Despite positive critical reception for Guillermo del Toro’s first adaptation of Mike Mignola’s celebrated comic ‘Hellboy’, studios were more or less reluctant to give the green light for a sequel. But when a couple of years later something called ‘El Laberinto del Fauno’, the director’s Spanish film, hit the screens and met great critical and financial reception, even getting nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars, executives were not only quick to start a franchise, but also gave del Toro full creative freedom. The result? ‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’.
Together with the director, most of the cast from the first film returns, Selma Blair as the pyrokinetic Liz, the amazingly versatile Doug Jones as Abe Sapien, and another two minor roles, John Hurt in flashback scenes and Ron Perlman as the title character Hellboy; to these Seth McFarlane added his voice talent.
The story, no longer adapted directly from the comics, but written for the film by del Toro and Mignola, keeps the fantastic tone of the first one, with numerous comedic moments. Also the approach is more towards the mythological theme, in contrast with to the first one which had Nazis as villains, which allowed for more of the great special effects.
The movie seems to poke a bit of fun at other superhero movies such as ‘The Dark Knight’ or ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ which take themselves a bit too seriously, and creates a lighter atmosphere. Thus the movie will amaze kids and amuse adults.
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