the king of its genre

Rating: 9/10 (13 December 2006)

Del Toro's Hellboy, the enthralling lovechild of his previous blade films and Mignola's creative genius, is an eye-pleasing spectacle of sci-fi brawling like no film has accomplished yet. Yes, without doubt you will have to put up with the borderline painful one-liners and the simplistic overall message; "what makes a man a man". But despite its limited faults, Hellboy tops all others in the ever classic genre of sci-fi/thriller/action/comic-book. The transformation of Mignola's comic book world into a screen-worthy movie is impressive. Though the two-dimensional, shadow infested, caricature filled pages of Mignola could never truly be recreated for the screen the essence of them can. Perlman's portrayal is flawless, I find myself forgetting there's even a man underneath the countless layers of red makeup and plastic. In addition, the creepy Rasputin is done more than justice by Roden and Kroenen, though not even close to the comic book pencil pusher/doctor has risen to the status of top ten comic book villains of all time. John Hurt ties it all up nicely with his sincere performance as the gentle but steadfast professor. The plot is strong, (big thanks to Mignola again) a new and welcome change to the genre which typically leaves you oblivious to any such thing. Fans of Del Toro, get ready for the ride of your lives, fans of Mignola, overlook the creative liberties and enjoy the king of comic book sci-fi's.