Reviewed
by Lamar Kukuk
7/16/08
Film
scholars generally believe that there are two kinds of directors.
The Artist uses his command of cinematic language and general genius to
make Important Movies about Important Things. The Hack uses his ability
to delight the ticket-buying rubes with shiny objects while making lowbrow
crap that will <gasp> entertain people. What makes Guillermo Del
Toro fascinating is that he's in many ways a Hack Artist, using his command
of cinematic language and general genius to make lowbrow crap to entertain
the masses. Pan's Labyrinth gave
us a glimpse at just how brilliantly he can summon a world of magical fantasy,
and I'm delightedly amused to see him cash in the credibility boost that
Oscar-winning art house smash gave him to make a sequel about a superhero
team made up of a cigar-smoking demon, a fish-man, a female version of
the Human Torch and a German ghost in a diving suit. In fact, Hellboy
II: The Golden Army sits on the exact divide between those two
supposed schools of filmmaking, putting delightfully silly characters in
the service of a fairy tale story that is at times quite beautiful.
It's a bit draggy in the middle, but at its' best, Hellboy II is
a delight.
As
we learned in the previous film, a red-skinned, devil-horned, tail-having
infant was discovered by Allied troops in Nazi hands at the end of WWII.
Dubbed Hellboy, he was raised by Professor Tevor Bruttenholm (John Hurt),
who, as this movie opens, tells him a bedtime story about an ancient truce
between the fairy tale creatures and their indestructible robot warriors
The Golden Army and the human world. Humans promised to keep to the
cities while the fairies, trolls, etc. swore they'd remain in the forests.
In the present day, when humans have shrunk the domain of the magical with
our lust for conquest and possession, the embittered Prince Nuada (Luke
Goss) returns from exile with intention of going back to war. He
kills his father, King Balor (Roy Dotrice) and takes from him a magical
crown with the power to command the Golden Army. Alas, one piece
is missing, and it remains in the hands of his sister, Princess Nuala (Anna
Walton). She flees, while the early signs of his attacks on man lead
to the involvement of The Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, where
government man Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor) leads the adult Hellboy (Ron
Perlman), pyrokinetic Liz (Selma Blair) and the psychic fish-man Abe Sapien
(Doug Jones). After Hellboy's antics lead to the group's existence
being revealed to the outside world, a new leader is summoned: Johann
Krauss (bodies of John Alexander and James Dodd, voice of Seth McFarlane)
is essentially a ghost, ectoplasm housed by a modified diving suit, and
the by-the-book German spook gives the distinct impression of having served
on the wrong side of WWII. Together, the new team must protect Nuala
and the final piece of the crown, a job complicated by the fact that Abe
Sapien is in love...
Hellboy
introduced some amazing characters and then did very little with them.
The sequel succeeds both by offering more of the Bureau of Paranormal Research
and Defense and by placing it in the middle of a far better story.
Not a great story, mind you: the fairy tale Royal Family whose actions
drive the plot isn't all that well fleshed-out, and its' members mostly
represent positions rather than come alive as characters. But Del
Toro draws a nice contrast between the gentle savagery of creatures who
are as one with the planet on which they live (what happens after the battle
between Hellboy and a Forrest Elemental is positively touching) and the
relentless “hole in Man's heart” that requires us to dominate everything.
We're the heroes: after all, how can we not fight for our own self-preservation,
but it's easy to empathize with the plight of our foes, particularly when
the human public is less than excited to learn that a squad of freaks like
Hellboy is protecting them.
But
ah, those characters, not to mention the tremendous cast bringing them
to life. Ron Perlman may be our most underrated actor, perhaps because
he's given many of his best performances under layer upon layer of makeup,
but Hellboy is yet another role that feels like only he could have played
it. Gruff, disrespectful, sarcastic, but also childlike and yearning
for affection. I doubt any unstoppable superhero has ever loved cats
quite so much (an amusing disclaimer in the end credits assures us that
smoking is NOT cool, no matter how much he might make it appear otherwise).
Abe Sapien is his perfect sidekick, as thoughtful and easygoing as Red
is loud and insecure. Doug Jones has been making a fine career out
of his skills inside exotic creature costumes, but Columbia screwed him
over in the original Hellboy by insisting on a “name actor” (David
Hyde-Pierce) to dub Abe's lines. This time, he's free to be both
the body and soul of the fish-man, and the results are quite impressive.
Selma Blair is great as Liz, the “normal looking” member of the BPRD, who
never lets that get in the way of feeling like a freak. The romance
between Liz and Hellboy, one of the strongest parts of the original, gets
kicked up a few notches this time, and the sparks between the fire-girl
and demon-boy are surprisingly strong. Tambor is his usual hilarious
self as the perpetually aggrieved Manning, and Krauss is a delightful new
addition to the team. Between Alexander and Dodd's amusingly emphatic
body language, the cleverly creaky design of his suit, and the hilariously
goose-stepping vocal stylings of Family Guy's McFarlane, Krauss
(don't forget, that's with two “S”s...) is a delight every moment he's
on screen. Perhaps it's too much to ask for Goss and Walton to keep
up, but some day I hope to see the Bureau against a menace as entertaining
as it is.
In
keeping with his past work, the world Del Toro creates is impressive indeed,
populated by a Mos Eisley Cantina's worth of bizarre creatures that seem
to have emerged from somewhere between our childhood fantasies and our
darkest nightmares. Kuddos across the board to the costume, makeup
and FX teams (as well as the actors) that made these creatures come to
life. He also delivers with the action setpieces, including a vicious
attack by tooth faries (you might want to leave any small children at home...)
and a great climactic rumble with the Golden Army. Alas, his screenplay
does sometimes feel like a mere clothesline upon which to hang a series
of setpieces, interrupted by intervals of time spent with our heroes.
It's all entertaining, but it adds up to a story with a lot less narrative
momentum than its' events suggest.
Hellboy
II: The Golden Army represents a solid improvement over its'
predecessor, allowing us to enjoy two entertaining hours in the company
of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. While the Hellboy
movies are far from Guillermo Del Toro's finest work (even a notch below
his previous comic book sequel, the excellent Blade II), it's refreshing
to see a director of his chops keep coming back to this sort of material.
Superheroes may not be Important, but they sure are cool. |
