'Hellboy II' less than golden

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Perhaps the worst thing Guillermo del Toro could have done to himself was make "Pan's Labyrinth."After his brilliant 2006 fantasy won three Oscars (out of six nominations), the Mexican writer-director became more than just a creative outsider in Hollywood. He became a player, with the obligatory excesses and expectations.The alarm bells you may be hearing are for the fate of "The Hobbit" and "The Hobbit 2," which del Toro has been tapped to direct.For now, the case against del Toro is on screen in "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," the sequel to his 2004 adaptation of Mike Mignola's comic book "Hellboy." Once again, the writer-director, who developed the story with Mignola, is guilty of churning out hackneyed plot lines and cheap sentiment. And while fanboys will gush over the film's fantastical creatures, their numbers are overwhelming, and many of them look like leftovers from "Pan's Labyrinth."The shopworn tale has an underworld prince, Nuada (Luke Goss), itching to break an ancient truce with humans. He enlists an assortment of unsavory beasts to help him.Meanwhile, at the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, lovable demon Hellboy, a/k/a Red (Ron Perlman), is having relationship woes with his pyrokinetic girlfriend, Liz (Selma Blair). Red can't shake his sloppy ways and immaturity.He also hungers for gratitude from the public he protects from inhuman beings, but bureaucrat Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor) does his best to keep his top-secret team of crime fighters, which also includes fish-man Abe Sapien (Doug Jones), secret.It's clear early on that Red will have to have a showdown with Nuada, who's scheming to take control of a legendary mechanized golden army. But along the way, he and his pals must battle hungry tooth fairies, trolls, a rigid new team member, Johann Krauss (body by John Alexander and James Dodd, voice by Seth MacFarlane), and others.Meanwhile, Nuada has a gentle twin, Nuala (Anna Walton), who intrigues Abe.To disguise the recycled plot, del Toro ups the number of one-liners and puns. The best joke regards a troll baby. There's also a funny segment in which Red and Abe try to drown their romantic sorrows.Abe's role, by popular demand, has been beefed up since the first film, and Jones makes him charming. Perlman and Blair are in repeat mode. Goss turns out to be the most sympathetic character (as he was in del Toro's "Blade 2").Del Toro clearly loves his creatures, but the prosthetics stifle emotions and life, and the CGI golden army, when it finally appears, feels like nothing but pixels.In a summer of populist comic-book flicks, "Hellboy II" is for fanboys only.Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and some language.2.5 stars (out of five).(Contact Knoxville News Sentinel film critic Betsy Pickle at pickle(at)knews.com.)