Hellboy

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... (30/09/2004)

"I'm fireproof. Not you." I understand that a person who hasn't had the pleasure of reading Hellboy on paper might not appreciate the movie as much. But trust me, it's perfect (although many, many things are changed and many, many things are left out)! As far as Ron Perlman is concerned - that's what you call the role of a lifetime.__P.S. The extended version contains rather cosmetic changes and improvements, but the scene with Rasputin's eyes is excellent. (20/09/2007)

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. (13/08/2004)

A visually captivating, but plot-wise somewhat overwrought breather that, given the premise, could have been better. The action sequences aren't great, the humour sometimes misses the mark and del Toro isn't very good when it comes to psychology. A lot is made up by the visuals, which are quite striking despite the average budget of 60 million, with decent effects (even if sometimes too computer-ey) and good make-up (Hellboy and especially Abe Sapien are simply awesome). The script didn't give Roden much space, but Perlman radiates charisma for a hundred lengths of his devil's tail. On the other hand, there is the very bland character of a young FBI agent who tries to woo Hellboy's girlfriend, but is otherwise completely useless. All in all, a film that entertained me on average and didn't resonate with me after I left the cinema. We’ll see with the sequel. (24/09/2004)

If it wasn’t for Ron Perlman in the role of his life, I would have a hard time understanding this movie. It is he and his immense charisma that give the whole film an unadulterated comic touch, interspersed not only with great catchphrases and action, but at times also with natural human concerns. As a true Hollywood superhero, Hellboy has it all: he's rugged, fearless, committed to goodness, oozing with dry humour and, most importantly, his heart is in the right place; simply great potential, which Guillermo del Toro exploits to the fullest, tailoring the script around Hellboy's characteristics. As a result, we don’t have a grand drama full of twists and turns and dark atmosphere as in Snyder's Watchmen, for example, but we are presented with a lovingly made fantasy diversion that, despite the story's shortcomings, still offers the best entertainment one could wish for in the genre. I was just a bit disappointed by the surprisingly unimaginative final action set-piece, I expected something more than what del Toro served us. But that doesn't change the fact that Ron Perlman is really cool and Karel Roden once again confirmed that as a villain he has hardly any competition. 3.5* (28/08/2012)