Directed by:
Guillermo del ToroScreenplay:
Guillermo del ToroCinematography:
Guillermo NavarroComposer:
Marco BeltramiCast:
Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Jeffrey Tambor, Karel Roden, Rupert Evans, Brian Steele, Doug Jones, John Hurt, Ladislav Beran, Corey Johnson, Brian Caspe (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Born in the flames of hell and brought to earth to perpetrate evil, Hellboy was rescued from sinister forces by the benevolent Professor Bruttenholm, who raised him to be a hero. In Dr. Bruttenholm's secret Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense (B.P.R.D.), Hellboy creates an unlikely family consisting of the telepathic "Mer-Man" Abe Sapien, and "Pyrokenetic" Liz Sherman, the woman he loves who can control fire. Hidden from the very society that they protect, they stand as the key line of defense against an evil madman who seeks to reclaim Hellboy to the dark side and use his powers to destroy mankind. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (12)
Hellboy is fine. It's got heart, charm, humor, a cool edge, a fantasy dimension, and you can feel that writer and director Guillermo del Toro made it with love. That said, it’s not his best film. There’s not enough action in it and the most important action scene, i.e. the last one, is surprisingly unimaginative and rushed. Not to mention the absence of overall dynamics and panache (Blade II was better in that respect), which are things that a comic-book movie shouldn’t be without. Unless, of course, it’s underpinned by more dramatic psychology (like X-Men 2), which Hellboy isn’t. Del Toro conceived Hellboy purely as light entertainment built on humor, likable heroes, the ugliness of the sleazy monsters and the magical atmosphere of “another world”. In terms of formula, he basically just interspersed relaxing scenes in which our heroes hang out in the laboratory with scenes in which they go after their enemies and kick some ass. Unfortunately, these two levels alternate for the whole two hours without anything major being resolved and we are left in suspense as to what will come next. Three and a half stars.
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Hellboy is quite likable, but not particularly outstanding, and it suffers from an undeveloped script and a weak finale. The undeveloped script, in this case, means that the evil is too feeble and incompetent, and the heroes don't exert themselves much in their struggle, leaving the audience wanting. On the other hand, the casting is appealing, with Ron Perlman fitting perfectly into the role of the demon just by his appearance (it seems they could have partially saved on a makeup artist), and Karel Roden evidently enjoying his portrayal of Rasputin. Some props and sets are visually interesting. It's slightly above average, leading to a 60% overall impression.
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Hellboy is a comic book Accenture exactly to my taste. It has a devilishly dark and sometimes perversely disgusting atmosphere, humor as black as a freshly filled grave and a hero so sympathetically unsympathetic that there’s nothing quite like it. The main winner of Guillermo Del Toro's film is Ron Perlman, whose mask creation surpasses everything I have seen so far in the comic book remake genre. Hellboy is a hero with a soul who doesn't have to define himself to the world through tons of explosions and fights... it's a little big poem about the eternal feud between hell power and good human aspects, which turns into something almost poetically tender in that big red body. The scenes where Hellboy strokes a kitten with his stone hand or eats cookies on the roof in the company of a nine-year-old boy, debating love with him, are the highlights of the film. Del Toro was able to properly balance the ratio of action and conversation, thus joining the commendable trend of X-Men 2. It's amazing how a movie about a horned monster managed to impress me... but not only that. The film was able to entertain me with well-crafted action sequences (which, however, are rather only above average and old-world nowadays), and it suggested an atmosphere to me that balances on the edge of black comedy and horror. It too bad that in the end the film loses some of the escalation and directorial cleverness with which it is conducted (with a slight exaggeration). Hellboy's world is very sympathetic and understandable to me, which is why I hope that "Red" does not end his brash journey with this film. It would be a pity if this muddy hellish relic doesn’t get a successor...
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Hellboy has huge potential, but the creators didn’t do a good job in transferring it to the screen. The greatest mistake is that they completely ignored the mysterious Gothic atmosphere that simply oozes out of the comic books. In terms of story this is an almost disrespectful mishmash and the only thing that saves the day is Ron Perlman in the title role of Hellboy himself. Add to that the rather sluggish pace, over-long running time and a lame finale. So the result is unfortunately a mediocre affair that can be watched once, but never again.
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An enjoyable film that gets more and more under my skin each time I watch it. Ron portrayed Hellboy exactly how I imagined him and the whole universe around him is just delicious. Abraham, Liz (Selma Blair's only sympathetic role)... everything fits together and forms a compact whole together with the second film. There is also, of course, the added bonus that the film features Karel Roden, who certainly deserves praise. Hellboy is just a guy who looks like a guy from hell and likes cats, beer, and his flammable half. It's good to watch both movies with this cool guy.
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Gallery (124)
Photo © 2004 Revolution Studios
![Hellboy - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/159/003/159003626_74cdfe.png)
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