During the second world war, Hitler went in search of a dark and mystical power that would allow him to conquer all of mankind. So he opened a portal and before the Americans could close the portal, something had come through it - Hellboy.

Following his first film adventure, in which Rasputin tried to reopen the portal and bring hell to earth for some reason. Hellboy and his colleagues at the Bureau for paranormal research, including Abe Sapien (now no longer played by Niles from Frasier) and Liz (Selma Blair) - who can burst into flames set about protecting mankind from the things that go bump in the night.

Their latest trip takes them to the grisley scene of an auction where a swarm of particularly aggressive 'tooth fairies' have devoured everyone in the room. As they fight off the swarm they discover a seal, thought only to be a myth. It is a seal declaring war between the elves and mankind. One particular elven prince wants to raise the Golden Army because mankind has broken their agreement by destroying the Earth.

Hellboy, who has recently revealed himself to the press and has been greeted with fear and hatred, is torn between helping those who hate him or siding with the elves.

This is an odd film - but then so was the first in the series. I was annoyed that 'Niles' wasn't in this one - but then I guess this kind of film hardly does him credit. The storyline was coherent, but really far fetched. The reason for this was probably due to the Pans Labyrinth director who was ultimately responsible for many of the 'monsters', which were clearly of the same ilk.

I can't really say much else about this film. It was worth seeing but I guess that all depends on what you like. It is much the same as number one - with a very predictable ending. When compared to this year's greats like 'The Dark Knight', it was hardly likely to rate that highly.

If anything though, at least Selma Blair's acting was a tad more believable in this one.

see also:
Inception, The Dark Knight, Casino Royale, Mission Impossible III

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photo © Universal Pictures.