Hollywood's Endless Superhero Summer rolls on with the arrival of Hellboy II: The Golden Army, from Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro. For the uninitiated: Hellboy (Ron Perlman), or "Red," as his friends call him, is a demon from Hell (literally) who entered this earthly realm when Hitler's minions opened a portal to you-know-where. Rescued by the Allies and raised by a gentle British professor, Hellboy has burnt-red skin, a long tail, and a massive right arm made of stone. Red packs a mean right punch, but luckily, raised on Howdy Doody and Santa Claus, he's fighting on the side of man. Score one for nurture versus nature. In this sequel, Hellboy and his girlfriend Liz (Selma Blair) are living in a government-run bunker below Manhattan and hunting demons. As Liz gears up to announce her pregnancy, up pops the centuries-dead-yet-still-stylish Prince Nuada (Luke Goss, channeling David Bowie), attempting to reassemble the titular Golden Army. Despite Red's rosary beads, Hellboy II doesn't have much on its mind, but few will care since del Toro and his stellar Pan's Labyrinth team stage one virtuoso set-piece after another. Still, while there's no shame in having some summertime fun (and making some summertime money), the question hangs: Is del Toro a mad genius or an imaginative hack? Or both?
Chuck Wilson
