Light Shadows
Hellboy II Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Fans of Pans Labyrinth will be disappointed to see that Hellboy II: The Golden Army is a return to pop form for writer/director Guillermo del Toro. While the dark austerity and romance of Pans Labyrinth made del Toro a legitimate auteur, both of his adaptations of Mike Mignolas Hellboy comic series are the best indicators of what the creator really cares about. In the spirit of weird writer H.P. Lovecraft, both films insist that if the worlds imaginary gods and monsters are to survive, they need to remain strange secrets.
To do so, Hellboy II embraces the pulp roots of Mignolas popular comics. With a lot of explosions, one-liners and impromptu mythologizing, del Toro brings to life some very strange, silly and still largely arcane creatures. Mignolas series may be one of Dark Horse Comics biggest breadwinners, but it appears fairly unknown when sandwiched between Marvel and DC Comics movie adaptations like The Incredible Hulk and The Dark Knight. Its fitting then that Mignolas comics, like his heroes, should remain hidden from the public eye. His beady-eyed anti-heroes thrive in the shadows that the guardians of the public have banished them to. Theyre members of the shadowy Bureau of Paranormal Research and Development, a covert government agency that pits their own team of freaks against despotic creepy-crawlies like an undead Rasputin (Karel Roden) or an unhinged Elf prince (Luke Goss) in Hellboy II. Two of their most prominent resident ghouls are Hellboy (Ron Perlman), the prodigal prince of Hell and Abe Sapien (Doug Jones), a cross between The Creature from the Black Lagoon and Leslie Howard.
To remain effective, they must stay out of sighta notion that doesnt sit well with either Hellboy or del Toro. Hellboy II attempts to shed light on the unsightly squirming denizens of the dark as Prince Nuada (Goss) threatens to break a millennia-long truce between man and monster and unleash the indestructible Golden Army. Keeping a low profile is tough, what with Hellboy eager to enter the public eye, new additions to both the B.P.R.D. and Hellboys family and more unnatural love than del Toros previous films (for example Abe, the fish-man loves Princess Nuala (Anna Walton), the pasty elf, who is adored by Prince Nuada, her brother). That unfortunately doesnt mean that anyone will pay attention. Hellboy II will likely fail because its neither what del Toros newfound public expectsthough there are teeth-gnawing tooth fairies, its certainly not a dark fairy talenor what most comic book movie audiences want: a hero they can recognize.
In theory, Hellboy II is, however, exactly what a comic-book movie should be. It lets its actions speak louder than their back stories and features an ample cache of weapons, creatures, locales and obstacles for our heroes to contend with. Its a long sprint through a series of loosely connected episodes that feel like the serialized issues of a comic.
That having been said, Hellboy II also has a comics worst attributes. There are more preposterous and convoluted rules than there should beto rule the Golden Army, Nuada must not only wear his fathers crown but go unchallenged by anyone in his court or any other courtand more creatures per second than is always necessarybecause in comics more is usually assumed to be better. Then again, it stands to reason that del Toro would throw as much at the audience as possible here in hopes that it wont underperform like its predecessor did (domestically, Hellboy grossed a disappointing $23 million opening weekend).
Its also not serious enough to be anything more than gee-whiz fun whose gentle touch is more slight than light by the end. The heaviest part of the story, the connection between Hellboys personal problems and his fight with Prince Nuada, remains mostly assumed and is never satisfactorily spelled out.
This makes it feel like theres not as much on the line as there was in Hellboy for Hellboy and Liz (Selma Blair), his fire-starting partner in crime, when nothing could be farther from the truth. Somehow, the prospect of becoming parents and choosing to lead normal lives does not seem as portentous as it should, even when the Angel of Death makes Liz a very personal proposition. With eyes on his wings and an enamel rib cage, he may not seem threatening enough for anyone but fans of Hellboy, but for the few seconds hes exposed to the light of day, he looks pretty good.