Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Metascore
78 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 36 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 35 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 36
  3. Negative: 0 out of 36
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  1. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Michael Rechtshaffen
    100
    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.
  2. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    100
    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.
  3. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    100
    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.
  4. Slate
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    90
    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.
  5. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Corliss
    90
    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.
  6. Variety
    Reviewed by: John Anderson
    90
    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.
  7. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    90
    Hugely inventive -- and smashingly beautiful.
  8. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    90
    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.
  9. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    88
    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.
  10. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    88
    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.
  11. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    83
    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.
  12. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Nathan Rabin
    83
    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.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.2 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 213 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 68 out of 94
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 94
  3. Negative: 19 out of 94
  1. grandpajoe6191
    7
    "Hellboy 2: The Golden Army" is a prominent improvement of "Hellboy". With the obviously beautiful visuals, director Del Toro proceeds to actually contribute deeper into the plot and characters, resulting in one exhilarating film. A reasonable must-watch.… Full Review »
  2. Compi24
    8
    Despite a dismally doom-laden plot, Del Toro's utterly breathtaking visuals and charm send this sequel soaring into the right direction.
  3. Tall_But_Short
    7
    Think of Hellboy II as Star Wars mixed with Hell. Yet, in a good way. Guillermo Del Toroâ
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