Go Back To Hell

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

(PG-13)

originally published July 16, 2008

Selma Blair and Ron Perlman

I thought I'd grown weary of the superhero movie and its tropes and flaws. Iron Man was fabulous entertainment and quite possibly the best film of the year to date, but The Incredible Hulk, which I liked, and Hancock, which I could have lived without, failed to elicit a "Wow!" from my childish inner fanboy. Guillermo del Toro must have felt the same way because Hellboy II: The Golden Army wows and then some. Made by one of the biggest fanboys for even bigger fanboys, Hellboy II impressively improves upon the good (not great) 2004 adaptation of Mike Mignola's comic hero. Set in a suitably modern present-day world that exists atop and around a magic realm of trolls, giants and albino elfin royalty, the supernatural exploits of the B.P.R.D. (that's the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, for the non-comic enlightened) feel fresh amidst a glut of science-based, rational superheroes.

Legend - by way of Professor Broom (John Hurt) - tells of a Golden Army, created years ago by the world's magical denizens to defeat humanity in the struggle for Earth. Needed to control the army is the crown of Bethmoora, but the golden device has been split in three so as to keep the indestructible army dormant and out of the wrong hands. Breaking a centuries-old truce, rogue Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) seeks to reunite the three pieces of the crown and conquer mankind once and for all. The only thing standing in his way happens to be the world's only demonic hero, the misunderstood Hellboy (Ron Perlman, who shoots off a never-ending clip of one-liners with sarcastic panache). But Hellboy has problems of his own. He still wishes to experience life outside the walls of the B.P.R.D., and his girlfriend, the fiery Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), is beginning to wonder whether he cares more about getting out than he does about her. She's also pregnant. One can imagine what sort of day he's about to have, but del Toro throws a few additional curveballs in this average hero game.

Del Toro's career sans subtitles has been one of genre competence but not much more. Mimic and Blade II are good movies, but they were short on the humanity and grace of The Devil's Backbone. The first Hellboy lacked something of the essence as well. In the sequel, del Toro, still surfing the creative wave that bore Pan's Labyrinth to cinema's shores, gets the formula right. Hellboy's heroics are not enfeebled by its ever-present humor, nor are the stakes treated too lightly. With Hellboy II, del Toro may have mastered the English-language film. If the film suffers from anything, it's from a creative surplus. In Hellboy II, del Toro blends Jim Henson with the better parts of a young George Lucas to create a visual treat through tangible special effects and a fine sense of humor.

Drew Wheeler