Well, it has taken him more than four years, but director Guillermo del Toro has delivered a sequel that was well worth waiting for.

"Hellboy II: The Golden Army" almost didn't get made, what with studio problems and passing on other projects to get this one complete, finally. Del Toro turned down directing Will Smith's "I Am Legend" last year and even the much-anticipated "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," due out later this year. Director Peter Jackson (the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy) even approached del Toro, who promptly turned down "Halo" (due out next year) so he could direct this sequel. When one is committed, one is committed.

He will, however, be directing "The Hobbit," which is the prequel to Jackson's trilogy, due out in 2011.

So, what is so special about "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" anyway? It's very special to del Toro, who is a huge gothic-novel and comic-book fan. "Hellboy" was based on a comic-book character created by Mike Mignola, and del Toro has written the screenplay along with Mignola to make sure he got it right.

What del Toro has done as both writer and director is lift the imagination from reading those works and superimposing them on the screen.

He's also a huge fan of monsters, and it shows in some of his past works. The fantasy-reality blend of "Pan's Labyrinth" (which he also wrote) earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay and an Oscar win in the cinematography department. His themes are timeless, no matter what genre: exploring our fears, loneliness and uncertainty, an area that taps into del Toro's past as well.

Ron Perlman (who also passed on other projects to be in del Toro's sequel) reprises his role as Hellboy, the overly buffed-out, big, red Satan-looking monster who proves that looks can be deceiving, fighting off creatures even more heinous-looking than him, while at the same time bickering with his pregnant pyrokinetic girlfriend, Liz Sherman (Selma Blair).

Sometimes, the more things change, the more they do, in fact, stay the same. His dialogue is dry, even in the most intense of situations, and actually down-to-earth (in more than one way) given his superpowers. That's one of the aspects I liked about this flick: The lead characters are real actors and not just some CGI knockoff. It's hard to tell at first when all you see is tons of makeup and other goop covering them, but real beings they are.

More believable, and more like the comic book, too. It just cracks me up that you have these vicious-looking oddballs who seem more interested in trying to fix their respective love lives than saving the world - priorities.

And talk about your identity problem: Hellboy is not just from another world, but he's also a member of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, which includes Liz, the aquatic Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) and protoplasmic mystic and latest edition to the group, Johann Krauss (James Dodd).

There are more stunning creatures throughout this movie that make one wonder what kind of minds these filmmakers and writers really have. And these are the good guys!

The villains here (again, looks are way deceiving, so no prejudging) include the Dark Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) and a virtual army of unstoppable creatures that spells Armageddon for everybody else. Oh, yeah, there's Prince Nuada's twin sister, Princess Nuala, who, unlike her brother, is more into the peace movement and stands in her brother's way. She's played by Anna Walton, who could be Calista Flockhart's twin sister.

The storyline is pretty good, having one group of creatures battle it out with a leader trying to resurrect a golden army that the prince's father, the Woodland King, once led. Dare I say the plot here - in a sequel, no less - was actually better than the story in the original "Hellboy."

Even if you aren't a fan of the "Hellboy" comic book, the movie does well standing on its own, and, yes, it does help to have seen the original, but even if you haven't, the sequel here will get you up to speed. Just open your mind and let the fantasy in - that's all I have to say after watching this. You can count on a third installment soon, whenever del Toro finds the time to make it happen. He already has the support and loyalty of the entire cast.

- Howie Nave is host/manager of The Improv comedy club inside Harveys and reviews films for seven radio stations throughout Northern California and Nevada, including Sirius Radio. He hosts "Howie's Morning Rush" on Tahoe's KRLT radio, and you can see his film reviews on RSN. For past reviews, blogs and audio clips, visit www.HowieNave.com.