Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Guillermo del Toro
Produced by	Lawrence Gordon Mike Richardson Lloyd Levin
Screenplay by	Guillermo del Toro
Story by	Guillermo del Toro Mike Mignola
Based on	Hellboy by Mike Mignola
Starring	Ron Perlman Selma Blair Doug Jones Jeffrey Tambor John Hurt
Music by	Danny Elfman
Cinematography	Guillermo Navarro
Edited by	Bernat Vilaplana
Production companies	Relativity Media Lawrence Gordon Productions Dark Horse Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	July 11, 2008 (2008-07-11)
Running time	120 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$85 million
Box office	$160.4 million

Hellboy II: The Golden Army is a 2008 American fantasy superhero film based on the fictional character Hellboy created by Mike Mignola. The movie was written and directed by Guillermo del Toro and is a sequel to the 2004 film Hellboy, which del Toro also directed. Ron Perlman reprises his starring role as the eponymous character. The Golden Army was produced by Universal Studios and Relativity Media and released by Universal Pictures. Unlike the first film, which featured a darker, gothic atmosphere, Hellboy II features a fantasy atmosphere. The film grossed over $160 million, against a budget of $85 million. It received positive reviews from critics, which praised the fantasy atmosphere in the film, as well as Perlman and the other cast's acting performances.

During Christmas 1955, an 11-year-old Hellboy is told a bedtime story by his adoptive father, Trevor Bruttenholm, involving an ancient war between human and magical creatures, started by human's greed. After defeat of the magical creatures' forces, the master of the goblin blacksmiths offers to build an indestructible mechanical army for the elven King Balor. Encouraged by his son Prince Nuada, Balor orders the building of this Golden Army. The humans are devastated by the army. Balor is ridden with guilt and forms a truce with the humans: Man will keep his cities and the magical creatures will keep their forests. Nuada does not agree with the truce and leaves in exile. The magical crown controlling the army is broken into three pieces, one going to the humans and the other two kept by the elves.

In the present, Nuada declares war on humanity. He collects the first piece of the crown from an auction, killing everyone at the site by unleashing tooth fairies, and kills his father for the second piece. His twin sister, Princess Nuala, escapes with the final piece. Meanwhile, Hellboy is having issues with his girlfriend Liz, and trouble accepting that their organization, the B.P.R.D. must remain undercover. Investigating the auction slaughter, Hellboy allows himself to be revealed to the world. In the commotion, Abe Sapien discovers Liz is pregnant; she swears him to secrecy as she ponders keeping the child. Furious at Hellboy's actions, the Bureau's superiors send a new B.P.R.D. agent, the ectoplasmic medium Johann Krauss, to take command. With Krauss in charge, the team tracks the tooth fairies to the troll market, an enormous city hidden under the Brooklyn Bridge. Abe stumbles onto Nuala, who has obtained a map leading to the Golden Army, and falls in love with her. She is brought under B.P.R.D. protection following an attack by Nuada's sidekick, the troll Wink, and an elemental forest god, both of which Hellboy kills. During the fight, Hellboy is questioned by Nuada whether it is right to fight for the humans when he too is considered a monster.