The best demonic superhero film ever made

Rating: Null/10 (15 March 2004)

Hellboy is a lot of things: a superhero film, an H.P. Lovecraft story, a fish-out-of-water comedy, an action/adventure yarn, a monster movie, and proof that Ron Perlman is singularly the most underrated actor working today.
Hellboy is based on the comic book series of the same name by Mike Mignola. In it, he created a unique world of supernatural influences on our own based in part by Lovecraftian creatures and international folk tales. These supernatural events are investigated by the B.P.R.D...the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. Many odd characters along with straight-laced soldiers occupy this group, but the most interesting is Hellboy himself. Fans of the comic know that even though there is a lush background of amazing stories and multidimensional characters, that the best thing about the comic is Hellboy fighting giant monsters. And fight giant monsters is what Hellboy does well.
The film Hellboy is an incredible labor of Love by Guillermo del Toro (Blade II, The Devil's Backbone). Del Toro was a fan of the series and pushed to have the film made. He's not a director-for-hire here. He is the driving force in this film's coming to life. He was a fan first and that, as all comic book/movie geeks know is of ultimate importance.
The plot here revolves around Rasputin, the Russian monk who people with knowledge of history know was the crazy guy who the Russian government had a heck of a time killing. Well, it turns out that they never did accomplish their task. He's still alive in 1944 and working for the Nazis' occult division in a last ditch effort to keep the Nazi regime from falling at the hands of the Allies. With the help of some American soldiers, their scheme to open a portal to another dimension fails but something slips though: Hellboy. They raise him as their own and eventually Hellboy becomes part of the B.P.R.D. And then we get to watch them address the supernatural in classic Hellboy nonchalance.
Let me say that Ron Perlman as Hellboy is just amazing. Perlman, who stole many a woman's heart under the thick make-up as the Beast in the "Beauty and the Beast" television show in the 80s shows us that he still has the ability to exude charm from behind layers of latex. Perlman puts more into this role than a superhero film has any right to have. Perlman himself has a wide history of very different characters on his resume; his primitive caveman in Quest for Fire to his evil yet charming Hitleresque character in Last Supper to his Russian strongman character in The City of Lost Children. Perlman is an actor's actor. When you watch Hellboy, you see Hellboy.
Hellboy will keep fans of the comic happy. But it is very geared to the uninitiated. This is a movie that everyone can enjoy. And with it's PG-13 rating, it's reasonably family-friendly. The violence in this film is more smart than offensive. This isn't Blade II. This is Hellboy, a story about a creature who is working against his origin to do good. It's not where you come from, it's where you're going that counts. Also, giant monsters were made to be beat up.
I saw this movie March 14th at a special screening in Austin. Mike Mignola and Ron Perlman were seeing it for the first time there. Mignola, the creator of Hellboy, was very pleased with how the movie ended up. What better compliment is there than that? See this film! I guarantee that you will leave the theatre wanting more. If enough people see this on opening weekend April 2nd then of course a sequel will get made. And I assure you, that's exactly what you want.