Hellboy II: The Golden Army Release Date: July 11, 2008 Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Luke Goss, Anna Walton, Jeffrey Tambor, John Hurt Directed by: Guillermo Del Toro
There should be little debate that Guillermo del Toro has the most vivid imagination of any filmmaker working today. His most recent project, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, arrives with stunningly beautiful set pieces, alien creatures that would make George Lucas catch his breath, and a color palette so bright and wondrous as to take your breath away. It's in the script, however, that del Toro the writer falls a wee bit short of del Toro the visionary.
That's no slam of the Spanish director, who is still learning his way around writing and directing English-language films. The first Hellboy, which arrived four years ago, was only del Toro's second screenplay written in English (1997's Mimic was his first), and he continues to make strides in his storytelling. Del Toro wrote Hellboy films with Mike Mignola, the creator of the comic book from which the fiery creature was born. There's some nice banter between Hellboy and Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), and some funny stuff when Big Red gets a bit tipsy. Jeffrey Tambor, who plays the Bureau for Paranormal Research Defense's Tom Manning, is mostly wasted, though.
Ron Perlman's Hellboy in the first movie was a take-no-prisoners fella who'd rather smoke a stogie than save the world. But hey, when asked, a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do.
Hellboy's nonchalant attitude works well as an underlying premise, but at some point, he needs to show some growth, some initiation. He rarely does here, though his paternal instincts kick in when a baby is in peril, and an early scene with dad John Hurt, who's reading a story to his adopted son, shows the importance Hellboy places on family.
Grown up, he's asked to face off against Prince Nuada, an underworld fellow who doesn't like the way humans have treated his people for the last few hundred years. As revenge, he vows to resurrect an army so powerful it will run roughshod over anything that stands in its way. Luckily, his twin sister Princess Nuala isn't anywhere near as sinister, and, for part of the film, is holding one third of a golden crown that needs to be assembled in order for the Golden Army to wake from its slumber and start kicking ass anew.
Nuada proves the weakest part of the film, and del Toro would have been wiser to write his antagonist as a more ornery, uncompromising foil. True, Nuada has the ability to swirl a sword and kill like a pro, and he carries a strong disdain for the humans, yet del Toro doesn't infuse him with true menace. The director's creatures seem a far more worthy adversary than Nuada.
A subplot about Abe Sapien's love life slightly undermines del Toro's complete package, but it's not a deal breaker as far as whether or not Hellboy II is worth your time. However, with superhero movies arriving at a blistering pace these days, it's no longer enough to transition characters from comics to the big screen. As the mighty Iron Man has proved, a script where protags realize that brains defeats brawn will carry the day every time.
Copyright © 2008 Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc.