Hellboy
(2004)
review by Big McLargehuge

Wow, was this fun!

Well written, well acted, and lots and lots of well filmed action means Hellboy enters the growing class of comic book inspired movies that not only don’t suck, but manage to entertain both fans of the source material and casual film viewers alike.

I hadn’t even heard of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy comic until the film opened, and I’ve seen nary a panel, but I was completely swallowed by the universe where Hellboy takes place.

We begin in 1941 where an elite unit of the newly formed Paranormal Research Department interrupts a group of Nazi’s attempting to open a portal and release the Seven Gods of Destruction who will destroy the world and allow the strange pairing of Adolph Hitler and Grigori Rasputin to rebuild the world in their image.

We meet the main villains here, Rasputin (of course, a near immortal), his Nazi girlfriend Ilsa, and Kroenen a Nazi assassin in a creepy mask. Only one thing makes it through the short-lived portal is a little red demon baby with a stone hand. Professor Broom, the leader of the Paranormal Research Department, tames the little fellow with a Baby Ruth bar. The squad names it Hellboy.

Cut to modern times. Broom (John Hurt) is dying of cancer. He hires John Myers (Rupert Evans) right out of Quantico to act as organizational head and babysitter of the now much larger Hellboy as the Paranormal Research Department prowls the night to deal with scary demonic monsters.

As Hurt says, “There are things that go bump in the night, and we are the ones who bump back”. Broom introduces Myers to the other special members of the Paranormal Research Department, Abe Sapien, a fish-man born the day Abe Lincoln was assassinated, and Hellboy (played BEAUTIFULLY by Ron Perlman). Hellboy, we learn, ages much slower than we do and although he’s something like 60 years old has the personality and maturity of someone barely 20.

Hellboy, we learn, pines for the absent Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), a pyrokinetic convalescing in a mental institution. They have a tumultuous relationship, she wants to be truly normal, and knows she can’t. Hellboy loves her, but his freakish appearance and level of maturity, put him at odds with her desire. Hellboy wants Myers to bring Liz back.

Set against the personal stories are problems within the department, bureaucrat and Dr. Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor), the public face of the shadowy group wants Hellboy off the street. Hellboy, for what it’s worth, is a legend among the regular population like Bigfoot of the Loch Ness Monster.

Once Ilsa and Kroenen revive Rasputin in modern times they immediately begin restarting their plans to free the Seven Gods of Destruction. To do this they free the first Hell Hound from bondage in the local museum of natural history.

What follows is 132 minutes of action set pieces, punchy dialogue (some of it REALLY excellent), character development, and romance leading to the final showdown with Rasputin.

Del Toro knows how to film an action movie, (see Blade 2 if you don’t believe me) and demonstrates a depth of knowledge and love for the Hellboy property such that he refuses to short change the visual style to fit the movie model. The film looks like panels taken from a comic book.

The acting is universally excellent, I especially loved Ron Perlman as Hellboy. For some reason he seems to do much better work when hidden behind ornate costumes. Selma Blair is beautiful and vulnerable as Liz, and provides a nice counter to Myer’s naiveté. As for CGI characters Abe Sapien is one of the best brought to screen. Abe is listed as being played by Doug Jones at the IMDB, but many, many, many scenes can’t be anything but CGI. I couldn’t tell difference between CGI and non-CGI scenes. Abe lived and breathed (through gills obviously) for me.

The CGI action sequences are very good and shot to emphasize the power and speed of Hellboy and the Hellhounds. Most of the action stuff is CGI but it doesn’t call attention to itself, and rather lets the audience see the big picture of the fight sequences. When Del Toro needs Hellboy to speak, be inserts a close up of Ron Perlman. It works really well. Also, though all of the film takes place at night, or in the subterranean tunnels beneath the city, the visuals never lapse into murk so common with CGI.

The Seven Gods of Destruction, and Hell Hounds, are pretty awesome too. Del Toro models his monsters on the descriptions made popular by H. P. Lovecraft and look like they popped out of the pages of the In the Mountains of Madness. They all have huge thick tentacled bodies, hundreds of cold-dead eyes, and (in the case of the Seven Gods) the slow lumbering movement that just screams “unearthly creature”.

I saw Hellboy with erstwhile movie pal, and comics aficionado, Gristle McThornbody who assures me that Hellboy was absolutely accurate to the look, feel, and dialogue of the comic. Like I said, I’ve never seen the book, yet I fell instantly into the film. The film’s sense of humor helps increase the accessibility and several times I was happily laughing out loud.

It’s great. See if before it leaves the theaters.