Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Hellboy is growing up. Not physically of course, but emotionally. At least, he should be: he’s married now, to pyrokinetic Liz Sherman (Selma Blair). He’s also an institutional beast, like it or not (not, in his case), at the beck and call of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, where he lives and works. The trouble is, the big fella (“Red” to his friends) still wants to be his own man – and that includes lapping up the adjulation he believes should be coming his way.

He’s in for a rude awakening, but a fickle public will be the least of his worries. Rebellious elfin prince Nuada (Luke Goss – who’s come a long way since “When Will I Be Famous?”) is scheming to resurrect the legendary, invincible Golden Army and safeguard the mythical world from the trespass of “civilization”. To do so, he must bring together the three parts of the ancient crown of his father, a quest that pits him against his own twin sister, princess Nuala (Anna Walton). She turns to the BPRD for protection – amorously extended by a smitten Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) – but Nuada has uncanny powers at his disposal, and exploits the strained allegiances that weaken the organization…

An improvement on the – already pretty good – first Hellboy movie, this sequel finds writer-director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) in relaxed and expansive mood. Not so relaxed that he hasn’t made an exciting film, but confident enough to communicate the pleasure he and his team obviously took in making it. Del Toro is on a roll, and he’s obviously enjoying it. The scene with Hellboy and Abe drunkenly comparing love woes, then breaking into a Barry Manilow duet? That’s a bit of a giveaway.

Mind you, he’s not all that when it comes to action set-pieces. An early run-in with a horde of ravenous “tooth fairies” (so-called because they’re particularly fond of chomping down on molars) is so confusingly staged and edited it’s a wonder the film recovers its feet so quickly.

Still, you only have to compare it to the chaotic third Mummy movie – with which it shares several elements – to appreciate the elegance and artistry del Toro brings to the table, not least the way he conjures up a whole netherworld coexisting with our own, be it a Troll market under the Brooklyn Bridge, or a dormant gilded garrison nestled quietly beneath the Irish sod.

This is a far quirkier comic book movie than we usually get from Hollywood, as befits an outsize personality like Hellboy – played with mucho gusto by Ron Perlman, at 58, the oldest superhero on the block.

It’s also one hell of a creature show. Everywhere you look there are eye-popping monsters, freaks, trolls and mutants, all lovingly fashioned from scratch, and with minimal CGI enhancements. My favourite? The gaseous German Johann Krauss, new leader of the BPRD, who trundles about in what looks like an old diving suit to stop from drifting away.

It’s obvious that del Toro looks more kindly on these imaginary beings than he does on the often petty, political and unreliable humans. Why, then, should Hellboy risk his life and cast his lot with mankind?

You’ll have to see the movie to find out!

Tom Charity
tom.charty@lovefilm.com

August 18, 2008
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