Films concerning the lives of a group of superheroes increasingly appear as allegorical takes on political or social events. “X-Men: The Last Stand” could be a condemnation of society’s treatment of homosexuality, with the drug taken to cure mutants actually one to cure gayness – an entrenchment of our closet-obsessed culture. In “Heroes,” the electoral fraud by tampered computers, the nuclear explosion and the subsequent crackdown of the species in the disaster’s aftermath, serve as a map of President Bush’s rise to power and also as thinly veiled criticisms of what is perceived as an overreaction to the Sept. 11 attacks. Even the audaciously inept “Hancock” could be taken as a commentary on America’s cowboy mentality, our proclivity for using overwhelming force to solve the tiniest of conflicts, our need to redefine our image. “Nobody likes you, Hancock,” assumes added significance.
With “Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” we have a continuation of socially-conscious filmmaking, but now the narrative is about man’s destruction of his planet and the impending cataclysm which will be its result. Like two other ecologically-minded flicks released this summer, M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Happening” and Andrew Stanton’s “Wall-E,” “The Golden Army” serves as a gateway to cinematic pleasures despite its dire message; the message is trascended by the means of its expression.
In the first installment, “Hellboy,” an American team burst upon a group of evil Nazis – is there any other kind? – led by Rasputin in an island off the Scottish coast. Rasputin, under Hitler’s orders, planned to open a portal to attract the seven gods of Chaos to Earth. The Americans, led by Trevor Bruttenholm, a professor of the paranormal, close the portal, but not before they discover that a ruddy, infant demon had already crossed over. This infernal specimen was named Hellboy.
“The Golden Army” begins with a bedtime story. Professor Bruttenholm regaled Hellboy with the legend of a world eons ago, where humans and elves fought for control of the Earth. In response to the massacre of his people, the king of the elves created a invincible, mechanical golden army of 70 times 70 soldiers, who indefatigably harassed mankind without mercy. (Possibly a symbol for modern, computerized warfare, one in which the enemy is faceless and unknown, and so can be terminated without a loss of sleep; one where civilian casualties are tagged as collateral damage.)
The king, fearful that his army would not cease until they decimated the humans, struck a truce with man: Elves would call off the golden army and govern the forest while man would remain in the cities.
Now, to the present, where man has not kept its side of the bargain. Industrial pollution, unchecked logging, mining in ANWR, all these activities have laid waste not only to the earth, but have also affected the forest. The elvish Prince Nuada decided to forestall the decimation of his own people by commanding the retired army. What stands in his way is a paranormal police team headed by Hellboy.
Director Guillermo del Toro’s achievement is in sucking us into a world beyond our own, one inhabited by trolls and elves, unsightly creatures performing their daily grind. As we prefer to base our assumptions on appearances, Del Toro creatively surprises the audience. So instead of having a tooth fairy exchange a tooth for a gift, it munches on every part of the human anatomy – one scene involving a man enveloped by a mass of fairies is as scary as the killer ants in “Kingdom of the Crystal Noggin”; instead of an old lady walking her cats, she eats them. Rather than benign nature, there is nature unleashed via an Elemental.
While it might seem the inventive creatures appear as visual overkill, this is done it seems to divest us of our attachment to reality – we are not in Kansas anymore.
The cinematography is also excellent, with lovely shimmering rays of flourescent blue and gold in a darkened realm of shadows. These hues suffuse the screen providing an unnatural ambiance, one that fits in the fantastical world to which we have been transported.
“The Golden Army” has a look at what constitutes personal choice. In several instances, the characters have to make difficult decisions. When Liz is told by an oracle that Hellboy will destroy the world and be a source of pain to her, she still decides to heal him. Contrast this with the big reveal in “Hancock.” Once we realize that Hancock’s abilities diminish the closer he gets to Mary Embrey, we would expect to know how much saving the world or having her means to him. By a cowardly sidestepping of the dilemma, the director swoops us to a denouement with the man on the moon.
Del Toro is not above the visual cliche – a scene involving guards thrown through a glass door being one example – and he does descend into camp – “You woke up the baby” – but in “The Golden Army” he has a gorgeous, fascinating creation; one bleak yet edifying.
—-Contact Freke Ette at [email protected]