Beginning with a prologue set in 1955, in which a young Hellboy is being read a bedtime story by his adoptive father, Professor Trevor Bruttenholm (John Hurt). He tells the young demon the story of a war between the human race and the kingdom of trolls, elves and fairies, with the elf king Balor building an indestructible, golden, mechanical army. Instead of going to war, a truce is brokered between the opposing factions, and the golden army has lain hidden ever since.

The action moves to the present day, where Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) has decided that the human race has broken the truce by continually building on forest land, which belongs to the fairy folk. Much to his fathers and sister Nuala's (Anna Walton) distress, Nuada vows to resurrect the Golden Army and wage war on mankind.

Enter Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and his fellow members of The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defence, including Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) and Hellboy's pyrokinetic girlfriend Liz Sherman (Selma Blair). They are joined by Teutonic, ectoplasmic investigator, Johan Krauss (James Dodd, voiced by Seth McFarlane).

The set peices are superb, the photography by Del Toro's usual cameraman, Guillermo Navarro, is flawless.

In one major sequence a New York street is ravaged by an Elemental Forest God, a fearsome, gigantic creature, all foliage and massive green tentacles. When Hellboy finally brings it down, the whole scene is transformed into a tableau of outstanding ethereal magnificence.
This is the mastery of Del Torro, his ability to instil the mundane and the extremes of the grotesque, with a stunning beauty. His imagining of the Angel of Death (also Doug Jones) is both terrifying and beautiful.
The script is littered with funny asides and there's even a touching, drunken rendition of Barry Manilows "I can't smile without you", to go along with the love stories that have developed.

My one very slight gripe is that the screenplay occasionally dips into silliness, but with everything else so brilliant, it's forgiveable.
The sheer imaginative sweep of the story makes it a must see for all moviegoers. This is what makes cinema the magical experience it should be.

I can't wait to see "The Hobbit" with Del Toro at the helm.