Dark Horse Comics...if you are not a comic book aficionado you might say...whatever!
For those who came in late...Dark Horse is one of the largest independent American comic book publishers, behind dominant publishers Marvel Comics and DC Comics.
Dark Horse is the force behind many successful comic books such as Buffy the Vampire slayer, Conan the Barbarian and 300 (remeber the heroic spartans...remember Leonidus with his six packs ;) ) and of course HELLBOY.
If you have not seen Hellboy part 1 or followed the comic book the entire movie is going to be great sfx ride with really no meaning. However if you know the background...it will get really very very interesting.
Hellboy is a creature summoned or perhaps made in the final months of World War II by the Nazis in a desperate bid to win the second world war...Guess what...he falls in to the hands of the allies and the Nazis loose.Hellboy grows up to work for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD).The organisation is charged with protecting the world from the occult, paranormal and supernatural...well thats just a little bit about hellboy.He posseses superhuman strength and a whacky sense of humor which leads to some really cool dialouge in the comic book and which lends itself to the films as well.
About HELLBOY 2: The Golden Army-----
In ages gone by Balor, the King of the Elves comes to posses a Golden Army of 4900 soldier who are unstoppable. In the resulting war against the Humans his army wreaks havoc on the humans killing indiscriminately.King Balor is so devastated by the destruction wrought by his army that he forges a truce with the humans to stop the bloodshed.The truce decrees that man would keep his cities and the creatures (elves, goblins, ogers and such) would keep their forests.The crown controlling the army was broken into three pieces, one piece going to the humans and the other two kept by the elves, all this to ensure that the Golden Army can never be raised again.
In the present, Nuada (King Balors son) decides to declare war on the humans (since he never believed in the truce anywhich ways and he feels that the elves have for too long suffered at the hands of the humans). He collects the first piece of the crown from an auction and kills his father for the second. His twin sister Princess Nuala escapes with the final piece.
The story revloves around Prince Nuanda trying to get the final piece of the crown and raising the golden army to destroy all humans.His sister is now under the protection of the BPRD and thats where Hellboy comes into the picture to save the world from the Golden Army.The film has awesome Special effects and some really awesome scenes.
A sidetrack in the film is that of Hellboys (Played superbly by Ron Perlman) relationship with one of his colleauges Liz (Selma Blair) who posseses the pyrokinetic ability to set herself on fire.Also one of BPRDs team members Abe (whos an amphibian and can therefore survive underwater) falls for Princess Nuala thus further complicating things.
The movie sets up the third part as well in which HellBoy will be revealed to be the Key of Doomsday.
The cast does an overall decent job.Ron Perlman is in fine fettle.Luke Goss as Prince Nuad is too good.
Unmissable if you are a hellboy fan.
Definetly Worth a dekko even if you are not.