Review: Hellboy II: The Golden Army (12A)

5:00pm Tuesday 26th August 2008

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Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Luke Goss, Anna Walton, Jeffrey Tambor.

Director: Guillermo del Toro.

THE sequel to Guillermo del Toro's 2004 fantasy, based on Mike Mignola's comics series, is every bit as fast and furious as its predecessor.

Having sketched the origins of the characters in the first film, del Toro is given free rein here to let his imagination run amok, concocting a dark and bloody fairy-tale full of trolls, goblins and a nine feet tall Angel Of Death.

The writer-director’s distinctive visual style, celebrated with three Academy Awards for Pan's Labyrinth, is very much in evidence, including a swarm of voracious tooth fairies, who crave calcium and eagerly devour human flesh to extract tasty molars from gums.

Children should seriously think twice about putting milk teeth under their pillow.

The clandestine Bureau for Paranormal Research and Development (B.P.R.D.) is struggling to keep Hellboy (Perlman) hidden from prying eyes.

After a visit to an Upper East Side auction house, Hellboy and his cohorts Liz Sherman (Blair) and Abe Sapien (Jones) are propelled into the media).

Meanwhile, disgruntled prince of the underworld, Nuada Silverlance (ex-Bros member Luke Goss), grows resentful of the wasteful humans.

He spearheads a revolution, searching for three shards of his father's ancient gold crown, which controls The Golden Army: unstoppable fighting machines created by the goblins.

The final piece of the crown is in the possession of Nuada’s twin, Princess Nuala (Walton), but she does not share his thirst for world domination.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army is a triumph of design.

The Troll Market, secreted beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, is festooned with weird and wonderful creatures of all shapes and sizes and there is a jaw-dropping fight between the horny hero and a gargantuan forest creature on a Manhattan street corner.

Yet there is much more to del Toro's film than impeccable style.

Perlman carries off his role with gusto, bringing out the humour of his reluctant saviour from beneath the prosthetic make-up as Hellboy contends with so-called domestic bliss (“I would die for her...but she wants me to do the dishes!”) Jones also comes to the fore as a sensitive soul experiencing love.

If there is a weak link it’s Goss, who fails to convey the rage and frustration of his misguided usurper.

The relationship between the cigar-chompin hero and girlfriend moves in unexpected directions, culminating in a life or death choice that poses tantalising questions for the future.