'Hellboy II: The Golden Army' (PG-13)(out of four)

What's so addictive about the "Hellboy" films is the feeling that all the stodgy rules of the superhero genre are being broken, tossed aside and rewritten in front of our eyes -- not all that different from what "Hancock" tried, but failed, to do a week ago.

Based on the comics by Mike Mignola, one learns all he needs to know about the "Hellboy" universe in realizing that its hero is a misplaced demon baby, complete with horns and tail, that was brought into our dimension by a team of rogue Nazis seeking a supernatural upper hand during World War II.

He isn't only an antihero; he might just be the Antichrist, and it's his gung-ho, street-smart, too-cool-for-school attitude that makes this universe so giddily peculiar. He isn't just a static force of good or evil, just a blue-collar working guy who knows how to take on the ghouls and goblins.

In the first "Hellboy," which was released four years ago, we saw the way that nurture prevailed over nature. Adopted and raised by a professor to serve as a super-secret agent in a classified department of the American public, Hellboy (Ron Perlman) became mankind's ultimate savior against the dark forces of the supernatural world.

But in "Hellboy II," the "Golden Army" mentioned in the title isn't composed of demons, or monsters, but is instead commanded by a wondrous Prince Nuada (Luke Goss). We learn the whole convoluted backstory in an initial flashback, which sounds more like something from "Lord of the Rings." Long ago, in a bid to fight back against humanity, a race of creatures existing deep within the forests fashioned a massive, unstoppable army of golden machines. But at the last second, a truce is struck with mankind and it was agreed that man would get the cities, while these other forces would get their free run over nature.

The drama in "Hellboy II" seems ripped straight from the pages of "The Chronicles of Narnia." Now that humans have pillaged the earth, Nuada is committed to resurrecting the Golden Army and taking control of the planet, and Hellboy and his team of freakish superheroes will set out to stop him at every turn.

Ah, but not so fast. This is no ordinary clashing of the titans, and director Guillermo del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth") asserts from the very beginning that this will not be a familiar journey down the road of a swords-and-spears epic. Opening up with a scene set in a secret government installation, we are plunged into the boring, day-to-day life of Hellboy and his cohorts. He tries to irritate his boss, Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor), he cracks jokes with his right-hand fish-man Abe Sapien (Doug Jones), and he finds himself tiptoeing around an angry girlfriend, Liz (Selma Blair), who can turn her body into a raging inferno.

As much as Hellboy seems out of place in the role of hero, so does this scene seem out of place in the middle of an action adventure epic, and that's what makes "Hellboy II" such a wild ride. It keeps taking left turns, making wisecracks and going for the silly punch line.

One of the film's biggest surprises is its angry depiction of humans. As Hellboy and his comrades must repeatedly run out into civilization to take on the warriors and agents of the Golden Army, we come to realize that the human race is only in danger because of their greedy destruction of the planet. And the New York City crowds don't hail Hellboy as their savior, but instead mock him for his looks. It's enough to wonder if humans deserve saving.

There are sequences of "Hellboy II" that rely a little too heavily on computer effects, as our hero must shoot down a neverending army of robots -- sequences that don't seem so much original as derivative. But then there are scenes of such originality and imagination -- such as the discovery of a troll market under the Brooklyn Bridge -- that make the journey instantly memorable and magical.

It's almost as if "Hellboy II" is proving that it can do two things simultaneously: Fulfill its superhero requirements and then shift gears into something more compelling, creative fantasy adventure. And it's here where del Toro, one of the most creative directors working today, proves his grit. Just as he did with the dark-but-giddy "Blade II," and the bland-but-wondrous "Pan's Labyrinth," he treads the two worlds of "Hellboy II" with skill and grace.

He can go epic, but then go quirky. He can give us a swordfight, but then imagine a whole underground universe of freaks. Heck, he can alternate between trolls and office politics, between a gorgeous sequence involving a giant plant attacking the Big Apple, and a genuine melodrama involving a demon man struggling with domestic issues.

What a trip.