Movie : Hellboy II: The Golden Army

In theaters Friday, July 11th 2008,

After an ancient truce existing between humankind and the invisible realm of the fantastic is broken, hell on Earth is ready to erupt. A ruthless leader who treads the world above and the one below defies his bloodline and awakens an unstoppable army of creatures. Now, it's up to the planet's toughest, roughest superhero to battle the merciless dictator and his marauders. He may be red. He may be horned. He may be misunderstood. But when you need the job done right, it's time to call in Hellboy (Ron Perlman).

Along with his expanding team in the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Development--pyrokinetic girlfriend Liz (Selma Blair), aquatic empath Abe (Doug Jones) and protoplasmic mystic Johann--the BPRD will travel between the surface strata and the unseen magical one, where creatures of fantasy become corporeal. And Hellboy, a creature of two worlds who's accepted by neither, must choose between the life he knows and an unknown destiny that beckons him.

Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Cast: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones

Taken From : http://www.moviesonline.ca

THE WIZARD REVIEW: 'HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY'
Guillermo del Toro scores a monster hit with feature film sequel starring Mike Mignola's signature creation

By Andy Serwin

When it comes to recent comic book movie franchises, two seems to have usurped three as the magic number.

"Spider-Man 2" and "X2" far surpassed the installments that launched each of their respective franchises, and now, with "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," (opening everywhere on Friday, July 11), Academy Award-nominated director Guillermo del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth") continues that trend, and does so in "hella" fine fashion.

"Hellboy II" is bigger and better in every single regard from the original pic: The story's meatier and more developed, the characters more fully fleshed out and realized, the effects look better, the creatures come in more astoundingly monstrous shapes and sizes, and the laughs and action have increased exponentially. Hell—it even qualifies as a legitimate "date movie" (provided your girlfriend is cool enough to like Hellboy in the first place).

"Hellboy II: The Golden Army" opens up with a flashback to an adolescent Hellboy and Professor Broome celebrating Christmas on the Army base where the titular hero was raised. That night, Broome recounts a legend to HB regarding the Golden Army, a weapon of mass destruction built and designed by the under-kingdoms of elves, goblins and trolls to use in their war against mankind. The army is never activated, a truce is struck and the mystical crown needed to bring the Golden Army to life is divided up into three parts and scattered among the elves and humanity. However, that seemingly harmless bedtime story lays the groundwork for what will eventually be Hellboy's biggest adventure—and most difficult challenge—to date.

Flash forward to present day, some time after the events of the first "Hellboy" movie (the original was produced and distributed by Revolution Studios and Sony, whereas Universal Pictures provides backing for the sequel): Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) are now a full-on couple living together (albeit tumultuously) at the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense headquarters. Their other teammate, Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) is also on hand once again, this time bonding with BPRD Director Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor, in perfect comic relief) over Hellboy's penchant for trying to make the top-secret project a mass media phenomenon. Agent John Myers, the human POV character from the first movie, is out of the picture—literally—having been transferred to Antarctica ("He said he loved the cold," quips Hellboy of his former handler).

Into this somewhat domestic bliss comes a monkey wrench: Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) is the exiled son of the king of the elves, returned to claim the throne from his ailing father and take control of the Golden Army to use against mankind and restore the under-kingdoms to prominence. He embarks on a campaign to unite the mystical crown that will allow him to activate the Golden Army, and after securing two of the pieces, he only needs the last one—which just happens to be in the clutches of his twin sister, Princess Nuala (Anna Walton), who shares both a psychic and physical bond with brother (a twist that comes into play on two different occasions when Hellboy must throw down with Nuada). She flees their kingdom, and falls under the protection of the BPRD after meeting them in the legendary Troll Marketplace (a set piece that rivals the Mos Eisley Cantina scene from "Star Wars—A New Hope" in terms of setting and bizarre creatures).

From there on out, it's a race to stop Nuada from locating the third portion of the crown and the location of the Golden Army, 4,900 indestructible mechanical soldiers that "know no pity, mercy or loyalty." That simple mission becomes complicated by a variety of factors, including Abe's complicated feelings toward his royal charge, the media fallout from the BPRD going public, Liz and Hellboy's topsy-turny love life, and the introduction of new BPRD member Johann Krauss (voiced by "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane), whose management style—and German lineage—rankles Hellboy to no end.

"Hellboy II: The Golden Army" stands as a true testament to del Toro's abilities as a filmmaker. He knows how to use CGI (he enhances scenes rather than overpowering them), he gets the most out of his actors (there isn't a weak performance to be found here) and his visual sensibility, from the sets to the choreography to the special effects, far outshines most other mainstream directors. He even manages to make a musical interlude in a "superhero" movie work (unlike Peter Parker's ludicrous dance number in "Spider-Man 3").

As we learn in this installment, the Big Red One is one day fated to rule the world—whether he wants to or not. Consider "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" his first step toward world domination.