10 Reasons Why Hellboy II: The Golden Army Is Still ICONIC
6. The Interweaving Love Stories
A decade before he would go on to win all of the Oscars with the story of a fish-man falling in love, Guillermo del Toro made Abe Sapien's love story part of the beating heart of this film and showed off just how endearing his view of these supposed monsters can be.
In interweaving Abe's arc of falling in love with Princess Nuala with the continued love story (and subsequent pregnancy) of Hellboy and Liz, the film sees del Toro once again using film as what Roger Ebert called an "empathy machine", digging into the fears and desires of these 'monsters' and making us care so deeply for them.
The ending of Liz and Hellboy leaving the BPRD in favor of forging a life of their own for their children is especially powerful, as Hellboy talks about longing for a big yard and a white picket fence. For a film whose biggest running theme is of monsters trying to find love and peace in a world that actively fears them, it's a pitch-perfect ending that sees love winning out, even amongst the casualties.