10 Reasons Why Hellboy II: The Golden Army Is Still ICONIC
4. The Last Elemental
Something that should be mentioned before we go any further: Luke Goss is fantastic as the antagonist, Prince Nuada.
And perhaps his best scene in the entire film also happens to be one of the best sequences of del Toro's entire filmography; the appearance and destruction of the last elemental Forest God.
It's visually stunning, as everything from the design of the creature itself to the production design of the street in the background is artistically meaningful. It has wonderfully affecting, pulse-pounding, and thematically-charged action beats, such as Hellboy attempting to keep a baby safe amidst the battle. But most crucially, it is a beautiful visual embodiment of the central conflict of the entire film.
As Hellboy is preparing to kill the Forest God, Prince Nuada appears to him, pleading with him not to kill the creature and telling him that it is the last of its kind. In one of Perlman's best moments, Hellboy's heart is visibly torn by the conflict. He ultimately kills it to save the humans, leading to an ethereally haunting and absolutely gorgeous death sequence in which its blood turns the streets to forests.
This whole sequence is nothing short of masterful.