Highly entertaining

Rating: Null/10 (26 November 2004)

Guillermo del Toro proved his feeling for comic-book styled action with Blade 2. So it's maybe no surprise that this movie is also full of just that: feeling.
Hellboy is the story of a demon who came to earth as a child. He was part of Rasputins evil plan to destroy humanity, but the demon child was rescued and raised to good instead. Now he, and a bunch of other special heroes, fight the occult evils in modern day society. Rasputin is back though, and he has other plans for Hellboy...
There are a couple of factors that make this one of the most successful comic-book adventures i've seen so far in terms of style. First of all the casting is perfect throughout. Ron Perlman is very entertaining as Hellboy, and the other parts of the cast are equally up to their tasks. The special effects are also excellent, among the better i've seen actually. The action sequences are also well done without being too excessive. But mostly it's the feeling for what does and does not work that strikes me with this movie. Guillermo Del Toro seems to really like the genre and know exactly what he wanted out of this film.
Of course there are also flaws as always. For instance the movie becomes a little silly sometimes, and a bit more action wouldn't have hurt i think. Mostly though i feel the ending, without saying too much, is sort of an anticlimax. But all in all this is very entertaining in a way that comic-book action should be. I rate it 7/10.