HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY

True to its maker and del Toro's vision

By RAPHAEL LUCKOM

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Hellboy II: The Golden Army is exactly what it should be: a lurching, screaming, many-tentacled monster of a movie. Creators Mike Mignola and Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) keep the plot bare bones, focusing instead on Mignola's trademark gallows humor. The characters all seem to swing between two poles—Ron Perlman's Hellboy between a hyperactive six-year-old and an unguided missile of sarcastic ultraviolence, Doug Jones' Abe Sapien between super-intelligent aquaman and college freshman, and Seth MacFarlane's Johann Kraus between creepy German authoritarian and Steve-Carrell-style enthusiastic manager. Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development) larry-davids perfectly between neurosis and aggravation as the harrowed director of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD).

A brief young-Hellboy introduction lays the plot out before the opening credits: Long ago, an ogre built a vast indestructible Golden Army for the king of the fairies, who used it in the war against the humans. When the king saw how much destruction the army was causing, he made a treaty with the humans: If they would stay in the cities, the supernatural world wouldn't bother them. His son, the Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), disappeared, vowing to return and use the army to destroy all humans. Now Nuada is back with a cadre of grotesque allies, and Hellboy and the rest of BPRD need to stop him from gaining control of the Golden Army.

Fans of the comic will find discrepancies in the movie, but Mignola and del Toro have always said that each facet of the Hellboy franchise exists in a slightly different universe. Del Toro's genius lies in using that freedom to create a story that exceeds the potential of a strict retelling of a comic book while preserving the best parts of Mignola's work, both visually and in terms of character and narrative. Hellboy II takes a solid idea and gives it wings. And teeth, tentacles, extra heads and strange, unidentifiable hairy things.

HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY

RATED | PG-13

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