Boy, What the Hell?

Rating: 5/10 (27 September 2004)

The whole idea of the movie was original & somewhat funny, so I was really expecting a much better story. Grigori Rasputin, Karl Ruprect Kroenen & Ilsa were excellent villains, but those cheesy monsters were quite annoying. I'm not talking about Abe Sapien, who was irritating at best. Why would Rasputin with all his evil powers use some dumb monsters for destroying the world? And how comes Del Torro thinks the details of these monsters' reproductive system is interesting for the viewers? At times I was wondering what was on the screen: a new installment of Harry Potter or a Ghostbusters reunion.
The acting is not great either. Though Ron Perlman was OK, the best performance I think was done by Karel Roden. As for the other cast members they were mostly not good. Selma Blair was particularly unconvincing.
Special effects are pretty good, but sometimes senseless & unnecessary. As for direction, it was something, which basically saved the film.
Despite the enormous stupidity of this flick, it has got a very inspiring & well written ending. It somewhat compensates the flaws of Hellboy: at least after the film my mood was improved & I didn't want my money back. Yet, this is not a good picture, so go for better options, if you have them.