The devil and Mr. Del Toro

‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’
Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Cast: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Jeffrey Tambor
Rating: PG-13
Grade: 3 Globes

To use a technical term, Guillermo Del Toro is “hot” right now.

His “Pan’s Labyrinth” achieved the impossible for a foreign language film, winning critical claim and broad audience approval (and no doubt helped him get tapped as director to the two upcoming “Lord of the Rings” prequels). While a sequel to his 2004 “Hellboy” likely didn’t appear to be a sure thing, there are worse directors to take a chance on right now than Del Toro.

Unfortunately, what worked in “Pan’s Labyrinth” works slightly less well in “Golden Army.” The story — adapted by the director from the comics of Mike Mignola — centers on a heroic government team of fantastic-looking freaks (a fish man, a gas man, Selma Blair), led by Hellboy (Ron Perlman), a cigar-chomping, beer-swilling demon with a devil-may-care attitude (har-har). As he was in the first installment, Perlman is again the brightest spot, channeling John Wayne and Bruce Willis through pounds of latex and red paint.

Del Toro is the only other real star here (apologies to the underutilized Jeffrey Tambor). As his paranormal unit navigates a troll city beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, we get a sneak peak at what his Tolkien-verse might look like: a world of alluringly grotesque monsters and sexy steampunk gadgetry. Unfortunately, this aesthetic had more appeal in “Labyrinth,” where it was juxtaposed with the Spanish Civil War countryside. When crammed beneath the Brooklyn Bridge or into a Trenton, N.J., warehouse, it feels cramped. Unlike “Labyrinth,” the screen in “Hellboy” always seems packed with too many elves, fairies and trolls, making the fantastic feel commonplace.

But most of all “Labyrinth” worked because it applied that magical aesthetic to a real-world threat and real-world tragedy. In “The Golden Army,” it’s ostensibly tied to a flimsy romance, but is in fact untethered to anything of substance. With bigger things behind and front of him, don’t count on Del Toro to return to this well again.