A little gem of a movie

Rating: 7/10 (14 May 2005)

Not into comic books a great deal, Batman having always been the exception, I wasn't sure what to expect of this movie. Been a fan of Ron Perlman's since Beauty and the Beast days so more or less certain his performance would be at least entertaining. I was very much surprised by how much I really enjoyed this movie. The mix of Gothic mystery, action, tragedy, out of left field characters and irresistible humour, caught me completely the first time I saw it. Bought the DVD as soon as it came out and just keep watching it again and again. It's got something of everything. The cinematography and special effects are quite gorgeous and although it's not as big budget as some others in the genre, I think I prefer that. Huge amounts of money tend to shout a little after awhile and can distract from the human story. Make no mistake; this is a very human story. Everyone was so well cast and Ron Perlman just *is* Hellboy. He's what I tend to think of as a true hero: not perfect but then it depends on what you mean by perfect. He may be red, have horns and a tail and have come from a hell dimension but he's so human. His totally ineffectual attempt to toe out of sight the half-finished love notes to Liz when she enters the room, is perfect and is a great example of who Hellboy is. My hat has to go off to the guys who had to perform in the prosthetics in freezing, wet conditions. There's an awful lot of heart, soul, blood, sweat and tears gone into this movie and although it's so seamless it doesn't show, you can still feel it. Even if you're not into comic books, you really might want to consider giving this movie the once over.