Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Universal Pictures | Release Date: July 11, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
78
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
35
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
With writer-director del Toro given free license to go where his singular vision takes him, Hellboy II plays like Guillermo's Greatest Hits with even hotter visual effects. Read full review
100
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Poetic, funny, darkly romantic and beautifully structured -- is a very different picture from "Pan's Labyrinth." But there's no doubt that it springs from the same cathedral. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Del Toro is almost alone in his ability to re-create on screen the wide-eyed exhilaration and disturbing grotesqueness that is the legacy of reading comics on the page. Read full review
90
VarietyJohn Anderson
Not to disparage the f/x guys, but what's onscreen in Hellboy II is all about the seismic eruptions in del Toro's head. Comparing his work to most fantasy cinema is like comparing cave drawings to the Cathedral of Cologne. Read full review
90
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
As he has done in all his movies, from creature features such as "Mimic" to serious dramas such as "Pan's Labyrinth," del Toro creates unforgettable images, filled with color, texture, lyricism and horror. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Hugely inventive -- and smashingly beautiful. Read full review
90
SlateDana Stevens
Perlman's Red is hilarious, combining the gritty delivery of a film noir cop with the physiognomy of a horned behemoth. And the script, by del Toro and Mignola, alternates action smackdowns with sweet, goofy moments, like a scene in which Red and the lovelorn Abe drink beer and croon along with a Barry Manilow record. Read full review
90
TimeRichard Corliss
If the film is just as strange and endearing as its glowing protagonist -- and it is -- that's because the director and co-writer (with Mignola) is Guillermo del Toro, 43, who has the wildest imagination and grandest ambitions of anybody in modern movies. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Imagine the forges of hell crossed with the extraterrestrial saloon on Tatooine, and you have a notion of Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Read full review
88
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
It's a dry, mundane title. It's also the only thing about the film that doesn't blow your mind right out of its comfortable, I've-seen-all-this-before rut. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The Golden Army dazzles like something out of "Jason and the Argonauts." To make a comic-book fantasy this derivative yet this dazzling requires more than technique. It takes a director in touch with his inner hellboy. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Ron Perlman returns as the film's loveable title character, a demon gone good who's tough on the outside but tender underneath, with a soft spot for kittens, candy, and babies. Read full review
80
Village VoiceChuck Wilson
Despite the rosary beads Red wraps around his wrist, Hellboy II doesn't have much on its mind, but few will care since del Toro and his stellar "Pan's Labyrinth" team, including Oscar-winning cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, stage one virtuoso set-piece after another. Read full review
80
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Better than the first in some ways: the superfluous Agent Meyers is gone, Doug Jones is great as Abe, and Strauss is an amusing addition (if almost structurally identical to Kroenen). Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
The endlessly inventive del Toro creates visual fantasies unlike any other, and the creatures on display here are truly extraordinary. But amid all the costumes, all the action, and all the special effects, it's the humanity that makes his work so memorable. Yes, the monsters are amazing. But the moment when a heartsick Hellboy discovers Barry Manilow? Priceless. Read full review
80
EmpireHelen O'Hara
As much Tolkien's baby as Mignola's, this has more heart and humour than most fantasy films can dream of. Hellaciously good. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
It's not perfect -- thank Satan! -- but Hellboy II: The Golden Army is by far the most splendidly imaginative and creatively uncorked piece of fantastic cinema since the director's "Pan's Labyrinth" netted an Oscar trifecta in 2007. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
The movie overall is engaging, though it's more cavalier regarding story and relentless in its action than its predecessor. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Highly imaginative and consistently amusing without pretensions. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
The talented fantasy filmmaker and heir to the "Lord of the Rings" throne gets the tone right throughout Hellboy 2, and the hip retro charm alone is enough to merit recommendation. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
A surprise package of fun, fright and untamed imagination. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It definitely gives us our money's worth in the sheer volume of its imaginative fantasy creatures and it's that rare superhero-movie sequel that's better than the original. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Hellboy II is solid entertainment, but it's a shame such blemishes prevent it from achieving a higher level. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The same super-heated visual imagination that made Guillermo del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" such a darkly thrilling delight is very much in evidence in his sequel to "Hellboy." It's a shame that it's at the service of such a blandly conventional story. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Del Toro stuffs the film with wit and wonderments. Yet, coming out this superhero summer, it plays like a lovingly crafted synthesis of every fantasy saga we've seen in the past decade. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Of all the comic book movies that have spun out of theaters this long and pulpy summer, Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy II: The Golden Army is the most unapologetically comic book-y. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
The sheer volume of amazing things that del Toro is able to mine from his unconscious and render plausibly on the screen is remarkable. Hellboy II feels pretty sequel-y, as these things go, but there's a lot in it that has no precedent of any kind, anywhere, ever. That stuff makes it worthwhile. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Hellboy II comes across as an original. But being original is not always the same thing as being wonderful. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
The whole affair is pulpy, jokey, sometimes touching and frequently nonsensical: a big mess and, mostly, a lot of fun. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJoshua Katzman
A funny, offbeat superhero flick. Read full review
63
PremiereStuart Levine
It's in the script, however, that del Toro the writer falls a wee bit short of del Toro the visionary. Read full review
63
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Fanboys won't mind the absence of depth or emotion; they may even welcome it for making the film more representative of its comic-book origins. The rest of us, however, cannot rejoice at the overspending and overkill likely to come in Hellboy III. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Goes somewhere the first "Hellboy" never ventured: into the Realms of Tedium. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle Smith
Despite all of the hideous critters Hellboy encounters, there is a hint that things are considerably weirder elsewhere. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Like a lot of well-staged parties, though, the affair peaks shortly after the introductions, and then devolves into intrigues, fights and mayhem. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
The best scene is when Hellboy and Abe get drunk and sing out raucously, which after "Hancock" suggests a trend toward superhero alcoholism. Read full review
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