‘Hellboy II’ an amazing rumination on human nature

Guillermo del Toro’s “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” is actually closer in tone to his last film, “Pan’s Labyrinth,” than the original “Hellboy.” While “Hellboy” was a competent, straightforward actioner, the influence of “Labyrinth” weighs heavily on the mind of its sequel, daring to explore the complexities of mythology and how they apply to human nature. Pretty impressive for a mid-summer blockbuster, yes?

Appropriately enough, “Hellboy II” opens on a fairy tale, told circa 1955, as the late Professor Bruttenholm (John Hurt) tells his adopted son, Hellboy, the story of the titular Golden Army: undefeatable clockwork soldiers, crafted by the world of faeries, magic and other such things, specifically designed to destroy mankind. Unhappy that humanity has casually broken the truce that eventually saved their necks, the long-lost Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) returns to lay claim on the crown that will give him dominion over the army; the now-grown Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and his otherworldly compatriots at the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense have no choice but to stop him.

Already filled to the brim with a certain twisted beauty, you reach the first snag in this scenario when you realize that this series already began with a creature that was destined to destroy the Earth; Hellboy is “the son of the Fallen One,” we are told, brought into our world during World War II to eventually bring forth Armageddon. Even more so than the original film—which attacked such concepts even more directly—“Hellboy II” is about a being, preordained to fulfill his role as the Antichrist, struggling to be seen as a human being, with every fault and folly that comes with that. It’s the story of the God who became Man and did his best to do the right thing with that dual-identity; indeed, the film fosters a fascinating sense of sympathy for the devil by implying that there’s just as much impossible pressure in being labeled the Destroyer as there is in being labeled the Creator. It’s nothing less than a rumination-through-reversal of popular Christian theology, and doesn’t stop there; it may very well be tackling the idea of how theology itself has evolved, heralding the return of gods and supernatural beings that were long abandoned as obsolete superstition.

It all goes back to the very idea of being human, and the attempt to understand where we came from and where we’re going. Possessing an impossible grasp on that pain and strife (indeed, the menagerie of mystical creatures of the subconscious—both here and in “Pan’s Labyrinth”—seem to be borne from the attempt to reconcile ugly feelings), del Toro is almost gentle in how he describes mankind’s predisposition for greed and self-destruction—first by stating that dishonor is simply locked in the nature of those who cannot transcend mortal bounds; second by presenting a scene in which Hellboy is forced to destroy a monstrous “forest god,” the last of its kind, who leaves a trail of beauty and life as it shuffles off the mortal coil. It’s a sad, heartbreaking moment that rings a death knell for the natural world but nevertheless refuses to lay blame on Man the Destroyer; it’s just another entry point in the long, brutal, perhaps inevitable fight for evolution.

Ultimately, these ideas all come to a devastating head when the major players are forced to make impossible decisions by film’s end, and ultimately choose to let themselves, and the rest of the world, burn before harm should come to the people they love. There’s something paradoxically optimistic about these moments, however—the search for a diamond in the rough that finally lands on something inarguably wonderful and untarnished. Take it with “WALL•E” and “The Dark Knight” as films that foster a ray of hope despite all indications of nihilistic chaos; the fact that one should be able to locate these themes in an exciting, mainstream superhero flick is just another indication that superheroes have entered the pop lexicon as modern-day mythology—and, it should go without saying, nothing short of astounding.