Hellboy & Hellboy II: The Golden Army

There are some comic books that seem to almost be made for the cinema, and with the leaps and bounds that CGI technology has made in recent years more and more stories have made the transition. Mike Mignola’s comic series Hellboy is one of the straightforward of comic stories to move from the pages to the screen and with the large library that Dark Horse Comics has a franchise could go on for a very long time.
Hellboy - During World War II a small creature is discovered and brought to America where he grows up battling supernatural monsters and evil powers determined to rule the world. With a strong plot and action that doesn’t let up, this origin story sets up the ground work for future stories. Under the red Hellboy make-up is the wonderful actor Ron Pearlman, and with his flair of acting brings this character to life with all of the humor and humanity that Mignola created. One of the best things about this story is that it is more character driven then relying on the CGI effects to carry the film, and that’s not to say there isn’t spectacular CGI effects but it doesn’t use those effects like other films use them as a crutch.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army - When the young Prince of the supernatural world overthrows the King and releases the Golden Army, Hellboy and his teammates stand in their way to save the world. The best reason that this film was a success was that the original cast and director return for this second story about the members of the BPRD (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense). With visionary director Guillermo de Toro at the helm again the characters swift interactions along with the continuity of the first and second films becomes almost flawless.
Because of the return of the major players in this series we’re able to see a more natural progression and development of the characters, and with the same director you don’t have new interpretations of the universe that they live in. This is a strong franchise that has a multitude of avenues that it could continue in, and as long as everyone is happy enough to come back we may be able to see a number of sequels expanding this universe of Hellboy’s.