Poster © Universal Pictures. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreAction, Adventure & Fantasy
RatedPG-13
Runtime2 hr
ReleasedJuly 11, 2008
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorGuillermo del Toro
StarringRon Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones
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Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
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| Hellboy II: The Golden Army's Details | |
| Genre | Action, Adventure & Fantasy |
| Rated | PG-13 |
| Released | 07/11/2008 |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 2 hr |
| Budget | $82.5–85M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Based On | Hellboy by Mike Mignola |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Hellboy II: The Golden Army's Interests | |
| General | Cats, the Troll Market, tooth fairies, a giant forest god, Barry Manilow duets, very big guns. |
| Music | Danny Elfman. Gothic and grand, with a detour for Barry Manilow's 'Can't Smile Without You.' |
| Movies | Pan's Labyrinth (2006). More del Toro creatures, a much scarier fairy tale. |
| Television | The X-Files. Secret government monster files, fewer cats. |
| Heroes | Abe Sapien. Reads four books at once, sings Barry Manilow, falls hard. |
| Hellboy II: The Golden Army's Crew | |
| Director | Guillermo del Toro |
| Writers | Guillermo del Toro, Guillermo del Toro (story), Mike Mignola (story) |
| Producers | Lawrence Gordon, Mike Richardson, Lloyd Levin |
| Cinematography | Guillermo Navarro |
| Music | Danny Elfman |
| Edited By | Bernat Vilaplana |
| Production | Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, Lawrence Gordon/Lloyd Levin Productions, Dark Horse Entertainment |
| Distributed By | Universal Pictures |
A big red demon and a lovesick fish-man sing Barry Manilow together, and it’s the most human scene in a movie made almost entirely of monsters. Guillermo del Toro clearly got the keys to the creature shop and went wild. The Troll Market alone has more ideas per square foot than whole franchises, and the Angel of Death, a figure with eyes on its wings, is one of the creepiest, prettiest designs ever put on film. Ron Perlman’s Hellboy is a cranky, cigar-chewing big kid, Selma Blair keeps Liz grounded, and Doug Jones gives Abe a gentle crush that’s honestly sweet. Luke Goss makes Prince Nuada sad and dangerous. The letdown is the plot, a hunt for crown pieces with zero surprises in it, and the Golden Army itself is less exciting than the junk-shop goblins along the way. It made $178.6 million worldwide. A 7.9 because the world is a feast and the plot is the side salad. $541 says you hum a cheesy love song tonight and refuse to admit where you picked it up.
What works: The creature design is spectacular, from the Troll Market to the Angel of Death, and the cast plays the monsters like a messy, loving family.
What doesn’t: The crown-hunting story is predictable, and the Golden Army is a less interesting finale than the creatures that came before it.
Who it’s for: Monster lovers and fantasy fans who’d happily pause every scene to study what’s going on in the background.
Spoilers
Nuada and Nuala are linked, so whatever hurts one hurts the other, and Nuala stops her brother for good by sacrificing herself. Liz destroys the crown so nobody can command the Golden Army, and she and Hellboy quit the bureau, with Liz revealing she’s expecting twins.
Hellboy (Ron Perlman) is big, red, sarcastic, and fed up with hiding. He works for a secret government bureau that fights monsters, alongside his fire-starting girlfriend Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) and the gentle fish-man Abe Sapien (Doug Jones). Meanwhile, an elf prince named Nuada (Luke Goss) has decided the old truce between humans and the magical world is over. He wants to wake the Golden Army, an unstoppable mechanical force sleeping under the earth, and his twin sister Nuala (Anna Walsh) is the one standing in his way. Guillermo del Toro directs. One hundred twenty minutes, one Troll Market worth the ticket.
Monsters with day jobs. Cat people welcome, Hellboy has a lot of them.
| Ron Perlman | Hellboy |
| Selma Blair | Liz Sherman |
| Doug Jones | three characters |
| John Alexander | Johann Krauss |
| James Dodd | Johann Krauss |
| Luke Goss | Prince Nuada Silverlance |
| Anna Walton | Princess Nuala |
| Jeffrey Tambor | Tom Manning |
| John Hurt | Trevor Bruttenholm |
| Brian Steele | four of the trolls |
| Roy Dotrice | King Balor |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +400 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $178.6M; Domestic box office $76M; Opening weekend $34.5M; Profit / loss (est.) -$36.3M; Rotten Tomatoes 86%; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 86% (249 reviews); Metacritic 78 / 100; IMDb users 7.0 / 10 (300,882 votes); movie.guru score 7.6.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.