Not my cup of tea, but . . .

Rating: Null/10 (12 October 2004)

. . . still pretty good. Not being a fan of comic books, it's no surprise that the name Mike Mignola and his creation is entirely new to me. The character premise and concepts seemed somewhat silly even in the same realm as Superman and Batman, and in a way it was silly. But it worked.
I can't deny Del Toro's craft and the underlying talent in this film, nor can I deny the very visible love these filmmakers had for the source material. Hellboy playfully captures the energetic look and feel of a comic book with its (literally) colorful characters, physics defying battles, and almost sitcom-ish setups (Hellboy on the rooftops eating cookies? Hilarious).
I've never been drawn to too many of Ron Perlman's performances; however, he was born to play Hellboy and I enjoyed every minute of him in red with sawed off horns. From subtle little gestures like hiding his cigar behind his back in the presence of his father, to the smart-ass/tough guy routine, to the matter-of-fact nature he confronts his epic battle-for-the-world problems with, Perlman was Hellboy.
And to ground the wild antics of the film's hero, Del Toro gives us the always great John Hurt as Hellboy's father figure. A man whose both sympathetic and authorative, vulnerable from age but, never-the-less, still strong. Were the role given to a lesser actor, Broom's face off with the villain would not have worked on as many levels (subtle and obvious) as it did, no where near as much information would have been communicated.
Unfortunately, from there my interest in the characters descends into a realm of 'eh' and 'I could live without it.' I did not like the Abe character (except when Hellboy was smarting off or blowing him off); Liz was interesting at times, but the little exploration for her was haphazardly handled. Kroenen and Rasputin both had their moments of glory (loved the reveal in Liz's room), but ultimately bored me one way or the other.
Which brings me to the monstrous Resurrection Hounds  I didn't really care for their design (much like the Reapers in Blade 2.) I can't really pinpoint my exact reasons for disliking these elements; they just don't strike much interest in me.
Oh well, I can respect Del Toro and appreciate what he brings to the directing table. Kudos to Marco Beltrami for finding an appropriate score, and of course to Rick Baker for his awesome Hellboy makeup which proved crucial in accepting the character.