Hellboy, the definitive Superhero movie, not without flaws

Rating: Null/10 (30 March 2004)

I have to start out with the one bad thing before I can get to the good. In the beginning of the movie, there was not an even exposition for all the characters, Broom and Hellboy and Rasuptin and the baddies got the biggest exposition, while Liz Sherman's was satisfying but the human in the film, the audience's POV, Agent Myers was given almost nothing! I read all this Bio material on the Hellboy site for him, that del Toro wrote, but none of that was in the movie at all, so his character felt weak. Also, his short-lived romance with Liz started off way to fast with them just going out, no character interaction barely at all. Anyway, although these things weaken the film, overall it was brilliant. The actors gave great performances, with Perlman disappearing into the Hellboy character, and everyone else giving remarkably subtle, not over-the-top performances that fit their characters. Also, the movie was not Villain-centric, a la the Batman films, very centered on Hellboy and his team at the BPRD, which gave the film a unique strength, seperating it from other films in this genre. Also, great humor given in zingy one-liners by Perlman delivered perfectly, and fight scenes that don't distract, but are adventurous and inventive, with barely noticeable Visual effects, that don't pull you out of the Hellboy world. The monsters were fantastic looking and so was all of Liz's fire emanating from her body. I think this film really stuck to the source material all the way, although I don't remember Liz being in Seed of Destruction at all, and she did feel a little tacked on in the ending. Anyway, Perlman really is the show stealer here, followed by Abe Sapien's character voiced by David Hyde Pierce and performed by a really talented stunt man/mime(really fantastic looking, perhaps the most beautiful creature committed to film).Conceptually beautiful and obviously a milestone for Guillermo del Toro, Hellboy won't soon be forgotten as it is a true testament in Superhero cinema.