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Hellboy II: The Golden Army - 2-Disc Special Edition
R3 - Hong Kong - Universal Pictures Review written by and copyright: Shane Roberts & Noor Razzak (3rd February 2009). |
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The Film
 Outcast elf Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) intends to break an ancient truce between the beings of the magic realm and the humans by reactivating the legendary Golden Army which is composed of invincible mechanical soldiers and take over the world. To do this he has to track down the three parts of the magic crown that controls them but Hellboy and his team from the B.P.R.D. (Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense), along with his sister Princess Nuala (Anna Walton), aim to stop him. After seeing "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" for the first time a few months ago I had been initially disappointed. I thought the story was too predictable, there was too much talk and not enough action and what action there was was pretty unoriginal. I guess my opinion was tainted by my expectations because when I watched it again for this review I thoroughly enjoyed it. The first time around I was stupidly expecting a more standard Hollywood superhero movie, but having been a fan of writer/director Guillermo del Toro for over ten years I should have known better than to expect that from the guy who made "The Devil’s Backbone" (2001), "Pan’s Labyrinth" (2006) and of course the first "Hellboy" (2004). He’s added a lot more character development and interplay than you would usually get in this type of film, and while it does slow down the pace in places the quirky comedy and eccentric characters are so much fun you won’t care. It’s an excellent ensemble cast but each one also has some great one-on-one relationships, like the romance between Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) and Princess Nuala, the antagonism between Johann Krauss (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) and Hellboy himself (Ron Perlman), the sitcom style domestic problems between him and Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), and the genuine friendship between Prince Nuada and his henchman/bodyguard Mr. Wink (Brian Steele). With as much emphasis given to the running character arcs as the new plot, it’s deliberately structured more like an issue of the ongoing comic series or an episode of a TV show so it’s not so much a sequel as just the latest chapter. As per usual with del Toro the film looks fantastic thanks to regular cinematographer Guillermo Navarro and exceptional production, costume and character design. Danny Elfman takes over as composer from Marco Beltrami who did the original and he’s also a perfect fit for del Toro’s style. My only disappointment is still with the story and the action, del Toro kept his promise that the story for the sequel would feature elements of the fables and folklore that he and the fans of Mike Mignola’s comic series love so much, but after an interesting setup its just too simple and predictable and, apart from a superb scene where Hellboy fights a giant walking plant (The Elemental), too much of the action although well choreographed and shot is just not very original and therefore not very exciting. All in all though, this is a lot of fun and is a great mix of fantasy and superhero movies from a visionary director whose love for the genre is infectious. Roll on "Hellboy III."
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 this anamorphic transfer is excellent. Havig already experienced this film in HD, it's hard going back to standard definition, but when the masters used are identical and the film is given a five-star treatment it's hard to overlook the fact that DVD transfers have gotten better and better. The image is sharp, detail looks incredible, and most impressive are the rich and bold colors that make up palette of the film. There's nothing wrong here folks, the image is pristine, clean and free from flaws.
Audio
Two audio tracks are included in English Dolby Digital 5.1 and Thai Dolby Digital 5.1, for the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its English soundtrack. The standard Dolby track certainly does the trick. It's no HD audio with its near infinite range and depth but this track has all the aggression it needs behind it and it shows. Dialogue is clean and clear, action scenes explode off the screen, the score adds a further layer to the mix and the track is well balanced and makes use of all channels well. Optional subtitles are included in English, Chinese, Thai, Korean and Bahasa Indonesian.
