Story: With a huge fan-base fueled by the original Mike Mignola comic books and the DVD of the semi-hit 2004 film, anticipation runs high for Universal’s all-out sequel, Hellboy II: The Golden Army – especially in light of director and ultimate fanboy Guillermo Del Toro’s Oscar winning masterpiece Pan’s Labyrinth. But beware, this new Hellboy considerably ramps up the body count, triples the creatures and steps up the volume. As you may recall Red, a.k.a. Hellboy (Ron Perlman), was born in 1955, the apparent result of a unique mating ritual between the Nazis and the Devil. As years went by, he escaped his grim pedigree by becoming a reluctant cigar-chomping force for good. Hellboy II opens with a flashback in which his nominal father-figure Professor Broom (John Hurt) reads him a Christmas Eve bedtime story about the creation of the Golden Army, something SO evil, it had to be deep-sixed in a deal The Crown cut with the human race. Cut to a half century later, and this bedtime info comes in handy as Red is now an employee of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense where he works with pyrotechnic girlfriend Liz (Selma Blair) and fish-man Abe Sapien (Doug Jones). Things heat up when he faces off with the evil Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), who is looking to take over, um, the world. This all leads to lots of confrontation and eventually Ireland – home of the Golden Army and site of the inevitable battle to once again make the world a safer place.

Review: That kitten-loving, flame-retardant, kick-ass anti-hero is back – bigger, badder and redder than ever. Hellboy fans will be in heaven; everyone else will be in … you guessed it.

Acting: Whatever success Hellboy – and now it’s sequel has – is at least partially due to Perlman’s dry, funny interpretation of the role. This is a butt-ugly, comic book hero with a rich sense of humor and a deep love for kittens and cigars. Perlman plays it big and wry for all its worth. Best (non-CGI) sequence in the film has the drunken Red teaming up with bluer-than-blue Abe Sapien for an abysmal but high-spirited rendition of Barry Manilow’s “Can’t Smile Without You” – a karaoke singer’s dream. Of course, Red’s main gig is mayhem – creating it and ending it – which Perlman tackles with great aplomb. Blair returns in style as the fiery (literally) girlfriend, who may have some blessed news. Also back is the aforementioned wonderful Doug Jones as Abe (this time handling his own vocals) and Jeffrey Tambor, perfectly cast as their flustered boss. Goss is evil-personified as the bad boy Prince, although he sounds like one of those dubbed actors straight out of a cheapie ’50s sword and sandal epic.

Direction: Del Toro, whose imagination for all things fantastical, seems to love spreading new monsters all over his own unique cinematic fantasy lands. Although the multitude of visuals almost become an assault – and even tiring after a while – they are technically, at least, a breathtaking achievement. His “cast of creatures” include the ominous Angel of death and Nuada’s army of helpers (a gross ape-like lieutenant and singular cockroaches among them). They are fun but so outrageous they don’t approach the truly haunting alternate world he created in Pan’s Labyrinth. Del Toro’s command of the camera is equally impressive and the battle/fight scenes are staged for the full-on visceral intended effect. It’s an ambitious, if a bit over-cooked, Hellboy sequel. Despite its flaws, Del Toro disciples will almost certainly be delighted with what he has managed to get on screen but converts may be few and far between. And what fun the director will have as he heads into Lord of the Rings territory by taking on The Hobbit.

Bottom Line: Hollywood.com rated this film 2 1/2 stars.

Synopsis: Eddie Murphy is back playing multiple roles in a family comedy which would seem irresistible. Actually, Meet Dave is a germ of a good idea. Unfortunately, the “germ” didn’t spread into the final script, which has our man Ed literally playing a spaceship that lands in New York City. Inside Dave, as the ship is quickly named, are a group of tiny space explorers – a kind of Starship Enterprise meets Fantastic Voyage – who land on the gargantuan Earth in order to take our resources for their own planet’s survival. The ship’s commander (also played by Murphy) calls all the shots from his seat somewhere south of Dave’s throat, while other crew members work the various appendages and body functions. The one-joke premise has Dave working undercover as a human being, wandering the streets of the Big Apple, mangling the language while trying to imitate the people he meets along the way in order to go undetected. A semi-love interest turns up when a young single mother, Gina (Elizabeth Banks), accidentally hits him with her car. This incident leads to a relationship with her and son Josh (Austyn Myers), who immediately bonds with Dave – for some strange reason. But through these encounters with humans, Dave’s crew discovers feelings and emotions they’ve never had – and all hell breaks loose.

Review: Eddie Murphy INSIDE Eddie Murphy? Interesting concept. Too bad Meet Dave isn’t as funny as the premise.

Acting: Outside of the occasional supporting role, as with his superb Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe-winning work in Dreamgirls, Eddie Murphy dominates an Eddie Murphy movie by playing multiple roles. In Meet Dave, he surprisingly only takes on two – as the robotic Dave and the commander who controls him – and underplaying the roles for a nice change of pace. The salsa nightclub where Dave and Gina tear up the dance floor (as the mini-crew inside his head give him instant dance lessons) is a highlight. Portraying a wacky alien is certainly irresistible, but Eddie Murphy plays his captain more Star Trek’s Spock than goofball, almost making Meet Dave worth the price of admission. Almost. Banks is not called on to be much more than pleasant in her earth-bound role but acquits herself nicely in the shadow of her imposing leading man. Myers is cute as the son but nothing more. Best among the supporting cast are some of the crew members, played by Gabrielle Union and particularly Ed Helms and Kevin Hart, who don’t let their lack of height keep them from joining Eddie Murphy in getting most of what few solid laughs there are to be found in Meet Dave.

Direction: Director Brian Robbins – who guided Eddie Murphy through the fat suit-centric comedy Norbit and hit box office pay dirt despite the critical drubbing – teams up with his star again. Success begets success in Hollywood, so it was natural for them to re-team on another gimmick comedy. The good news is Robbins, a former actor himself ( TV’s “Head of the Class”) knows how to get out of the way and let Eddie be Eddie – or whoever he happens to be in any given scene. Thankfully, Robbins also encourages the rest of the cast to underplay their bits, keeping Meet Dave out of the overly broad comedic realm most of these films fall into these days. The problem for Robbins, Eddie Murphy and company is the film seems oddly flat and never quite matches a promising concept that must have worked well on the page. Meet Dave is passable family fare, occasionally even inspired, but in the end it remains earthbound.

Bottom Line: Hollywood.com rated this film 2 stars.