Hell Yeah!

Rating: 8/10 (30 June 2005)

Another comic-based movie, some may sayÂ… and yes, this is another comic-based-movie. I don't know if that's another sign of the lack of ideas there in Hollywood or it's just a coincidence they're bringing all those superheroes to life. Whatever, now is the turn for Mike Mignola's Hellboy to get into the cinemas. A demon which escaped from hell and brought up by a priest who will teach him to fight again all those evil creatures that break on through to our dimension from time to time.
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro ("Cronos", "Mimic"), "Hellboy" doesn't make the same mistakes that products such as "Van Helsing" do: I mean, the digital effects are at the service of the story and not on the contrary. Del Toro makes a good drawing of his characters, he avoids any up and downs, and achieves a nice and praiseworthy "in crescendo" effect. He didn't go mad neither choosing the actor: he recruited a cast of non-stars such as Ron Perlman (City Of The Lost Children), who performs a perfect Hellboy that it can be defined as a mixture of Hulk and Tom Waits. John Hurt plays the priest (Hellboy's godfather), Selma Blair plays the hero's beloved one, and a crew of nice guest starrings (mainly unknown, at least in Europe) do the rest.
Conclussion: nice escapist cinema, well conducted action, a very solid script and, above all, Ron Perlman in state of grace (he demonstrates he's one of the most versatile actor of the last 25 years). It's no surprise that directors such as Jeunet or Annaud love him.
*My rate: 7.5/10