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TOTO: 'Hellboy' chaos

Del Toro's otherworldly beasts, sets no substitute for a story

By Christian Toto (Contact) | Friday, July 11, 2008

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Director Guillermo del Toro clearly misses the creatures who populated his 2006 triumph, "Pan's Labyrinth." So, when it came time to revisit his "Hellboy" franchise, Mr. del Toro decided his freaky hero needed a new set of enemies, monsters that make Hellboy look like Brad Pitt by comparison.

"Hellboy II: The Golden Army" features a rogues gallery of new beasts, each a wonder to behold. The film even features a cantina-like sequence that makes "Star Wars'" bar scene look like a room filled with Halloween costumes. However, Mr. del Toro is having so much fun orchestrating the action and introducing new creatures that he forgot what making a movie involves: story, plot, character growth — you know, the stuff they still can't do with computer graphics imaging.

The sequel starts with a flashback. Young Hellboy is treated to a fairy tale read by his adoptive father (John Hurt) that tells of a Golden Army that nearly wiped out the human race.

Flash forward to the present, and the adult Hellboy (Ron Perlman) is settled into domestic life with his fiery girlfriend, Liz (Selma Blair).

Suffice to say the couple has issues beyond his tail and oversized fist. None of that matters, though, when they learn that a ghoulish prince (Luke Goss) seeks a crown that will give him power over the same Golden Army that Hellboy thought was just a children's tale.

It's up to Hellboy, Liz and Abe (Doug Jones) — the aquatic empath whose greatest power here is the ability to sense pregnancies — to prevent the prince from realizing his ambitions. The team is joined for the sequel by a new member, a protoplasmic mystic named Johann (voiced by "Family Guy's" Seth MacFarlane).

"Hellboy II's" story threads begin and end with little purpose — or impact. We're told a tension exists between creatures like Hellboy and the human race, but it's never exploited as well as in the three "X-Men" features. Hellboy's team, meant to stay a government secret, gets revealed to the public midfilm, but no real consequences ensue.

This sequel's clumsy story construction may give fantasy fans pause, since Mr. del Toro is taking over for Peter Jackson in bringing J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" to life.

"Hellboy II" does have its highlights, including the strangest film moment of this or any year — a duet featuring Hellboy and Abe warbling a Barry Manilow classic.