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| Monday, November 24, 2008 01:47 PM |
| On the Viewer - Hellboy II: The Golden Army |
 by Fëanor |
After poking around my blog and Phillyist, I've come to the conclusion that I never actually wrote a review of Guillermo del Toro's original Hellboy film. The closest I got was to say that it "disappointed me sorely" in this post. And that actually does sum up my feelings about the movie pretty well. And I saw it before I'd really read any of the source material, so what disappointed me was less how it worked as an adaptation, and more the fact that it was just your average Hollywood action movie - big, dumb, with lots of explosions - and I'd expected more.
I watched Hellboy II with poppy the other night having now read pretty much every comic that exists about Hellboy, and I'm happy to say I enjoyed it quite a bit more than the first movie. Part of the reason is that the annoying character of John Myers from the first movie has been written out (Hellboy apparently got him transferred to another B.P.R.D. facility).
The film opens with a prologue set on an army base in 1955, when Hellboy was still really a boy. The young Hellboy in the comics was always crazy adorable, but in the film he's just kind of creepy, thanks in large part to his strangely gigantic two front teeth, which make it impossible for the young actor to speak properly (I'm betting his lines were dubbed in after the fact). Bruttenholm tells this weird little Hellboy a bedtime story (animated in a very neat way) that's actually a true tale about an ancient war between humans and fairy folk. The fairies and monsters created a terrible, indestructible Golden Army to win the war, but thought better of it after they saw the destruction and death it caused. They called a truce, splitting up the crown needed to control the army into three pieces and giving one to humanity. Unsurprisingly, this bedtime story will turn out to be important backstory for understanding the film's plot.
We jump forward to the present to discover that Liz and Hellboy are now living together, and Hellboy is still giving his boss Tom Manning indigestion by constantly getting himself noticed and photographed, despite the fact that his existence is supposed to remain a secret. (Speaking of which, I was a little disappointed that the character of Manning had not gone the way of Myers. He's only there for comic relief, and it's the kind of comedy I don't particularly like.) There's some tension between Hellboy and Liz, however, and the reason is quickly revealed to us, if not to Hellboy (spoiler): Liz is pregnant. Woah! That's not something I expected. It puts all kinds of disturbing questions and images in your head! Anyways, Abe figures this out during the gang's latest mission, where they're trying to figure out what happened at an auction in the city. Turns out the third part of that crown that was mentioned earlier was being sold at the auction, so the Prince of the fairies crashed the event to get his hands on it. He also used the occasion to send a message to humanity by releasing a bunch of tooth fairies in the building, thus killing everybody there. (Love the tooth fairies, btw. Great, great idea, wonderfully executed. Cute, yet horrifying!)
After doing this horrific thing, the Prince heads home to see how his Dad the King feels about it, and to get the two remaining pieces of the crown. Dad made the truce all those years ago, and is still determined to keep it, so he's pretty upset. The Prince is just as determined to go forward with his plan to go to war against humanity with the Golden Army, however, so he does what he has to to get the King's piece of the crown. That leaves only one more piece and it belongs to the Prince's twin sister. There's a strange connection between the twins such that each of them knows much of the other's thoughts, and they also each experience any injury sustained by the other. Despite this, the Princess runs off with her piece of the crown, hoping to find some way of keeping it from her brother.
The B.P.R.D. crew, meanwhile, are following their own leads which eventually cause Hellboy to cross paths with the Prince's bodyguard monster, Mr. Wink, and Abe to cross paths with the Princess. The Prince raises a forest elemental to attack Hellboy and friends, but also to show Hellboy the beauty of the fairy world, and try to convince him to come over to his side, where he belongs. Hellboy wavers, but eventually defeats the monster.
Later, the Prince breaks into B.P.R.D., takes on Hellboy in battle, and wounds him with a magic blade. He then kidnaps his sister and offers Hellboy's friends a deal: bring him the third piece of the crown and he will return his sister to them, and heal Hellboy. (In the interim, Abe and the Princess have fallen for each other, with the convenient quickness that movies allow for.) Thus the stage is set for the final showdown, with Hellboy's life and the future of the world in the balance.
