GOATMILK: An intellectual playground edited by Wajahat Ali

WAJAHAT ALI

*** THREE STARS

Punch drunk off the critical and creative success of the Oscar nominated Pan’s Labyrinth, Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro unleashes his fertile imagination in Hellboy II: The Golden Army, a rich and inventive sequel expanding on graphic novelist Mike Mignola’s comic creation.

Del Toro, the newly tapped director of The Hobbit, thoroughly uses and abuses his creative license to the hilt going all out with his beloved “red monkey,” the horned, Mexican beer drinking, cigar chomping superhero Hellboy, who along with his “freak” cohorts, the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense [B.P.R.D.] battle the bad, the ugly, and everything in between. Working off a mere $85 million dollar budget – peanuts compared to most Summer E-ticket movies – Del Toro and crew pull off more memorable cinematic wonders than most of the summer’s bloated, uninspired peers combined: Hancock, Speed Racer and Incredible Hulk come to mind; each one of them costing nearly $150 million dollars, but whose budget is blown on three or four unmemorable “money shot” sequences.

Hellboy II, however, creates a “world.” How often does a Hollywood movie invest the time and effort in actually establishing a Jim Henson-esque fantastical and macabre atmosphere and environment? Our CGI overloaded brains are now jaded and easily bored by computer gimmickry which pops up ubiquitously – even on TV to sell us life insurance and Coke bottles. The true cinematic masters of special effects know the “best” effects are those often unnoticed by the audience but nonetheless adding considerable depth and layering to the visual medium, immersing us in the “awesome” without us even realizing where fantasy begins and reality ends.

Although the script and dialogue can, at times, be a tad hokey and conventional, the director, with a capable and energetic cast led by Ron Pearlman as the protagonist, help create a visual wonderland that keeps the audience entertained for 2 hours. When coupled with an overarching theme of unconditional love and need for belonging, this “freak” fest emerges as an action extravaganza with a big, sloppy, sappy romantic heart.

The latest chapter involves Hellboy and crew re-examining their priorities and loyalties in light of stopping the villain, Prince Nuada – the Elf Prince of the Underworld, from summoning the ancient, dormant “golden army” from annihilating the human species. This complex world of reality and fantasy co-existing side by side is quickly explained in the beginning flashback- with the aid of some stunning animation – narrated by John Hurt, reprising his role as Hellboy’s father, who tells the story to the then adolescent “Hellboy’. Unlike most blockbuster movies, Del Toro introduces moral shades of Grey and pangs of doubt into his characters: how can Hellboy and his fellow “freaks” fight their own species in defense of humans, whose greed, fear and ignorance causes them to not only reject Hellboy, but also selfishly destroy the nearly extinct “underworld” and all of its colorful inhabitants? Del Toro sides squarely with the “freaks” as every human character is either summarily killed or shown to be a petty, selfish bureaucrat, exemplified by B.P.R.D director Tom Manning, played again by Jeffrey Tambor.

Amidst this conundrum, Del Toro revisits the “domestic” aspect of Hellboy’s life, examining his evolving relationship with fire starter Liz, the very cute Selma Blair. Although the beginning tends to be stereotypical in its comical and somewhat pedestrian, sitcom treatment of a relationship with “issues,” the movie ultimately forces the characters to make major decisions – in the name of love of course – that truly elucidate the level of their loyalty and conviction. Del Toro highlights these themes, especially the overwhelming need to find belonging in acceptance through unconditional love with another, through Abe Sapian, Hellboy’s aquatic sidekick played exquisitely by Doug Jones under heavy prosthetics and makeup. His character finds his soul mate in Princess Nuala, Prince Nuada’s twin sister whose special bond to her zealot brother allows them to feel each others physical pain and wounds. With a setup like that in the hands of the reliably grandiose and tragic Del Toro, you know there is bound to be some heartache in the end.

If this all seems silly to you, then I assure you it is at least accomplished with commendable technical prowess and a fearless imagination. For example, Del Toro creates a “Troll Market” which serves as a gateway to the underworld underneath the Brooklyn Bridge. Many have already mentioned the parallels to the famous Cantina sequence in Star Wars, which was filled with strange, exotic and wonderful creatures all inhabiting a living, breathing, chaotic “world” unique in every way. Del Toro’s market is like a hybrid of the Cantina, a Middle Eastern bazaar and the frenetic marketplace of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. I couldn’t tell what was CGI, puppets, animatronics, or prosthetics. All of the effects, including the set design and the human actors, were so fully integrated that I, along with many others, simply took great pleasure in basking in the living, visual fantasy before me.

Hellboy II isn’t a great movie by any means, but I’ve found several of the amusing characters, absurd visuals and overall go for broke creative images still swirling around my head days after the premiere. Any Hollywood movie that’s willing to invest that time and energy into creating such an engaging fantasy certainly gets my vote. Here’s hoping there’s Hellboy III.

*** THREE STARS