Movies: July 2008 Archives

I think I must be made up of half whimsical girl and half comic book geek, for the movie Hellboy II: The Golden Army simply delighted me. Five minutes into the movie and I was already won over - quietly proclaiming my love yet again for Guillermo del Toro.

The movie had everything you could possibly want - a great story line, action scenes, beautiful people, philosophical questions on the human race and of course, the age old struggle of good vs. evil.

The movie's fairytale is rather reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings. Once upon a time, there co-existed in the world not only the Human race but Elves and other mystical creatures as well. However, men were born with a hole in their hearts, a hole so deep that nothing will satisfy his hunger for territory, power and greed. This very insatiable greed led the Elven king, King Balor to unleash his 70 x 70 clockwork army made of gold, fashioned to obey anyone who wore the golden crown and royal blood, upon the Human race. However, as the Golden Army had no soul, so loyalty, no regrets and no pain, the Elven King saw his mistake and broke the crown into 3 pieces and called for a truce with the Humans. This angered his son, Prince Nuada greatly and the prince exiled himself, vowing (I believe) to come back to claim what is rightfully his.

There the movie really begins, with the Prince delivering his officially seal of war upon the "empty (inside)" Upper East Siders of New York, ones who were just about to bid on a piece of the crown that would have power over the Golden Army. His gift to the clueless Humans - two cases of hungry tooth fairies.


The interactions between the Prince and Hellboy are interesting, as the Prince tries to persuade HellBoy to abandon the very humans that he has been protecting all his life, the humans who have no appreciation of his efforts. Hellboy's dilemma is clearly shown when he is caught between destroying an Elemental, a giver and destroyer of life, the very last one on earth that can save the earth with it's green, luscious life and the humans. Hellboy of course, does the "right" thing but comes to question if it really is the right thing to do after all.



Liz, the pyrotechnic love of Hellboy's life is at crossroads in life, as she tries to get used to being married to Hellboy, which she discovers is not so easy. She too will have to choose what is the "right" thing to do but it is apparent from the start that these two were meant for each other.

 

Hellboy's sidekick, aptly nicknamed Blue to his Red, falls in love with Princess Nuala, the twin of the Prince, the one on the run from him, with the last piece of the crown. There is a funny scene in the film where the super heroes mourn over their heartaches while listening to a love song.

What creeped me out a little though is the bond that exists between the princely twins. "Father always tried to keep my black heart away from you". But perhaps I say this, only as one who has never had a twin and does not know what it's like to know exactly what someone else is thinking and hurting when someone else has been physically hurt.

The prince was a barrel of pain, focused only on vengence, reclaiming earth to be as it once was, ignoring his sister's pleas that no forest could grow from all the bloodshed. It would be easy to think that the prince was at fault, that the prince was evil but to me, it is not so clear cut. I shed a tear, when the Prince is slained, not by Hellboy or an enemy but by the one that is closest to him. I know, I'm a big sucker.

I could go on and on about the beautiful angles the camera men took, the glow of certain creatures, the wonderful kick ass action sequences but I won't because you simply must go see it yourself.

Go on now. The Golden Army lies dormant......awaiting their rightful king/queen to send his/her orders.
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