No Ordinary Fool

Alright, I will be honest, I only watched this because I am a huge fan of how director Guillermo del Toro brings such great imagination and colour to his work. While I do not have a clock counting down to the release of the first of his two Hobbit films, I am giving the matter some serious thought. Before that, let us enjoy a brief rampage through what this film is about.

The titular character is a short-tempered, horn-shorn demon (the 58-year old Ron Perlman) that lives amongst humans and who wishes to be liked by all and sundry. He is incredibly strong, tough, and agile, with a taste in handguns that would make even a NRA card-carrying right-to-bear-arms evangelist blush. Moreover, he feels like a Ted Danson-inspired character with the whole cigar-smoking, quick-quipping, boy-in-a-man’s-body routine.

This second installment of the series begins with the violent ending of an ancient truce between mankind and the entire cast of extras from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Quite why Peter Jackson could not have kept this assortment of elves, trolls, tree creatures, tooth fairies, and tumours happy by simply paying them hourly union rates is never really explained in the film.

Anyway, the prince of the elf kingdom (Luke Goss) is feeling particularly bolshie about it. Indeed, in order to get a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work, he is prepared to summon forth a sleeping army of golden clockwork machines, who are unstoppable and indestructible once released. You may not be surprised to learn that it is the mission of Hellboy and his chums, working on behalf of the debauched and capitalist United States government, to prevent this mechanical rabble from ever bothering the bourgeoisie.

In terms of subplot, we are talking woman problems (the second of those two words seems redundant – Ed.). Hellboy’s missus (Selma Blair) typically takes offence at having to live in a smelly, cramped, untidy room with him. Correctly, Hellboy is left confused by this. I mean, what part of diabolical entity did she not get when they first got together? Meanwhile, the audience finds itself appalled, yet anatomically curious, at the signs of a fledgling relationship emerging between a mutant fishman (Doug Jones) and the twin sister of the elf prince (Matt Goss – just kidding – Anna Walton).

The film is stolen though by a cloud of smoke in a rubber suit. These curious vapours are hilariously voiced by Seth MacFarlane (of Family Guy fame) to be like what a stereotype squared of a prim and proper German should sound like. This is worth the admission money alone.

Ultimately, though, it is for the fantastical creations and set piece scenes devised by del Toro and his team that this film will be remembered. In particular, there is a visit to a troll market under Brooklyn Bridge where creatures of every shape and size engage in acts of commerce. The scene is so lush with detail that one viewing of it could never do it justice. There is also the dramatic visual impact of the attack of the tooth fairies (which is guaranteed to save parents money in the future) and the mighty final confrontation, which takes place in an enormous cavern below The Giant’s Causeway in Antrim.

The action is thrillingly slick and agile, with a fine meshing together of CGI with physical acting. The fight moves of the elf prince, in particular, stand out, as he spins, pivots, cartwheels, twists, and leaps about. Equally, there is the always joyous showdown between two bruising heavyweights, as they send each other flying through the air with meaty thumps of engorged right hands.

The film may well have the plot sophistication of the Incredible Hulk writing poetry and the character development that a self-improvement course taught by Rambo would yield, yet there is equally the quirky humour here of The Fifth Element, the vision of a half-dozen fantastical adventure films rolled into one, and the on-screen dramatics of Ghostbusters meets The Matrix. Where del Toro excels, though, is in fusing all of these aspects into one cohesive work that seems greater than the sum of its parts.

In short, a bunkum film made brilliant by imagination.