A highly over-looked movie that surpasses Van Helsing

Rating: 9/10 (17 May 2007)

Someone told me a long time ago that "Van Helsing" and "Hellboy" were in the same level of quality, saying they "both sucked". Well, that's a filthy lie. What you have here is a movie (based on a popular comic book of the same name) that does EVERYTHING that it seems "Van Helsing" slipped on. Don't get me wrong; I liked "Van Helsing", but let's face it, it wasn't the best movie ever and it lacked a lot of character development and an ending that was a bit of a cliffhanger (because you never find out what Van Helsing's past is), but "Hellboy" is another story.
The movie starts off during the end of WWII. It appears that Nazis have been meddling in something that Paranormal Specialist Dr. Broom doesn't like too much, dark magic. With the help of the notorious Resputin, along with some unnamed woman with a sledgehammer and, despite him being a Nazi, my favorite assassin, Alex Kronen, the blade-wielding gas-masked bad boy that you meet in the early part of the movie. In an attempt to awaken the seven gods of chaos, Resputin's plan is foiled by American soldiers, who are aided by Dr. Broom. After a cool looking gun fight, the portal that was built to reach the seven gods is destroyed, along with Resputin. However, the portal was open for too long and Dr. Broom warns the American general "something may have gotten out." Which leads to the discovery of a certain red 'ape' with the world's largest whammer (for you sick-minds out there, I mean he has a large fist made of stone) and is quickly adopted by the Americans, after given the name Hellboy.
Then the movie sets off, and that is when more of the fun begins. Hellboy, now about 60, (but looks just out of his 20's since he doesn't age as fast as we do) is the monster-hunting character that Stephen Summers wanted Van Helsing to be. Hellboy is a lord of wisecracking and doesn't really take things seriously, and he also has the coolest gun in the world, the Simaritan, a revolver that shoots "big bullets".
The acting in the movie is very well done. Hellboy's character is realistic and believable, since you can't help but love his sarcasm, such as discovering a egg-like parasite on his arm and when Agent Myers asks "What is that thing?", Hellboy puts the parasite in his lap and replies "I'll go ask." Then there's the smart guy that makes up for whatever Hellboy lacks in intelligence and knowledge, the "fish guy" Abe Sapien, who, by touching any object, can see its past and future. Finally, you have Hellboy's ex-girlfriend and still-love-interest, Liz, who is a pyrokinesis who is trying hard to control her fiery powers, and is scarred from a childhood memory of when she killed many people in one of her "outbursts", which means her fire lets off a big explosion, killing everyone and everything around her at quite a distance, without harming her.
The villains are also very convincing and though there is some acting quality lacking in Sledgehammer Girl (I didn't catch her name), she has little lines and doesn't have much screen time, unlike the very creepy and just-as-deadly Alex Kronen who has been made into something of an immortal, due to his surgical addiction (he's like a killing, cool version of Michael Jackson, except Jackson's blood isn't dust and can't increase his adrenaline by cranking a dial on his chest).
The action scenes are also very fun to watch, and never go out of quality like "Van Helsing" sometimes did. This is done by not a lot of shooting or explosions or people running in circles screaming like in "Van Helsing", but is done by clever dialogue, Hellboy's constant wisecracking, and some awesome special effects . . . along with a lot of shooting.
"Hellboy" is a highly over-looked (and sometimes, under-rated) movie that makes us remember how "Van Helsing" lacked in character development and high-quality action scenes. While "Van Helsing" has its big mean monsters, which outnumber the amount of monsters in "Hellboy","Hellboy" gives us the experience Stephen Summers wanted "Van Helsing" to provide, along with some extra wisecracking and a little more attitude. "Hellboy" is a must-buy for fans of the comic or just about anyone who likes special effects and clever script-writing.