Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Hellboy II: The Golden Army is a 2008 American supernatural 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.

Plot

During Christmas 1955, an 11-year-old Hellboy is told a bedtime story by his adoptive father, Trevor Bruttenholm, involving an ancient war between man and magical creatures, started by man'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.

Hellboy

Hellboy is a fictional superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 (Aug. 1993), and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers. The character has been adapted into two live-action feature films in 2004 and 2008 that starred Ron Perlman in the title role, and two straight-to-DVD animated films, as well as two video games – Asylum Seeker and The Science of Evil.

A well-meaning demon whose true name is Anung Un Rama ("and upon his brow is set a crown of flame"), Hellboy was summoned from Hell to Earth as an infant demon on December 23, 1944 (given as his birth date by Mike Mignola) by Nazi occultists (spawning his hatred for them). He was discovered by the Allied Forces; amongst them, Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, who formed the United States Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD). In time Hellboy grew to be a large, red-skinned man with a tail, horns (which he files off, leaving behind the signature circular stumps on his forehead), cloven hooves for feet, and an over-sized right hand made of stone. He has been described as smelling of dry-roasted peanuts. Although a bit gruff, he shows none of the malevolence thought to be intrinsic to demons, and has a strong sense of humor. This is said to be because of his upbringing under Professor Bruttenholm, who raised him as a normal boy.

Ron Perlman

Ronald N. "Ron" Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American actor and voice actor. He is best known for his roles as Vincent in the television series Beauty and the Beast (for which he won a Golden Globe), as the comic book character Hellboy in both 2004's Hellboy and its 2008 sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and as Clarence "Clay" Morrow in television series Sons of Anarchy.

Perlman is also well known as a frequent collaborator of Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro, also having roles in his films Cronos, Blade II, and Pacific Rim. He is also known for his voice-over work as the narrator of the post-apocalyptic game series Fallout, Clayface in Batman: The Animated Series, Slade in the animated series Teen Titans, The Lich in Adventure Time, The Stabbington Brothers in Disney's animated film Tangled, and as the narrator of the television series 1000 Ways to Die.

Early life

Perlman was born in Washington Heights, New York. His mother, Dorothy (Rosen), was a municipal employee, and his father, Bertram "Bert" Perlman, was a jazz drummer and repairman. Perlman stated in a 1988 interview that "It was not a bad childhood but...I had a perception of myself that was, I was terribly overweight as a young kid, and it was sort of a low self image." Perlman continued to say that this experience is one thing that attracts him to "playing these sorts of deformed people who are very endearing."

Doug Jones

Doug Jones is the name of:

See also

Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro Gómez (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡiˈʝeɾmo ðel ˈtoɾo]; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican film director, screenwriter, producer, and novelist. In his filmmaking career, del Toro has alternated between Spanish-language dark fantasy pieces, such as the gothic horror film The Devil's Backbone (2001), and Pan's Labyrinth (2006), and more mainstream American action movies, such as the vampire superhero action film Blade II (2002), the supernatural superhero film Hellboy (2004), its sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), and the science fiction monster film Pacific Rim (2013).

In addition to his directing works, del Toro is a prolific producer, his producing works including acclaimed and/or successful films such as The Orphanage (2007), Julia's Eyes (2010), Biutiful (2010), Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), Puss in Boots (2011), and Mama (2013). He was originally chosen by Peter Jackson to direct The Hobbit films; he left the project due to production problems but was still credited as co-writer for his numerous contributions to the script.