Visually speaking, Guillermo del Toro's sequel to his 2004 Hellboy is a flat-out masterpiece, a true feast for the eyes. Of course, it will positively starve your brain, but I suspect that fans of Mike Mignola's Dark Horse Comics series won't mind at all. Ron Perlman is back—and still unrecognizable—as the cigar-chomping, crime-fighting superfreak Hellboy, complete with red face, massive fists, and filed-down devil horns. As the story opens, he's still battling various and sundry demon spawn for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, but unbeknownst to Red (as he's called by friends, including walking, talking fish-man Abe Sapien, played by Doug Jones), his pyrokinetic girlfriend Liz (Selma Blair) is pregnant. Of course, there's no time for touching domestic encounters here: the evil Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) is only a step away from obtaining the ancient talisman he needs to revive a long-dormant army of golden robots and conquer the world. Naturally, it falls to Red and his fellow freaks to stop them. At its best, Hellboy II not only matches but surpasses most comic-book movies in the richness of its imagery, and even if viewers are forced to endure such script puerilities as a drunken Red and Abe performing a Barry Manilow duet, another eye-popping fight comes along soon enough. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include two audio commentaries (one with director Guillermo del Toro; the other with cast members Jeffery Tambor, Selma Blair, and Luke Goss), the comprehensive “In Service of the Demon” production documentary (155 min.), seven set visit segments (18 min.), a “Troll Market Tour” (12 min.), the five-minute animated comic “Zinco Epilogue,” five minutes of deleted scenes w/optional commentary, a five-minute production workshop, photo and poster galleries, a director's notebook, DVD-ROM features (including the script), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a “Scene Explorer” that allows viewers to watch select scenes without special effects and in storyboard mode. Also included is a bonus digital copy of the film. Bottom line: a showcase release for the Blu-ray format, this extras-laden film is a fun thrill ride.] (E. Hulse)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Universal, 120 min., PG-13, DVD: $29.99, Blu-ray: $39.99, Nov. 11 Volume 23, Issue 6
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
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As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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