Hellboy

Rating: 5/10 (22 May 2006)

Hellboy is one of DC Comics' less widely spread, but just as popular, franchises (they also do AvP, amongst others). It has a strong cult following, but is not as universally recognised as other comic book series like Spider-Man or X-men. This is what is wrong with this film, which was widely released to a mostly Hellboy-naïve public.
I have to admit that I have not seen many of the Hellboy comics, but from what I have seen, the film seems to stick to its source material admirably. The problem is that it sticks a little too well  fans of the comics will probably love it, but the rest of us might feel a little left behind, as if the film wasn't made for us. It is also fairly surreal in its visuals, so that non-fans might be thinking "what the hell?" for much of the film, what with its references to other dimensions and strange magic. Other comic books, whilst not really way up there in the plausibility stakes, still take place in our universe and make them seem that much more real. Hellboy does take place in our world, but the introduction of other dimension and more surreal goings-on makes it feel too different from what we're used to. Normally I'd praise a little originality and going against the norm - God knows that Hollywood needs a good dose of that, but with this it makes the whole experience lose something, maybe a bit of the audiences' respect. However, I fully understand that writer/director Guillermo Del Toro couldn't deviate too much from the comics without upsetting the fans, and it was for them that the film was made.
Anyway, to the film itself. The plot revolves around the demon Hellboy, who was conjured by the Nazis but rescued and brought up by the Americans. Now he works/fights for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defence, led by his rescuer Professor Trevor Bruttenholm (John Hurt). They discover a plot by Rasputin to allow a squid-like monster to enter our dimension and destroy the world. Hellboy and his gang of mutants (including an amphibian and a pyro-kenetic) must go on a mission to stop him. Ron Perlman is fantastic in the role of Hellboy, and the other cast are good enough, but the problem stems from a dodgy script and lacklustre action scenes. The heavy use of CGI does not help matters as it is clearly not up to the standards that other films have reached, and the film is too heavy on the editing side that is ends up being a mess. This is a real shame as the director was also responsible for the much better Blade II, which handled all its action scenes very well.
The film does start out quite promisingly, with an entertaining sequence of the stopping of Rasputin and the discovery of Hellboy. From there the film keeps its momentum until about half-way through, at which point it all starts going downhill. The potential for the film was good, but it just could not keep its head above the water. This results in the audience not really caring about what happens in the end, and it is only because of the loud noises that we are prevented from falling asleep. There is, however, one excellent scene in which Hellboy is talking to a young boy about his feelings towards Liz (Selma Blair), which perfectly sums up Hellboy's character and wise-cracking humour. But it is not enough to save the film, and with Hellboy 2 already green-lit, hopes are not high for a redemption of this comic-book franchise.
Rated: 5.5/10
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