, which is fairly common with Guillermo Del Toro films. There are interactive goodies and a wealth of behind-the-scenes stuff to please even the hardest of hardcore HB fans: commentary tracks, deleted scenes and multiple "making of" featurettes, the main one clocking in at over two hours! Trust me, you really get your money's worth here.HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY is a truly wonderful motion picture; a film that was just ahead of the cinematic comicbook boom that we’re all so used to now. If you haven't seen this terrific movie yet, do yourself a favor and treat yourself to this spiffy Blu-ray. You'll be glad you did.

Before going to see HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY, my wife and I sat down a re-watched the original HELLBOY with our 15 year old daughter, because she had not seen it. I truly enjoyed seeing the original film again after a few years, and was once again quite interested in the trials and triumphs of "Red", "Blue," "Liz" and all the others.So the next night, we went to see HELLBOY II, and frankly, I was nearly blown away. It's a far superior movie. Everything the first film got right, this one gets right again. And what amazes me is that I'm not really a "superhero movie" fan or a "comic book" fan...yet I think these particular characters, as realized by Guillermo del Toro and his team, are marvelous meldings of "mundane" human emotions with outsized powers. Hellboy is incredibly strong, supernaturally durable and also the spawn of the devil. Yet he drinks too much, is too clingy with this girlfriend and has an all-too-human short fuse. Abe Sapien is shy and softspoken...but he also has psychic powers and can breathe underwater. Liz is an attractive but troubled young lady who can set some pretty nasty fires just by thinking about it.You might say that X-MEN plows the same soil...yet those films, to me, are all glossy surface level efforts. Perhaps it's because there are SO MANY X-Men that few of them are more than assemblages of some character traits. In HELLBOY, we almost forget we're looking at "monsters."That effect is aided by the fact the Del Toro has concocted some of the most monstrous looking creatures ever seen in a mainstream film. I don't even know what to call his creations...they sometimes look like something from H.P. Lovecraft, sometimes like something from the Cantina in STAR WARS and yes, sometimes like creatures from PAN'S LABRYNTH. But all his creatures are striking to look at and brilliantly executed.HELLBOY II follows the efforts of Hellboy and his gang to restore the truce that has long existed between humans and "creatures" such as trolls, gremlins, elves and many other far less identifiable "fantastic" beings. The evil Prince Nouda is essentially breaking the truce with man, and intends on ridding the earth of them forever by bringing back to life an army of 4900 giant robots than simply cannot be destroyed and setting them to rampage through our cities.So often, stories like this just aren't terribly interesting, but I have to say that this one kept me going throughout. Much simply had to do with the imagination with which all the beings are presented. In an early, very striking scene, the Prince confronts his elderly, elf-like father. When the old man dies...his body turns into a stone statue. I know we've seen this kind of effect before...but the feeling this transformation evokes is a lovely mixture of awe at the beauty and dread at the finality of the change.But thankfully, the world has Hellboy to protect it. He charges into the fray, barely understanding what's going on, but hellbent to kick some butt!! His crush first, ask questions later attitude gets him into trouble, of course...but also wins the affections of the audience. He's like a little kid with some big powers. His is somewhat domesticated by his fiery girlfriend (their relationship has progressed in surprising ways over the years)...but he still can't help letting his big arm fly! The crew is joined by a new "leader" in the form of Johann Krauss, an entity made entirely of gas! Krauss animates an old-fashioned diving suit in order to give himself some shape...but his powers (and his Teutonic arrogance) give the movie a nice jolt. He's a completely new creature. Not physically strong like Hellboy or empathic like Sapien. He's smart and he knows some pretty cool ways to use his gaseous state! He and Hellboy have what amounts to a locker-room showdown that had me and the entire audience in stitches.I see that I am just going on and on in my review. There's so much more I'd like to share...but I hope you at least get the gist that this is a highly entertaining and worthwhile film. Del Toro is a visionary director. But I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the film is truly made wonderful by the fully-realized and heartfelt performance of Ron Perlman as Hellboy. He'll never get an Oscar for a part like this (not that he should)...but he gets a Summer Movie Season of 2008 MVP award for his very charismatic turn. Selma Blair has never looked better. Doug Jones (Abe) is wonderful in his physicality and the always enjoyable John Hurt even makes an early, welcome appearance. Only Jeffrey Tambor (normally so good) comes off poorly as their befuddled boss. His part is actually written to make him too much of a buffoon, so he's actually only irritating most of the time.In the best sense, I felt swept away by this film. I am quite eager for Part III!!