Raising a little hell

Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Review by Nathan Weinbender

There is a scene in “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” where two of the central characters stop amidst all the mayhem, relax in their study and sing along with a Barry Manilow song. It’s funny, it’s charming and it’s original, and it’s moments like this that elevate the “Hellboy” movies above typical superhero fare. Like “Iron Man” before it, this film can detach itself from the action without ever neglecting the action.

“Hellboy II” has the same energy and good humor of its predecessor, but it has a wider scope, a broader imagination and a better eye for detail. This movie is a masterpiece of special effects, set decoration and character design, and even if the story isn’t incredibly compelling, plot almost doesn’t matter in a film that’s as visually sumptuous and staggeringly inventive as this one. You could stop up your ears with cotton before going into the theater and still be swept away by the splendor of the images.

Both “Hellboy” movies, the first of which was released four years ago, have been written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, the Spanish filmmaker who was behind the tour de force “Pan’s Labyrinth.” He has created some astounding, terrifying, mesmerizing beasties and creatures here, some of which, no doubt, were inspired by the work of Mike Mignola, who wrote the graphic novels upon which the film is based.

There are little winged monsters called Tooth Fairies that travel in swarms and devour humans (they’re so named because they go for your teeth first). There is a mammoth troll with an ejector fist, a giant forest monster that destroys a city square, a towering rock creature, a legless dwarf that pulls itself around on a wheeled cart. And then there’s the film’s most wondrous and frightening creation, the Angel of Death, a nearly indescribable beast that dwells in an underground cavern and has big wings covered in eyes.

These sights, along with the energetic action sequences, demand our attention, while the story sort of fades into the background. It reintroduces us to the members of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, including Hellboy himself (played by the invaluable Ron Perlman, buried beneath pounds of make-up); his girlfriend, the human torch Liz (Selma Blair); and the amphibious clairvoyant Abe Sapien (Doug Jones).

Because they exist on a plain somewhere between human and monster, our heroes have to be the mediators in a battle between mankind and the mythical world. See, the King of the Elves has just been killed by his son, Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), who must piece together three pieces of a sacred crown in order to have control over the Golden Army, a collection of 4,900 robot soldiers that he’ll use to, I don’t know, rule both worlds.

Nuada has two of the three crown pieces, and his twin sister, Princess Nuala (Anna Walton), has the third. She won’t give it up, though, and she forms a truce with Hellboy and company in hopes of preserving the peace. Meanwhile, in a nice counterpoint to the action, Hellboy and Liz have hit a few romantic speed bumps—she’s fed up with the fact that he’s more dedicated to television than to her—and Abe falls in love with Nuala, who, I guess, is pretty for an elf (she sort of looks like an albino Isabella Rossellini).

Another subplot involves the public’s reception of Hellboy—they cower in his presence, they call him a brute and a monster, and they ridicule and lambaste him even after he’s saved their lives. It’s an interesting idea, but the movie drops it in favor of more big action sequences, including one in which Hellboy hops across rooftops while clutching a baby in his tail, and another climactic battle that pits our heroes against the Golden Army itself.

All of this is maddeningly entertaining and sometimes dazzling, although it’s certainly imperfect. But what “Hellboy II” does better than most films of its kind is it can make us gasp and laugh in almost the same breath: We can marvel at the movie’s boundless imagination, at the wonderment of the special effects, and yet we can laugh at the dialogue and at Perlman’s brilliant, off-handed line readings.

Perlman himself may be the lifeblood of the “Hellboy” franchise. He always seems to find the right rhythm with his character, the perfect blend of self-seriousness and self-parody. It would be easy to dismiss his work here as nothing but a goofball performance, but Perlman handles physical comedy, action scenes and romantic material, all while being weighed down by make-up and prosthesis, and makes it seem effortless.

Grade: B

Directed and written by Guillermo del Toro. Based on the graphic novels by Mike Mignola. Starring Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Luke Goss, Anna Walton, Jeffrey Tambor and John Hurt, and featuring the voice of Seth MacFarlane. PG-13; 110m.