Extras
Universal Pictures has packed this release with a ton of quality extras that includes an audio commentaries, a series of featurettes, deleted scenes, image galleries, a feature-length documentary and more spread across two discs. Below is a closer look at these supplements. DISC ONE: First up is a feature-length audio commentary by the film's director Guillermo del Toro. Guillermo is the type of filmmaker that's also as much a fanboy as the people watching his films, but in saying that he also comes across as an intelligent, interesting and intriguing speaker that takes fans through the production of the film providing insight into his creative vision. The "Hellboy" movies are incredibly imaginative and the director takes us through the process of adapting Mignola's comic to the big screen but also in creating this new story for the sequel and taking elements from the comic. He provides a incredible amount of information that fans will eat up, I especially liked his comments about the characters and also the look of the film and his vision among other things. This is an excellent track worth listening to. 7 "Set Visits" featurettes are next, these are fly-on-the-wall videos taken during the filming of key scenes from the film and provide a cool look at the making of the scenes, on how the crew work and how each shot was achieved with the use of practical effects as well as shooting on green screen stages, they include: - "The Chamberlain" which runs for 2 minutes 36 seconds. - "Wink Vs. Abe" which runs for 2 minutes 53 seconds. - "Hellboy Vs. Wink" which runs for 2 minutes 51 seconds. - "The Elemental Egg" which runs for 2 minutes 25 seconds. - "Big Baby" which runs for 1 minute 29 seconds. - "'H' Is For Hotel" which runs for 3 minutes 1 seconds. - "Disintegrating Royalty" which runs for 2 minutes 32 seconds. Next up is the "Director's Notebook" interactive feature that includes a prologue by Guillermo del Toro that runs for 44 seconds, in this feature you can search through 11 pages of notes made by the director before filming began and includes sketches and notes on the story, characters, locations etc. The featre also includes some video clips that take fans further into the development of various aspects of the film and they include: - "Johann Krauss" which runs for 2 minutes 12 seconds. - "The Chamberlain" which runs for 2 minutes 32 seconds. - "The Elves" which runs for 2 minutes 58 seconds. - "The Golden Army Chamber" which runs for 1 minute 35 seconds. - "The Elemental" which runs for 53 seconds. - "Wink" which runs for 1 minute 20 seconds. There are also some bonus trailers on this disc for: - "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" which runs for 2 minutes 24 seconds. - "Burn After Reading" which runs for 1 minute 11 seconds. - "The Boat That Rocked" which runs for 1 minute 35 seconds. DISC TWO: The second disc opens up with a prologue by Guillermo del Toro that runs for 22 seconds welcoming fans to this second disc of supplements. "Hellboy: In the Service of the Demon" documentary runs for a staggering 2 hours 34 minutes 51 seconds. This feature which is longer than the film itself covers just about everything you ever wanted to know about the film's production from the development stage to scripting, story boarding, getting the cast together, shooting, post-production and release. It's incredibly in-depth and detailed and delves viewers into the process head first providing you with unparalleled access. It's worth the price of admission alone and is one of the best making-of's I've seen this year. The interviews are excellent, the behind-the-scenes is extensive and the amount of information delivered in this time is overwhelming. it's the best feature on this set bar none. "Production Workshop: Professor Broom's Puppet Theatre" featurette runs for 4 minutes 41 seconds, this feature starts with an intro by the director talking about the use of puppets for the storybook sequence when viewers are introduced to the golden army. The feature shows a progression from thumbnails to storyboards to final scene and also can be viewed with optional audio commentary by director Guillermo del Toro as he explains his vision for the scene and how proud Mignola was in designing the puppets. There are 4 image galleries that include: - "Creature Design" which features 174 images on 18 pages. - "Mike Mignola Creator Gallery" (with audio commentary by creator Mike Mignola), this is a slideshow that features the comic book creator's original drawings. - "Production Design" features 83 images on 9 pages. - "Production Stills" features 14 images on 2 pages. Also on this second disc is a Marketing Campaign supplement that features: - "Print Gallery" that includes the various print campaign ads created for the film's release. - "Poster Explorations" that includes the various posters that were commissioned for the film's marketing. "Troll Market Tour with Guillermo del Toro" is a featurette that runs for 12 minutes 22 seconds and features the film's director taking us through the incredible set created for one of the most memorable scenes in the film. The troll market features a stunning array of creatures, costumes, props and production design elements and Guillermo walks viewers through the set and points out details that would normally be missed on camera. "Animated Zinco Epilogue Comic" is a featurette that runs for 5 minutes 14 seconds and is an epilogue that if used would have tied the two films to each other, the scene is basically in storyboards cut together with dialogue, it's an interesting scene but narratively it doesn't fit with the story of the film and would have stood out had the filmmaker's used it. Although it's cool that the disc producer's included this for fans to see. There are six deleted scenes which feature optional audio commentary by the film's director Guillermo del Toro and runs for a total of 5 minutes 4 seconds. These scenes can be viewed individually or with a 'play all' option. In the commentary the director explains why the scenes were cut from the final version of the film and these scenes include: - "Blackwood's Auction Video" a B.P.R.D agent finds a handycam with footage of the auction attack. - "Coffee Break" Manning takes a coffee break and catches a news segment. - "Minty Aftertaste" Liz and Manning talk about kissing Dr. Krauss' ass. - "On the Beat" Liz explains that trolls are scared of canaries. - "Prince Nuada Silverlance" an extended clip of the prince showing odd his fighting style. - "Big Baby Montage" is an alternate cut of the scene.
Packaging
This 2-disc set is packaged in an amaray case housed in a cardboard slip-case.
Overall
This edition drops a second audio commentary from its extras, the reasoning behind this is unclear but the R1 includes it among its supplements.
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