Hellboy

Rating: Null/10 (13 May 2007)

Essentially just one in a long line of comic book film adaptations, Hellboy is enlivened by the superb casting of Ron Perlman from the 'I-know-the-face-but-can't-remember-the-name' school of acting as the eponymous hero.
Hellboy is the infant product of some Nazis attempt to lure demons through a portal opened by Grigori Rasputin Â– yeah, that Rasputin. Taken under the wing of John Hurt's professor-of-something Bruttenholm, Hellboy grows into a hulking monster with red skin, forked tail and an impressive pair of horns which he grinds down in order to blend in.
Introduced as a Loch Ness Monster type focus of media speculation, writer/director Guillermo del Toro quickly discards this aspect of the tale to concentrate on a relatively straightforward supernatural demons type plot that offers nothing new to those familiar with a range of comic book heroes stories (this film is, in fact an amalgamation of three different Hellboy stories). A love story is unwisely shoehorned into the plot, providing a respite from the plethora of special effects, which might have been more welcome had it been of any interest.
Perlman is the best thing about this film. For a start, he looks the part, even though he was in his mid-fifties when this was shot. He breaths a little life into a lot of lame one-liners, but the foes with which he is provided are a little too bland at times: Biddy Hodson, the only villain whose character offered the suggestion of a little depth, is woefully underused and the film is all the weaker for it.
This one will please the pre-18 multiplex set, but will leave more mature audiences wanting something more substantial.