Trailer Tuesday: Hellboy II: The Golden Army

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What would the mid-year movie season be without a hefty portion of comic-to-film adaptations. Opening on 11 July is Hellboy II: The Golden Army, based on the Dark Horse comic series by Mike Mignola, and written and directed by Guillermo (Pan's Labyrinth) Del Toro.

I honestly didn't ever expect a sequel to the first Hellboy (also written and directed by Del Toro). For one thing it did well at the box office but was hardly a $100 million+ blockbuster. And while I largely enjoyed the film, and was blown away by Ron Perlman's bulky, wisecracking hero, I just felt the ending disintegrated into overblown nonsense (argh, tentacles from other dimension!).


Still, by the sounds of it, Hellboy II has potential. Del Toro, who wrote the script again, has said The Golden Army is more focused on folklore and fairy tales than demon-dabbling pulp horror.

That shift comes across strongly in the trailer above, where the visual depiction of the assorted beasties Hellboy and co. encounter is fantastically creative - very Pan's Labyrinth.


The Golden Army plot synopsis also sounds as if the series is heading in a new direction:

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.

So count me definitely interested in Hellboy II. Hopefully the film will manage to hold itself together until the final credits this time.

Comments

Dante said…
I loved the first hellboy. I think it was brilliantly done. But I have never had to chance to actually read one of the comics though.
8:45 AM
Pfangirl said…
Apparently, the first movie was based quite faithfully on one of the comic miniseries, although I can't really comment on it since I too have never read a Hellboy comic (apart from a single short story).

I should probably check out the comic more thoroughly...;)
8:10 AM
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