When a truce between the fantastical realm and Earth breaks down, errant Prince Nuala (Luke Goss) attempts to corral the mystical world into rebelling against humanity.
Only noble demon Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and his band of merry misfits, including girlfriend Liz (Selma Blair), merman Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) and psychic spirit Johann Krauss (Seth MacFarlane), can stop them. It doesn't look good.
Currently in production with The Hobbit, director Guillermo del Toro has nurtured a sequel to his hit comic book adaptation Hellboy since its release in 2004. Though the picture was generally well received, this follow up has a bigger budget, more preposterous creatures and now a whole hoard of convention types wet with expectation.
They say:
Screen International: “Gleefully unpretentious in its desire to entertain.”
Variety: “The hipster's hit of the summer.”
Time Magazine: “(Del Toro) Has seamlessly blended art house and grind house.”
We say:
Hellboy 2 is brimming with inventive monsters and sets straight out of a fairy tale. Albeit an especially vicious one that would put most kids back into Huggies, but a fairy tale all the same. A sort of Pan’s Labyrinth played for fun.
The film’s CGI/ live action puppetry mix is expertly balanced. Guillermo del Toro isn't a director ruled by technology, he uses computer FX as a last resort. The Golden Army of the title, for example, they're CGI because constructing five thousand of them out of papier mâché and yoghurt pots would be stupid. God only knows why George Lucas didn't ask del Toro to direct a Star Wars prequel - he would have made a damn sight better job.
It is regrettable then that this 'Mexican Spielberg' (Spielbergo?) shapes his imagination around a narrative so flimsily plotted it barely adds up to half a movie.
As with Hellboy 1, del Toro and Mike Mignola (adapting his own comic book) have failed to script a villain worthy of their hero. Ron Perlman as the big red lug is terrific. However, put up against an former member of Bros (Goss - dreary) and some domestic strife from his fiery girlfriend (Blair - out of place), he’s left relatively unchallenged.
The Golden Army, twelve feet tall and pissed, are worthy adversaries. So why apart from a tantalising flashback and a minor fracas at the end do they barely make an appearance? If there is extra money in the kitty we demand to see it on screen. It would have been great to watch the army marching across Earth obliterating the landscape - then Hellboy would really have had something to sink his granite fist into.
Comedy has wisely been ramped up this time, principally via the introduction of special paranormal agent Johann Krauss (MacFarlane). Adopting a Bratwurst thick German accent identical to Jeremy Irons' in Die Hard With a Vengeance, MacFarlane delivers Krauss' every line with hilarious pomposity.
When he bitch slaps a jealous Hellboy around the locker room, his hoity ‘hi-yah’s’ provide the biggest guffaws of the film.
Less successful is del Toro’s handling aquatic Abe Sapien’s romantic subplot. He’s a popular character and this should have been a highlight, yet his interspecies coupling with Anna Walton’s Princess is given just a few consecutive scenes to develop. The relationship's supposedly poignant climax occurs in near fast forward. Abe doesn't seem to care about the outcome any more than we do. Then again, he is a fish so they forget stuff pretty quickly.
If Goss’ Prince had been granted meaningful motivation for his uprising and the Golden Army employed beyond mere threat, Hellboy 2 would have been a far more satisfying experience. As it stands, it's funny and colourful, but del Toro seems to have lost the plot a little.
RELEASED
22 Aug '08
CAST
Ron Perlman
Doug Jones
Selma Blair
Seth MacFarlane
DIRECTOR
Guillermo del Toro
TIME
120 mins
POSTED...
Tue 22 Jul at 12:13pm
