PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Guillermo del Toro loves mythology. It’s evident. Very few viewers could protest it. But more than any, he loves the melancholic ones most. The ones that show our world is or could be fantastical still, but we have to be aware of ourselves, our actions, and how we move those around us. By crafting his own original myth out of love for the source material and the genuine nature of both people and their stories, he creates one of the strongest openings I’ve seen in a film overall, but especially in a comic-based film. I am speaking, of course, about Hellboy 2: The Golden Army.
The opening myth between Professor Broom (John Hurt) and young Hellboy is both a wholesome look at the loving father/son relationship even given their unusual circumstances and backgrounds; as well as shows a poignant yet loving ode to myth with the legend of the titular Golden Army. Interrupting a Howdy Doody episode and like many parents encountering the puppet were dismissive at best, mildly spooked by the creepy thing at most. Trying to wind down young HB on Christmas Eve isn’t going to be easy so he accepts when HB asks for a story in exchange for brushing teeth and going to bed. Pulling out what can only be described as a tome fit for Van Helsing himself, with aged parchment pages, Broom starts telling of the Golden Army while HB stares into the fire of the chimney:
As soon as his narration starts, so does a visually gorgeous sequence done in a combination shadow/puppet play. The puppets are CG but made very pointedly to look not only carved but staged like they are straight out of the imagination of Hellboy himself during the telling. The visual care and love are further expressed by the clear imitation of the jagged and distinct visual styling of the drawings of Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. Del Toro is both indulging the inner child of the audience and showing genuine respect for the man who made the character del Toro could flesh out and play around with in two films.
Overall the major theming of the film ties the myth to reality by making a very straightforward parallel between indigenous and colonizer cultural relations. Man and mythic lived together in peace, but the Professor’s narration hits hard to the point, with a line that still has stuck with me since I first saw the film in theaters back in 2008 with my father.
“Man had been created with a hole in his heart, a hole that no possession, power, or knowledge could fill. And in his infinite greed, man dreamed of expanding his dominion over the entire earth.”
This expansionism by the armies of man ends up slaughtering many of the fair folk and causes a desperate act in creating thousands of indestructible and unfeeling mechanical soldiers. After seeing the damage on both sides and the horror created by his army especially, the king of the elves destroys the controlling crown and agrees to a ceasefire. He will take the forests and the dark, untouched spots, and man can keep their cities… Just like the real-life history that inspires this, we know the cities haven’t stayed the same they have thousands of years ago, and the forests become smaller every year…
Every single thread of the film comes from the seed of this opening. When finished hearing the story, Hellboy is disingenuous and asks Broom if that story was real. With a gentle smile and not even an ounce of condescension, Broom responds, “Well, my son, I’m sure you’ll find out.” In a world as weird as theirs, don’t rule anything out; but also, letting Hellboy keep that childish wonder plays heavily into who he is much later in his life. Others have tried to get into the character, but none have topped John Hurt as Broom, who is clearly inundated with the weird, and a little emotionally distanced at times, but clearly loves his half-demon son.
Hellboy is stuck between the worlds of the mythic and the world of mankind once again and must see the effects the relations of the two worlds have had on the entire ecosystem. From just a few seconds after the opening, we are caught up in the mythic world up against the ropes. Though his actions are heinous and the reactivation of the Golden Army would devastate the world, we can clearly sympathize with why he feels so desperate.
Nuada and HB come into conflict in a heartbreaking parallel of history. Being raised in America, I can see such a devastating comparison between the mythic/man situation and the US government and its treatment of our indigenous people. Hellboy has been raised against his own culture, and he knows it here; meanwhile, Nuada knows that his culture has been his whole life, and he can’t do what HB does. So, he decides to rage against the dying of the light.
In one 4-minute scene, Guillermo del Toro has crafted not just the springboard for the plot, but the setup for the major motives of both the protagonist and antagonist through the context of a single story. Very few films can go from wholesome to magical to melancholic in a matter of minutes in a balanced manner like this. Fewer can do it with this level of craft and love.
I think Hellboy 2 is a particular gift of filmmaking magic and love because it does all that, and the ride only goes from there. If you haven’t seen the film, go! Watch now! I’ve given you an analysis of 4 minutes out of 2 hours. You’ve got 30x more movie to see. You’ve got laughs, spectacle, and a deeply human story of monsters trying to survive the painful scars of history the best they can. To some, that’s world domination, to the rest of us, there’s Barry Manilow and beer with a friend.
I could keep on telling you why you should see this film, but every minute further I distract you here is another minute spent not watching or rewatching! Go! And give Mr. del Toro my love!
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army is available to rent and own on digital platforms, and is currently streaming on Peacock.
