The Plot
Hellboy II opens in the 1950s with a young and hilariously eager Hellboy ("Red" to his friends) being read a Christmas Eve bedtime story by his surrogate father, Professor Bruttenholm (John Hurt). He tells the tale of an ancient war between Man and "mythical" creatures (elves, ogres, goblins, et al.), during which elfin king Balor created a Golden Army of mechanical soldiers so powerful that they forced a truce with the humans. A crown used to control the army was broken into three pieces, two staying with the elves and one with the humans, to virtually ensure that the army's reign of destruction would never be unleashed.
Of course, like most things in the Hellboy universe, myths turn out to be real, and King Balor's son, Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) returns from exile with a chip on his shoulder. He's fed up with the way humans have treated the planet, and he feels that elves and other creatures have been relegated to the shadows. He vows to raise the Golden Army and declare war on Man. The king opposes his plans, however, so Nuada shanks him for his effort and takes his third of the crown. He'd already stolen the humans' third from an auction house, and the only portion of the crown left is held by Nuada's twin sister, Nuala (Anna Watson), who flees to the protection of Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, which has been investigating the auction house theft.
Meanwhile, Hellboy has problems of his own. His contentious relationship with his human torch of a girlfriend, Liz (Selma Blair), has hit a speed bump. He's got a new by-the-rules supervisor, Johann Krauss (voiced by Seth MacFarlane of Family Guy fame), whose body is comprised entirely of ectoplasmic smoke. To top it off, the fame that he so desired goes sour when he discovers that humans don't take so kindly to stone-handed demons.
The End Product
Hellboy II is one of those moves that makes you say, "It's good. And?" Because del Toro is so adept at crafting wildly imaginative cinematic portraits, he's already set the bar pretty high with Pan's Labyrinth and the previous Hellboy (and, to a lesser extent, earlier films like Cronos, Blade II and The Devil's Backbone), so little in Hellboy II feels truly striking or original.
The main plot plays like an offshoot of the Lord of the Rings universe, while the side story of Hellboy's public perception and struggle against prejudice has been worn thin by the X-Men films. As interesting as the main characters are, their dynamics were introduced in the first movie, so there's little new ground to tread here, and the Hellboy-Liz relationship subplot is particularly stale, grasping at old sitcom bits for material. The bevy of new creatures introduced in Hellboy II do provide some interesting eye candy, but they still feel like extensions of Pan's Labyrinth (by way of Star Wars). One of the major action sequences, the battle against a plant god, meanwhile feels like a similar scene from the first Hellboy movie, if not a clip from Cloverfield.
That said, if being overly familiar is the worst critique that can be levied against Hellboy II, then it's still doing plenty right. For all of its visual effects, the likeability of the film's characters is what drives its impact. Perlman of course carries the bulk of the material with his wisecracking, down-to-earth performance, but all of the wart-and-all character portrayals lend to the movie's light-hearted anti-super hero vibe.
Del Toro's direction is strong as always, showing off his flair not only for the fantastic but also for popcorn action. Although there are no show-stopping action sequences, it provides the requisite larger-than-life summer showiness. You can tell that he and his production team put all of their hearts into the supernatural creature character designs, with even small roles receiving the royal treatment of ornate costumes and intricately grotesque features. It's enough to awaken the childlike sense of wonderment in all of us, although the plot could put these roles to better use.
From a horror perspective, Hellboy II registers barely a blip on the radar, less so than even Pan's Labyrinth. It's much more in the fantasy realm (as del Toro prepares to helm The Hobbit?) than the occult-laden Hellboy, none of its characters designed to instill fear -- not even the formidable Golden Army, which comes off as a bunch of extras from Transformers. So, while you might not get thrilled or chilled with Hellboy II, it's still a welcome summer diversion.