The plot is actually pretty simple, all things considered, and many of its events seem to take place simple as an excuse to include more visually stunning monsters and set pieces - which is totally okay with me, as nobody does visually stunning monsters and set pieces like Guillermo del Toro. The movie's strong point is definitely its imagery and imagination. The fairy King's sad old throne room is beautiful and broken, and his guardsmen and their bird-like facemasks are fantastic. The earth elemental that Hellboy faces off against is an incredible creation. The troll market and all its assorted denizens are also just great, as are the old, rare goggles used to see past fairy glamors. I love Mr. Wink (the Prince's bodyguard) and his extending metal fist. The final sequence in the caves, with the Angel of Death and the Golden Army, is also amazing.
Another thing I really loved about the film are the little references it makes to things from the comics. I neglected to mention in my plot summary that Johann Krauss, a character I'm very familiar with from the comics, gets introduced in this movie. It was great to see him on screen, and I really liked the way they handled him and his abilities visually - the way his suit deflated as his ectoplasmic form ventured out; the way he animated the dead, and possessed a member of the Golden Army. Very cool stuff. His dialogue was often quite terrible, however, and I found it odd that they recast his character as, essentially, a hardliner from the corporate office.
Other comics-related things I really enjoyed: getting to see a young Hellboy, even if he was really creepy; getting to see the King of the fairies; getting to see Hellboy as he truly is, with huge horns and a flaming crown over his head; hearing Hellboy called by his true name, Anung-un-Rama, and getting that warning about his true destiny as destroyer of the world; seeing Hellboy torn between the Unseen World and the world of humanity.
Generally I like the way they handle Hellboy's character in this film, although as poppy pointed out he is a bit whiny. His relationship with Liz is actually quite well done, and the scene where Liz asks the angel of death to heal him is particularly effective and powerful. Actually, that scene is really one of the most completely perfect moments in the film: it's creepy, atmospheric, visually beautiful, there's a really cool monster, there's good dialogue, it's very moving, and it continas some neat references to the comic.
Another interesting thing about Hellboy's character is the way he's so obsessed with showing himself to the world and being loved by the world, only to discover that once the world sees him, it's scared of him and disgusted by him. Meanwhile, Liz just hates the idea of everybody staring at her. And there is another world waiting to embrace Hellboy: the world of the fairies and monsters.
It's neat stuff! I was surprised by the scene at the end, however, in which (spoiler) everybody quits the B.P.R.D. Part of my surprise came from the fact that in the comics, only Hellboy ever quit the B.P.R.D.; all of his friends stayed on. But the main part of my surprise came from the fact that there was really very little reason for them to quit, and it comes out of left field, with no foreshadowing or previous discussion. Sure, their boss was giving them rules they didn't want to follow, but it's not like he was a real hard-ass about it. They pretty much did whatever they wanted and got free room and board and the protection of the US government. What was bad about that gig? When Hellboy left the B.P.R.D. in the comics, he had a really good reason: the people in charge had shown clearly that they thought of him and his friends as expendable, and as dangerous monsters. Nothing quite like that has happened yet in the film's universe.
Another negative thing about the film: many of its attempts at humor were more likely to make me cringe than laugh. (That being said, the scene where Hellboy and Abe get drunk and sing together and talk about love and relationships is legitimately funny and sweet.) Also, it really is true, as I said earlier, that events occur often merely as an excuse to introduce some new monster or set piece. The fight with the forest elemental is really a mostly pointless sequence. Just before this scene, the Prince is face to face with the Princess, who is at that moment carrying the crown piece he needs. Why does he bother hatching the giant monster when he could just grab her and leave - something he ends up doing later anyway?
Still, despite some off humor and clumsy plotting, the film is really very entertaining and very true to the spirit of the Hellboy character and universe. Things are also set up for another movie at the end (spoilers), which I'm now anxious to see, as it will hopefully lack the Manning character (what with them all having quit now and everything), and it will also most likely give us a look at the twin offspring of Liz and Hellboy, which I'm really dying to see, as I assume they will be pryokinetic demon children. |
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