Interesting superhero flick undone by confusing plotting

Rating: Null/10 (11 June 2010)

Hellboy (Guillermo del Toro, 2004) is an offbeat comic book film that boasts strong characterisation and an impressive aesthetic, but suffers from some incomprehensible plotting. The title character, very well-played by Ron Perlman, is the son of Satan, brought to earth in 1944 by Nazis (who've invaded Scotland), only to be adopted and reared for good by kind-hearted FBI scientist John Hurt. Returning in the present day, the fascists - who include an ageless woman, bald wizard Rasputin (I have no idea), and a man made of sand - unleash a heap of monsters and a can of high-grade whup-ass on the US. Their ultimate aim, as becomes sort-of-clear, is to lure Hellboy to Rasputin's tomb on the outskirts of Moscow, where they'll force him to open a portal to his Dad's place. Or something. The hero is a fine creation, impressively realised by Perlman and make-up maestro Rick Baker, while there's commendable support from Hurt, Doug Jones and love interest Selma Blair. The scene in which Selma's Liz replies to Hellboy's pledge of everlasting faith by murmuring "I like that" is really something. And though the action sequences are inconsistent, with tedious, by-the-numbers scraps included alongside some tense, thrilling set-pieces, del Toro taps into the mythology of the conceited but self-aware cigar-chomping hero and his singular world, the nature-versus-nature debate cast into the centre of that murky universe, shown through the eyes of its brooding outsiders. Sadly those praiseworthy elements are hamstrung by an often baffling narrative that goes seriously awry in the final reels. It's hard to care about what you're watching if you've only a faint notion of what's going on. In addition, the idea that Perlman is able to put the smackdown on supernatural baddies via his big stony fist doesn't really make sense. Hellboy remains an interesting movie, but the iffy, tacky plotting and unimaginative climax keep it firmly in the lower reaches of the superhero canon. It still wipes the floor with Spider-Man.