Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Hellboy II: The Golden Army brings back Ron Perlman as the demonic red and ripped cigar, beer and cat fancier with a bad temper. He’s still in the employ of the BPRD (Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defence) and still subordinate (but just barely) to Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor) as well as a new character the mist-ic mystic Johann Krauss (James Dodd). Doug Jones as the aquaman-ish Abe Sapien is still fighting crime for the BPRD as is the pyrotechnical Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) who is also now the better half of Hellboy and lately showing him what hell is really like. The crew are called out to an auction house in a shambles due to an attack by tooth faeries so named not for benevolence to incisorless pre-teens but for copious teeth and voracious appetites. It turns out they’re unleashed as part of a plan by the underworld’s Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) to resurrect the invincible Golden Army which Hellboy had thought was just a legendary bedtime story told by his surrogate father Professor Broom (John Hurt) but which was actually once commanded by Nuada’s father King Balor. Nuada’s twin sister Princess Nuala (Anna Walton) loves her brother but wants no part of the plan and is drawn to the BPRD, particularly Abe Sapien. The investigation takes our foursome of freaks from the troll market below the Brooklyn Bridge to an Irish cave for a furious showdown with The Golden Army. Creepy trademark Pan’s Labyrinth touches by Oscar nominated director Guillermo Del Toro abound and delight. Hellboy did poorly at the box office but did so well on DVD that it got another chance on the big screen where it will undoubtedly surpass the original. Obviously that’s how the producers feel judging by the clever way that they set the stage for Hellboy III.