Hellboy 2 is the sequel (master of the obvious me) to Hellboy, one of the benchmarks for 5 on our review scale. So lets see how it does...

The BPRD (Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense) crew are back to counter another paranormal threat to the world. The team consists of the titular Hellboy (Ron Perlman), Abraham Sapien (Doug Jones), Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) and Tom Manning (Jeffery Tambor) overseeing the chaos. In addition we gain Johann Krauss (voiced by Family Guy's Seth MacFarlane) as a newcomer put in charge of the team. Professor "Broom" (John Hurt) returns briefly for plot exposition. Obviously the fact that he's not in it much is linked heavily with his death in the last film.

The opposition was Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), doing the I'm ludicrously good in a fight thing, and his shambling, um, thing Wink (grunted by Brian Steele). The plan is to reassemble the crown of BethMora to take control of the titular Golden Army to rid the earth of the scourge of humanity, returning it to unspoilt paradise. Think elves set on genocide and you're in the right area.

Genocide being a bit of a contentious issue the royals are divided on the subject with Princess Nuala (Anna Walton) being fairly unhappy with the idea.

The style of the film is similar to the original, with the same irreverence and Men-in-Black-ish feel. The character mix is varied and often discordant which makes them much more beliveable. The pacing is good, and the fight sequnces are well done. Krauss feels like a shallow character overall but I think this is due to the others having had a film more backstory. MacFarlane I think fits in well and does a good job.

Overall, a good sequel. It feels different, mainly because the bad guys are different, but the whole package is similar and still works well without being tired. Groundwork is laid for a sequel. As with the first, a film well worth watching.

Hellboy returns once more for this gothic action adventure romp from Guillermo del Toro who was behind the first film as well as the awesome Pans Labyrinth. It has a nice mix of the comedy elements as well as the fairly dark almost fairytale themes in the story, and the elements are well blended, it doesn't feel like it was shoe horned in like some films I could mention {cough}mummy3{/cough}.

The acting is good the characters have depth to them they are very human despite often not being so. Hellboy's longing for acceptance, Liz's worries about their relationship and need for some space, Abe's loneliness, even Manning with his desire to control Hellboy.

The art and sets are wonderful with their gritty dark gothic feel, the action and CGI are very good. It lives up to the previous film and I think surpasses it in someways. It's a solid action film with a good plot interesting characters and a very nice thread of comedy to offset it just enough. Highly recommended.