As a youngster, Broom tells Hellboy a story of a time when the earth was the shared domain of man, beast and magical beings. They lived together until man greedily took more and more of the earth for himself. In response, the elf king ordered the creation of a massive golden army of soldiers that could be controlled only through a special crown. When the magical beings and the humans eventually formed a truce, the crown was split into three pieces, and the humans were given a piece to ensure that the army never returned.

But the king's son, the vengeful Prince Nuada (Goss), has never forgotten the crimes against his people. He's spent all this time in exile, plotting to take back the earth. When the third piece of the crown goes up for auction, he takes his chance to steal it, unleashing a swarm of nasty little creatures called tooth fairies, who feed on teeth and bone. No one is left alive at the auction house when the agents of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (B.P.R.D.) arrive to assess the situation.

As for those agents, they have a few problems of their own. Hellboy (Perlman) is going through a rough patch with his fire-wielding girlfriend, Liz Sherman (Blair), and he's been itching to go public despite the warnings of his government handler, Tom Manning (Tambor). When he makes a grand entrance on a busy street in New York, a new by-the-book supervisor is brought in to keep the team in line, a brilliant German scientist called Johann Krauss who exists as a protoplasmic entity in a special containment suit.

The team eventually learns of Prince Nuada's plans, thanks to his twin sister, Princess Nuala (Walton), who forms an attachment with B.P.R.D. agent Abe Sapien (Jones). She has the final piece of the crown, but it won't be long before her brother comes to claim it. Unless he is stopped, he'll use the crown to wield the golden army and wage war on all mankind. Sounds like a job for Hellboy.

An improvement on the original

Genre fans have known for years that director Guillermo del Toro is a rare talent who brings a distinct, imaginative style to every film he directs. But it took an Oscar nomination for the dark fantasy film Pan's Labyrinth to earn him overdue recognition in Hollywood circles less familiar with his work. He's now taken that acclaim to heart and pushed his style even further into the fantastic with the second Hellboy film.

There's a confidence in Hellboy II that wasn't as evident in the original. Complex scenes like the busy, fanciful troll market and the street fight with the forest god show a richness of detail and an ambitious scale that demonstrate del Toro's growth as a director. From the simplistic animated puppet soldiers in the opening sequence to the inner sanctum of the Angel of Death, del Toro adeptly walks the line between the beautiful and the grotesque. He genuinely loves these characters and this world, and that affection shows in every frame.

There's more character development and genuine humor in this film as well. Some of the comedy takes the form of witty banter, some of it is slapstick, and some is more subtle and ironic, but there are plenty of amusing moments for every taste. It's fun to see the B.P.R.D. team in action, whether they're fighting with the bad guys or with each other. And watching a drunken Hellboy and Abe bond through a Barry Manilow tune is a moving experience not soon forgotten (but just in case, the song provides a whimsical background to the end credits). The gruffly charming Perlman was always a good choice for Hellboy, and he continues to prove his affinity for the big guy whose heart is as big as his giant stone fist.

The film does have some missteps, however. It's needlessly long, and it drags in spots, especially in the prolonged action scenes. The end of the final battle is a foregone conclusion to anyone paying attention, and that makes it that much harder to wait for the inevitable to unfold. And del Toro's dialogue doesn't always flow smoothly off the tongue, either. But what the film lacks in pacing and verbal mastery, it makes up for in visual artistry and spectacle.