We have made fun of the name of Hellboy 2: The Golden Army on the podcast a few times. (The title sounds like a watersports event involving the military.) It looks like the name has been altered and boiled down to the simple HBII. We get the heads up about this story and the knee slappin’ commentary from the WEBMASTER at Filmjunk:
I found it strange that on sites like Box Office Mojo and AOL Moviefone, the movie is now actually listed as “HB II (formerly Hellboy 2: The Golden Army)”. The official website would seem to confirm this with only a simple BHII logo in the top corner. Hey, remember when someone thought it was a good idea to shorten The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen to simply LXG? Boy, that sure made people a lot less confused! I bet there was marketing team sitting around somewhere doing focus testing, who suddenly realized that “HBII” was a lot easier for teens to text message to each other than “Hellboy 2″. As in: Kid #1: where r u? Kid #2: im goin 2 c hbii
I do not think HBII is a great name, and the WEBMASTER is correct to point out that it does not really simplify much. People who are not aware of the first movie might wonder what the hell HBII is. I would think that it is a sequel to the popular steak sauce HB (although I personally endorse A1.)
HBII is not a great name, but I am trying to weigh if it is better than the long and odd title that is Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. I would of preferred a third option, and who knows we may see the name change again before the release date of 11 July 2008. If I had to name the movie I may call it Hellboy 2: Trollslayer, perhaps Hellboy 2: Usurper or even Hellboy 2: Child Support Is For Mortals.
I enjoyed the first Hellboy, and loved the direction and vision of Guillermo. I am anxious to see what ongoing adventures await us with this motley crew and count this as one of my most anticipated movies of next summer.
