Good, demi-demonic fun

Rating: 8/10 (4 February 2019)

During a secret Nazi paranormal experiment in Scotland, a red and horned child from the nether-regions crosses into our reality. He grows up to be 'Hellboy', an agent of 'The Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense' and becomes our hope when a reborn Rasputin unleashes a fecund demon as part of a plan to bring about an 'end-of-days' apocalypse. Typical of a Guillermo del Toro film, the imagery is striking, especially the brief scenes of a post-apocalyptic Earth. The characters, drawn from the 'Hellboy' series of graphic novels (created by Mike Mignola, which I have not read) are imaginative and engaging and the production team do an excellent job in bringing them to the screen. I particularly liked Kroenen (Ladislav Beran), the self-mutilating, 'clockwork' Nazi assassin, the character design and make-up is outstanding. Ron Perlman, also under a lot of makeup, is quite good playing the wisecracking titular demi-demon, as are Doug Jones (equally made-up) as Abe Sapien, the PBRD's amphibious scholar-agent, and the ever-moribund John Hurt as Prof. Bruttenholm, Hellboy's adoptive father. All in all, a great 'superhero' film: clever, fast-moving, fun, and much more imaginative than most of the films in the better known DC or MCU franchises.