DVD REVIEW

Hellboy II: The Golden Army - 3 Disc Special Edition

Universal Studios || PG-13 || Nov 11, 2008

Synopsis

The fate of mankind hangs in the balance when a ruthless prince awakens an unstoppable army of creatures and wages war with the human world.  It’s up to Hellboy and his team of paranormal outcasts to face off with the forces of darkness in the ultimate battle of good versus evil!


Critique

I was never a big Hellboy guy.  I was never really into the comics, but I picked up the basic origin story somewhere (something about WWII, right?).  I saw the first movie – even own the DVD – but I don’t remember much about it.  None of that really matters though because Hellboy II: The Golden Army is an incredible film, bombastically visual in a way most films just don’t know how to be.  Its fantasy world so convincingly created that we might start looking for it under the nearest sewer.  This reminds of me of Coppola after The Godfather: the film was so successful that when it came time to make the sequel, he wasn’t obligated to Puzo’s source material.  Is Hellboy II faithful to its comic source?  When the film is this good, it really doesn’t matter.

Despite the obvious differences, Hellboy is pretty much a blue collar everyman.  He goes to work, has girl trouble, likes his stogies and beer, and isn’t bothered with trying to be too tidy.  Unlike other superheroes, his struggles with the outside world are mostly imposed upon him; it’s not that he doesn’t understand mankind, it’s that they don’t get him.  They’re not even supposed to know he exists.

This film is much more imaginative than the first one.  The first film looked like any Hollywood back lot film.  The Golden Army looks like a film from the guy who made Pan’s Labyrinth.  The subterranean boiler room where the prince kills everyone and seizes power looks like a design straight out of that film.

Ron Perlman has had an interesting career.  He’s kind of been typecast as the ugly guy, but he’s done well for himself that way.  The guy was Beast in the Beauty and the Beast TV series with Linda “Sarah Conner” Hamilton, and one of the running jokes in The Golden Army is that Red isn’t exactly a young Brad Pitt.

Perlman has actually done a brilliant job of giving Hellboy some character.  Underneath it all, he could be any one of us.  When we see him have some second thoughts about his place in society, it is impossible not to feel for him.  His relationship with Liz is also most mature, more grown up.

Hellboy II goes beyond the mere sequel to become a prime example of fantasy entertainment.  The performances are stellar, and the world of the film has been fully realized.


Video

Hellboy II is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen ratio, and the transfer is beautiful.  The film’s rich color palate is expertly translated, and the black and white levels are solid.


Audio

This disc offers tracks in English, Spanish and French, all in Dolby Digital 5.1, which is the only way to hear this film.  The presentation is crisp and all channels are sharp and well balanced.  Everything from the dialogue to the action is rendered perfectly.


Special Features

Disc One

Feature Commentary with Director Guillermo Del Toro: Del Toro goes into detail about the thinking that went into every frame of the film.  He talks about how personal a film it is, the rich color palate, and motifs that define the work.

Feature Commentary with Cast Members Jeffrey Tambor, Selma Blair, and Luke Goss: not quite as interesting as Del Toro’s chat, here the three actors talk about being on set, shooting this and that.

Set Visits: on-set footage of six different scenes.

Troll Market Tour: Del Toro takes us on a tour of the massive set.

Zinco Epilogue: an animated comic.

Deleted Scenes: six of them, with optional commentary.


Disc Two

Hellboy II: In Service of the Demon: a two-hour making of documentary.

Production Workshop: storyboard progression of Professor Bloom’s Puppet Theater.

Pre-Production Vault: the director’s notebook and an image gallery.

Marketing Campaign: poster galleries.

DVD-ROM Script: just that.


Disc Three

This disc offers a digital version of the film.


Final Thoughts

Hellboy II is a better film than its predecessor.  We’re past the origin story, so we can get into the real action.  The writing and performances are solid, and the film’s sense of fantasy, of magical reality, is more profound this time.

VERDICT: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

 

Subscribe to DVD Reviews Feed

 

Review posted on Jan 5, 2009 | Share this article | Top of Page

Copyright © 1999-infinity MovieFreak.com