Hellboy 2 is something out of that incredibly rare breed of film, the kind where a sequel is actually better than its predecessor. The first Hellboy is not actually a bad film, but it's hardly a masterpiece of contemporary cinematography. It conjures up images of 1950's B-movies, although it's admittedly a fair few steps above those in overall quality and, of course, special effects.

The Golden Army, however, is simply a very good film. It's clever, witty, captivating, moderately sentimental where it should be and, above all, incredibly beautiful. Scenes like the Troll Market, which is a perfect cross between your standard marketplace, and a fantasy world. It's loud, crowded, confusing, and charming, and although it's filled with creatures seemingly spawned from dream or nightmare alike, most of which do not even speak English or, in fact, any human language at all, the "Busy market on a saturday afternoon" vibe is present all throughout it.

Or the subterranean city underneath the Giant's Causeway in Ireland (On a side note, go there if you get the chance. It's very pretty.), which is completely convincing as a once-grand city, now lost to death and decay. You can almost smell the dust, or hear the echoing of your voice in the dead streets.

Of course, aestheticism is but one part of a film, but rest assured, the story is just as good. In a fast-paced 2 hours, we are taken through a story of elves out for revenge, human-fish hybrids finding love, demon spawn on a mission to save his love, employees' disagreements with their superiors, jealousy, friendship, nostalgia, and of course a lot of (once again) visually stunning fights.

All in all, I recommend you watch Hellboy because it's good entertainment, and it will give you some background information you don't really need, but makes the second one just a bit more clearer. Watch Hellboy 2, however, because it's an amazing film.