Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Universal/Relativity)
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army" (Universal/Relativity) chronicles the further adventures of the hulking vermillion demon, again embodied by Ron Perlman, who's really just a blue-collar guy who likes candy bars, TV and singer Al Green.

Summoned to earth in 1944 by Nazis seeking infernal aid for the Axis cause, the infant Hellboy -- ostensibly the offspring of the devil -- was raised by Professor Trevor Broom (John Hurt), an academic adviser to the Allied mission that foiled the operation. The Catholic Broom believed in Hellboy's goodness, a faith vindicated by that film's climax.

In "Hellboy II," Red, as the adult Hellboy is called, continues to work for the same agency that employed his late father, as does his live-in girlfriend, Liz (Selma Blair), who possesses the unnerving ability to transform herself into a human blowtorch. Other returning characters are Red's FBI liaison, Agent Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor), and Abe Sapien (Doug Jones), the gentlemanly so-called aquatic empath. (He can discern the past and future of objects.)

Newly hired to supervise Red is gruff Dr. Johann Krauss (John Alexander/James Dodd, voice of Seth MacFarlane), a protoplasmic German mystic whose wispy vapors are given human form by a mask and containment suit.

The bureau's latest target is power-hungry, wraithlike Prince Nuada (Luke Goss). His apocalyptic goal is to revive a long dormant Golden Army of mechanical soldiers that could spell humanity's end. Allying herself with Red and his comrades, Nuada's virtuous twin sister, Nuala (Anna Walton), tries to prevent her brother from gaining control over them.

But any attack on Nuada also harms Nuala. This anomaly places Abe, who has fallen for her regal charms, in such a dilemma that his infatuation may jeopardize the mission.

Director and co-writer (with "Dark Horse" comic book creator Mike Mignola) Guillermo del Toro's bigger-budget follow-up to his own 2004 film features the same bantering humor, with unflappable Perlman efficiently doing what dirty deeds he must one moment, then getting all sentimental the next, even joining Abe for a lachrymose Barry Manilow singalong.

A scene in which Red improbably rescues a young mother's baby while fighting a Godzilla-size forest god called an "Elemental" recalls his gallantry with a box of kittens while fending off another fearsome creature in the earlier film. Here, as Red protectively cradles the child in one arm, standing precipitously on the "H" of a giant electrical "Hotel" sign, Nuada tempts him with the prospect of becoming a king should he switch sides, an offer that somewhat parallels the temptation of Jesus described in Chapter 4, Verses 8-9, of the Gospel of Matthew and Chapter 4, Verses 5-7, of the Gospel of Luke.

Again, this film climaxes with our heroes making an overseas journey, this time to fight the villains at Northern Ireland's Giants Causeway.

But the effects are more spectacular here, especially when the Elemental bursts upward through the asphalt of a crowded city street and later when a cluster of boulders startlingly take the form of a giant man. Additionally, the plot -- sans the World War II exposition -- is more efficient.

Here again, there's a good deal of Catholic imagery throughout, generally superficial, and a perceptible religious subtext. Thus Red's exercise of free will still trumps both his originally hellish nature and a prophecy that he will cause the destruction of the human race. In that crucial scene of Nuada tempting Red, moreover, a white neon cross glows behind.

That confrontation ended, the city saved from destruction, and the baby returned to its frantic mother, Red -- like Christ -- finds himself rejected and mocked by the very people he has come to serve. Along with its medieval bestiary and its Gothic atmosphere, this sequel touches on Tolkienesque themes of power and destiny, making del Toro -- employing the visual style of his "Pan's Labyrinth" -- a natural fit for the forthcoming adaptation of "The Hobbit."

Still, for all the Catholic flourishes, this is hardly the film "King of Kings," nor is Hellboy consistently saintly in all his worldly habits. Rather, it's fundamentally an action adventure with intense, noisy, though mostly bloodless violence and issues of language and off-screen sexual behavior that make it best for older viewers.

The film contains premarital cohabitation and pregnancy, moderate fantasy violence, a suicide, some crass language, a few mild oaths and an instance of sexual humor. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

--- Harry Forbes

Hancock (Columbia/Relativity)
Ultimately muddled action film in which a dyspeptic, alcoholic Los Angeles superhero (Will Smith), whose good deeds often lead to mayhem, finds the road to reform laid out for him by an idealistic PR executive (Jason Bateman) made bumpy by his deep attraction to his new friend's wife (Charlize Theron). With its clever premise and dizzying special effects, the first part of director Peter Berg's film works well enough but after one snappy plot twist bogs down in the murky mythology of its back story. Moderately intense fantasy action, partial rear nudity, some vulgar humor, occasional rough and much crude language, a profanity and an obscene gesture. (A-III, PG-13)

The Wackness (Sony Classics)
Offbeat coming-of-age drama -- set in 1994 New York to a hip-hop soundtrack -- about a pot-dealing high school graduate (Josh Peck) with a troubled home life who forms an unlikely friendship with his drug-addicted therapist (Ben Kingsley in a quirky change of pace) and falls in love with the shrink's promiscuous stepdaughter (Olivia Thirlby). Peck's fine performance is often affecting, and there is trenchant humor in the script, but the milieu of director-writer Jonathan Levine's film is mostly sordid and its objectionable elements and the permissiveness with which they are presented are problematic despite a solid moral thread and ultimately redemptive wrap-up. Pervasive rough language and some profanity, extensive drug dealing and use, nonmarital sexual encounters without nudity, brief rear and upper-female nudity elsewhere, masturbation, a suicide attempt and strong sexual talk. (O, R)

Harry Forbes is director and Mulderig is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. More reviews are available online at www.usccb.org/movies.