So many cogs

Rating: 4/10 (8 May 2016)

The Nazis are up to their old occult tricks again, using magick to try and open a portal and unleash ancient gods upon the Earth. When the allied forces intervene, all the Nazis manage to release from their inter-dimensional gateway is a red skinned, demon-child, who grows up to become Hellboy, an indestructible, cigar-chomping hero fighting the forces of evil for the FBI.
Guillermo Del Toro directed this adaptation of the Dark Horse comic-book, meaning that it's perfect for those who enjoy an excess of the following in their movies: the dark, clockwork creations, leather, rusty stuff, water, steam-punk, cogs (running the gamut from teeny-tiny to f***ing enormous), Nazis, CGI Lovecraftian monsters, magick, and jokey one-liners. Unfortunately, Del Toro seems so intent on getting the basic ingredients and aesthetic style for Hellboy precisely how he wants that he forgets all about telling a decent story: his film suffers from a leaden pace, a weak plot full of clichés (one of those story lines that feels like it's being made up on the fly), and zero chemistry between dull characters.
On the plus side, the makeup used to transform Ron Perlman into Hellboy is impressive, and although the use of old school animatronic effects stick out like a sore thumb amidst all of the CGI, I enjoyed the resurrected Russian corpse with the noose around its neck. The rest is strictly for Del Toro fan-boys only.