Hellboy 2: The Golden Army is the second outing for the comic book based movie by Guillero Del Toro. In this sequel, the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defence (BPRD) is called into action when an Elven Prince attempts to break a very ancient truce between humans and the mythical world.

Prince Nuada has become disenchanted with the greed of mankind and sets out to assemble the 3 pieces of the crown that would give him full command on the unstoppable Golden Army. One piece of the crown is held by man, one by his father the King of the Elves and one by his twin sister Princess Nuala.

The BPRD, consisting of Hellboy (Ron Perlman), the fire starter Liz (Selma Blair), the aquatic Abe Sabien (Doug Jones) and Johann Krauss (voiced by Family Guy’s Seth Macfarlane) set out to stop Prince Nuada before he can gather all 3 pieces of the crown and show mankind “why they were once afraid of the dark”.

As with most of his movies, director Del Toro gives us very beautiful and amazing visuals, using real costumes and effects, opting to only use CGI when absolutely necessary. This helps to make this fantasy movie feel real. Perlman, Blair and Jones fall right back into the same familiar characters, playing them at the same levels as they did in the first movie. The addition of Seth Macfarlane is a great one. His voice is so different than any of his characters that we’re used to that I did not know he voiced the character of Krauss until I saw his name in the credits. At first you find his character highly annoying, but as the movie goes on you see his character evolve to the point that he becomes likeable.

If you liked the first Hellboy, based on Mike Mignola’s comic book, you’ll enjoy Hellboy II. As with the first, this sequel is packed with action, humanity and comedy. As an avid comic book reader, I’m highly pleased with the quality of comic based movies that have come out in the last few years, and Hellboy II helps this trend continue. I give Hellboy 2 an 8 out of 10.