Hellboy II: The Golden Army: Review By Josh

Thanks to the combination of Mike Mignola's source material and Guillermo Del Toro's vivid imagination, the first Hellboy, while flawed, felt like something of a special film. And while the second film suffers from some of the same issues that the first did, most notably a plot that isn't reigned in tightly enough, it manages to at the same time improve on its predecessor by being funnier and more exciting. One of the strengths of the series is Ron Perlman's ballsy portrayal of the title character, a combination of Spiderman's wisecracking wit and Wolverine's badass attitude. In fact, he most closely resembles Bruce Campbell's Ash, which is a good thing in any universe.

Hellboy II has a serviceable plot, and manages to explore the somewhat odd romance between Hellboy and Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), though it does feel lazy at times and has at least one significant plot hole. That said, the movies is so enjoyable that it manages to be another successful summer movie and a successful comic book adaptation. They even manage to hint at a possibly very epic third film.