SO pleased to finally see Hellboy II this week. Sure, there's a lot of worthy reasons to see the film, Pan's Labyrinth mastermind Guillermo del Torro directing and all that.... Actually, that's the only worthy reason. The rest is just nonsense. And as such, long live Hellboy!

As a piece of fantasy fiction, Hellboy (parts I and II both) is unique. Despite an argument for the (actually rather clever) scientific and mythological grounds of some of the storylines it follows, it knows it's daft, and, armed with that knowledge, allows itself to do wonderful things.

Batman strains under the weight of the responsibility of the batsuit. Heath Ledger, rest his brilliant Joker soul, was playing for dark laughs, not comedy. Iron Man was possibly a bit too Hollywood and knowing. X Men, Spiderman, Superman, Hulk and the Fantastic Four were... well, who knows, they didn't seem interesting at all, didn't watch 'em. What Hellboy has going for it is it knows there's humour to be had in its shamelessly ridiculous set up.

For starters, neither Hellboy movie has tried to get us to suspend disbelief that the superhero thing could really happen to one of us as we were accidentally going about our daily business, and as such it can immerse itself into levels of fantasy, and ridiculousness, most other films of the genre can't really afford.

The main character is an adopted demon, who sands down his devil horns to fit in with the human race and loves kittens. He has an (ahem) fulfilling relationship with a girl who can set herself on fire at will, and their best pal is an intellectual amphibian called Abe Sapien with a secret soft spot for Barry Manilow (more of that later). They are kept under no semblance of control by none other than US comic legend Jeffrey Tambor, and they're out to fight, in the sequel anyway, Luke Goss! Off of Bros!

(He actually does a damn good job as it happens. He plays a fantastic, fully fleshed-out baddie. And is hot. But the Bros connection is momentarily funny all the same for Brit audiences.)

Hellboy has action, horror, romance, but never, ever shirks on the possibility of a good gag. What could be one of the most irresistibly memorable scenes in cinema this year (although it won't be winning any Oscars) is the one where Hellboy and Abe have a few beers and nurse their broken hearts with a bit of Bazza Karaoke.

Hellboy is laugh out loud funny because it wants to be, because it knows it should be. Sometimes you can see the joke coming a mile off, or something hilarious can just come out of nowhere - either way, the humour is brilliantly crafted.

Going back to Goss, here's a quote that might sum it up nicely: "But one thing I've learned is that you have to have the courage to be understood or ridiculed, and, either way, not to give a shit. Of course, being understood is more pleasant.

"I've been used to both in my career, believe me, so it's nothing that I am afraid of any more."

Guillermo wrote the part for him after all, but fair plays to him. Sounds like he got the Hellboy ethos right down.

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