Hellboy II Blazes in Visuals but Sizzles Everywhere Else

We live in an amazing time in terms of film making. We live at a stage where almost anything we can imagine can be put on the screen. Any creature, any world, and any idea can now be 100% visualized and brought to life. But with that ability comes the responsibility to still tell good stories with good characters at a good pace. ‘Hellboy 2: The Golden Army’ is a reminder of that. With it’s visual splendor but empty storyline, ‘Hellboy 2’ reminds us of what we can do with film making but never fully realize.

‘Hellboy 2’ is, obviously, a sequel to the 2004 sci-fi action hit ‘Hellboy.’ The first film was about a red demon who was teleported from another world and forced to live in ours. The demon grows up to be Hellboy (Ron Perlman), who works for a secret government organization that takes care of the mysterious creatures that “go bump in the night.” The sequel starts where it the last film left off with Hellboy still working for the government fighting off various creatures like trolls and demons. He is joined by his two helpers: a half man/half fish creature known as Abe (voiced by Doug Jones replacing David Hyde Pierce) and a woman who can set herself on fire known as Liz (Selma Blair). They are out to stop the evil Prince Nuada (Luke Gross), an evil elf who wants to destroy mankind for taking over the majority of the Earth. To do this, he needs to summon the Golden Army, a group of mechanical soldiers who can only be controlled by whoever possesses the three pieces of severed crown.

In this installment, Hellboy and Liz have gotten more intimate. They have a romantic relationship, live in the same room, and thus, argue all the time. The “chemistry” these two are supposed to have for each other is abundantly absent as most of their dialogue consists of tired one liners that even most married couples don’t use. There is another romance though between Abe and Prince Nuada’s sister, Princess Nuala (Anna Walton). She is the only person who has the third and final piece of the severed crown that can unleash the golden army, so naturally, Prince Nuala is out to find her. Abe does his best o protect her and after only knowing her a few moments, decides he loves her. Are there many fish-man/elf royalty relationships that work?

The ‘Hellboy’ movies know they are silly and thus try to have fun with the material they are given. Whereas the first film felt a little too slow with not enough comedy or action in-between, ‘Hellboy 2’ has the exact opposite problem. It’s fast and action packed, so much so that the characters are never given a chance to breathe. Many sequels think that because they developed the characters in the previous film they don’t need to establish them in the second, but that’s just not true. Sequels exist so you can learn more about the character, as the story progresses, so should the hero’s development. But instead we get a slew of action scenes and clichéd lines piling on top of each other, and at an enormously fast pace! ‘Hellboy 2’ moves so quickly because it has far too many plot threads then it knows what to do with. There’s the plot thread about the Golden Army, the thread about Abe and Nuala’s romance, Nuala’s relationship with her brother, Hellboy’s relationship with Liz, Hellboy revealing himself to the public, the public aggravation with him, his boss’s aggravation with him, the introduction of a new team member, Hellboy’s interaction with the new team member, and on top of all that, a PREGNANCY! Yikes!

Where ‘Hellboy 2’ does excel though is in its visual style. The creatures in this movie are unbelievable. They are unique, creative, and incredible to look at. There’s a scene where Hellboy’s team has to enter into a Troll Marketplace, and it is one of the great cinematic worlds of the past ten years. Every creature is an eyeful, carefully designed and well put together. There’s also a scene where Liz needs to save Hellboy’s life by taking him to a character simply called the Angel of Death. Not only is the angel incredible, but the entrance to his (her?) domain is truly something to behold. But great visual accomplishments doesn’t always make up for mediocre writing.

I never read the comic books that ‘Hellboy’ was based off of, so I can’t say if fans of the comic will enjoy it, but fans of the first film might be let down as well. Most of what did make Hellboy a fun and interesting character is reduced down to constant bickering and throw away lines. The only time I felt a connection off of these characters was when Hellboy and Abe get drunk and sing ‘I can’t Smile without You’ together. That’s probably not a good sign. Yes I know this is an action picture and that many people just go and see it for the effects and fight scenes, but people still want to be invested in the film and have a good time watching it, and when you can’t enjoy the characters or the storyline, you simply can’t get invested or enjoy it.

‘Hellboy 2’ was directed by Guillermo del Toro, whose last year’s ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ earned him critical and box office praise. Toro’s visual style is always a delight to watch, but his films are very hit and miss. Watching this film was kind of like a mix between a Tim Burton movie mixed with a Michael Bay movie; visually stunning, but often feeling like a long extended trailer.

So who will like it? Anyone who just wants to go strictly for the visual design will not be let down. It is one of the most visually creative films seen in awhile.

Who won’t like it? Anyone looking for a decent action picture or sci-fi comedy will most likely be disappointed. Fans of the first film will like the creatures, but probably crave more creative development from the story and characters.

My thoughts? I don’t regret seeing this movie, it has a creative visual style that I hope to see more of in other films. But I personally am a sucker for visuals. Anyone who wants to see a great action film with fun characters is going to get less then what they had in mind. I would love to see Toro make more films that mix epic designs with epic story telling. Not that I need another ‘Pan’s Labyrinth,’ but if you’re going to do something that’s so incredible to look at, why not complete the entire package? Why not give us a story line that is equal to its visual realm? Why not make the story intriguing instead of an excuse to showcase the production designers? We have reached the stage where we can put anything we want on screen, now all we need is the responsibility to live up to our imagination.

Douglas Darien is a featured writer for Xomba.com. Read the rest of his work here and visit his website thatguywiththeglasses.com