Guillermo del Toro, perhaps the most visually inventive filmmaker working today, directs this follow-up adaptation of Mike Mignola’s comic. The film focuses on Red’s troubled relationship with Liz (Selma Blair) and an impending war between an ancient civilization of elves and the human world.

The art direction is stunning, but ultimately, the plot comes up a little short.

Grade: B+

Hellboy II: The Golden Army is currently available.