REVIEW: Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (12A)

The first Hellboy film was a bit of a damp squib, and was dropped by its studio. Mindful of its nonetheless impressive DVD sales, Universal snapped up a sequel, and now Hellboy 2: The Golden Army – again directed by Guillermo Del Toro, the genius behind Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone and most recently Pan’s Labyrinth - is coming out a mere week before The Dark Knight descends.

Hellboy 2 starts with the puppet-animated tale of the brutal war between the humans and the other folks – elves, goblins, trolls and the like – and the decision of King Balor (Ray Dotrice) to build a huge Golden Army to settle the matter for good. Truce is agreed, and the humans get the cities while the other beings get the forests. As for the special crown that controls the Golden Army, it’s broken up into pieces, hopefully never needed again.

Many years on, and at Paranormal HQ, eponymous devilish tailed hero Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and his firestarter girlfriend Liz (Selma Blair) are struggling with domestic bliss. Between rows they join human/fish Abe Sapian (Doug Jones) in fighting all things fantastical – including the murderous appearance of Prince Nuada (Luke Goss; yes, he of 80’s boy band fame) who steals part of an ancient crown from an auction, releasing a plague of tooth fairies as he does so (and these are tooth fairies that go for the teeth, then everything else made of calcium).

In saving the day Hellboy et al are exposed to the press and public for the first time, and German deep sea diving suit/spirit guy Johan Krauss (voiced by Seth MacFarlane of Family Guy) is brought in to keep order when the team meets Princess Nuala (newcomer Anna Walton), holder of part of the crown, and learn just what the nasty Prince is planning to do.

Setting out into mysterious worlds populated by bizarre creatures, the team begins the chase for the crown and the battle to stop the mysterious Prince from waking the conquering army. Can Hellboy save the day, even when he begins to doubt himself? The humans have ruined the world he lives in, and many of them think he’s a freak: should he really be stopping them?

As one who came to Hellboy on DVD, I was looking forward to this sequel. Del Toro’s worlds – a violent mix of clockwork gadgetry, myth, magic and fantasy – are always unique and amazing to look at, but too often this seemed to be a mix of Men In Black, later Star Wars and Lord of The Rings, and as such quickly become forgettable in the glut of fantasy/superhero movies we’re currently drowning in.

I am already beginning to wonder how long audiences will want something that only comes out of binary computation? There’s more to come of course and sure, I’d watch this if it were on TV or DVD, but for a trip to the flicks? Maybe just for fans only.