Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

An evil elf, Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) breaks an ancient pact between humans and the magical creatures, as he declares war against humanity. He is on a mission to release The Golden Army, a deadly group of fighting machines that can destroy the human race. As Hell on Earth is ready to erupt, Hellboy (Ron Perlman), our favorite red hero, Liz (Selma Blair), firestarter and Red's girlfriend, Abe Sapian (Doug Jones), the fishy brains of the outfit and the rest of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense set out to defeat the evil prince before The Golden Army can destroy humanity's existence. Their only hope lies with Princess Nuala (Anna Walton), Nuada's twin sister. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: Peter Jackson approached Guillermo del Toro to direct Halo, and even though del Toro considered it, he turned the offer down so he could direct this sequel. Del Toro also turned down I Am Legend, One Missed Call, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for the same reason. This is actually the second time del Toro opted for a Hellboy movie over a Harry Potter movie. He also turned down Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to direct the first Hellboy. As in the first movie, the agents that accompany Hellboy are named for things found while digging in the earth, albeit decidedly tougher than the first group: Marble, Flint, Steel (true, this is an alloy that is mostly iron, but Iron is not a common last name). The movie mentions Bethmoora, a city in the fiction of the early 20th century visionary writer Lord Dunsany. Also note that the Golden Army is hidden in Ireland, Dunsany's homeland. The term "glamour" used for the fairies' cloaking skill also originates in Dunsany's "The King of Elfland's Daughter". Just like the first film, none of the cast member's names are written on the posters, mentioned in the trailers or shown in the opening credits. The number 7 appears throughout the movie, most notably when it is stated that the Golden Army consists of "70 times 70", but also during the scene in the auction house, where the crown piece is listed as lot 777, with a starting price of $7,000,000. As the Angel of Death, Doug Jones could only see out of the crack across the mask he wore. Also, the mechanical wings he was wearing weighed about 40 pounds. Doug was originally supposed to walk around the set, but when it was discovered that he could barely stand, they instead hung him from a wire. This is why The Angel of Death floats. The Angel of Death's voice is done by Doug Jones doing each line twice, once in a higher pitched voice and then in a lower pitch, and then the two takes were blended together.

Wow, has it really been over a month? Anyway, Hellboy. This is one of the few times the sequal is better then the original. Guillermo del Toro pulls out all the visual magic for this one. Visually the movie is absolutely beautiful. The magical creatures seen and wonderful, especially Prince Nuada, Princess Nuala, and the Angel of Death (which could have easily stepped out of Pan's Labrinth). The Prince and Princess were beautiful and ethereal, while the Angel of Death was disturbingly beautiful. While the story will never seriously contend for a screenwriting award, it was still a good story and better then the first. Ron Perlman is solid and Selma Blair pulls liz off a lot stronger then before. Good solid movie.