Hellboy II is more of the same, meaning it's neither better nor worse than the original.

Based on the dark horse comic book series, Ron Perlman returns as the red-faced superhero who drops one-liners and has a slugging percentage of well over 1,000.

That's right: Hellboy looks like a bad guy, but works for the good guys trying to stop world domination by a mythical prince who looks a lot like rocker Edgar Winter.

Hellboy fights crime alongside his flaming girlfriend, played by Selma Blair, and Abe Sapien, played by the limber Doug Jones, this time fighting a swarm of tooth fairies.

Hellboy II is directed with attention to creature feature detail by Guillermo del Toro. He also directed the brilliant Pan's Labyrinth . His latest isn't always logical, but — like The Hulk, only red — Hellboy welcomes a good fight.

Hellboy II is rated an intense, often irreverent PG-13, and doesn't pretend to be anything other than popcorn, cracker-jack entertainment.

It's good, but never great; fun, but could be so much better. Keep your sights set for average.

E-mail gcogill@wfaa.com